Happy Tax Day!  I know there is some comfort in knowing your dollars are being put to good use by our penny pinching federal government. . . . . . . .Rather than going into stories of amusement from past experiences, I thought I would use this email to promote my little business so perhaps I could generate enough dollars to once again have a tax problem!  Unfortunately for me to have any kind of a tax problem would necessitate you, as a valued and loyal customer, to spend your hard earned after tax dollars on products that should provide you, your friends, and family knowledge I have gained from personal experience and feedback from thousands of custom rods and fisher’s, and will provide years of enjoyment and pride in ownership.  This is what I sell!  During this past year (I opened one year ago on April Fools Day!), I have been fortunate enough that you have found me and my shop, but if I am ever to purchase more than a few sacks of groceries out of cash flow, I am dependent upon ya’all to ‘pass the word’ as over the years I have found general advertising is not effective.  Any additional help I get will once again be appreciated.

 

A month or so ago I passed on a quote about arriving at the grave in a well preserved body or skidding in broadside exclaiming – Wow what a ride!  Now after two weeks of the ‘South Beach Diet’ (very successfully, I might add!) two other quotations come to mind:  ‘The only difference between a Grave and a Rut is the Depth!’ and ‘My wild oats have turned into Prunes and All Bran’!  By producing more and more new customers I can continue on my ‘ride’ and not fall into that ‘rut’ that is all together too easy to get into and all together too difficult to get out of. . . . . .

 

I haven’t received a current fishing report on our coastal waters from Chuck Naiser recently other than him relating an apparent shrimp hatch the likes of which he has never seen in his nearly 30 years of guiding.  He said the trout and red fish are pounding the schools of shrimp and because of the fickleness of our April winds, one day from the North/Northeast and the next from the South/Southwest, the tidal marsh (lakes) are up one day and the water is out the next.  Bait and the fish will be back there once the weather settles into a pattern.  He is looking for an outstanding year.

 

I have never been one to make regular use of stripping baskets because of their size and bulk, but a new one is out – ‘Charlie’s Total Control’ that warrants our attention for those times we are wading in floating grass, or the wind blows your excess fly line off the bow of the boat, jetties, surf etc.  If folds up in a compact 6 inch bag and springs out to about a foot square and a foot deep.  Sells for $39.95.  I have on all too many occasions tried to shoot line to a fish only to have a bunch of grass hanging from my line and without fail, by the time the line is cleared, the fish is gone.

 

Now is a good time to examine your polarized sun glasses.  For shallow water fishing I rank quality optics as the single most important item of all the equipment you bring along – if you can’t see ‘em you can’t catch ‘em!  There are a lot of optic’s out there but a limited number of quality lenses.  I carry the well known Action optics with glass lenses in browns and in amber lens color and also carry the new Rudy Project high density polycarbonate’s in an all hour brown.  The Rudy’s are especially nice for prescription wearers as they make an adapter to fit inside of a wrap around style that is the best I have seen.  Prescriptions are available in Action’s but due to distortions caused by the wrap around effect, are available in a more flat style requiring a ‘side shield’ to prevent the glare from inside your glasses.  Both are very stylish with the Rudy’s perhaps a little more contemporary and commonly seen on athlete’s.  If you bring your prescription with pupil distance I call them in to a man in Colorado that does nothing but sports optics and usually within a week he sends the adapter.  Cost of prescriptions varies but I only pass along my cost of the lens and adapter which runs about $75 to $110 with bifocal or variable.  These lenses are hand ground and polished and have been perfect every time.  The actual glasses run from $135 to $175.  They are great for the contact lens people as the adapter snaps out when wearing contacts.

 

In addition to fly rods, I also carry some wonderful Sage blanks for spinning or casting in 7 foot 3 piece; 7’9” two piece; and 81/2’ two piece.  On occasion, I build 9 or 91/2’ spinning rods on fly rod blanks with the handle long enough to accommodate both fly and spinning reels using slide rings – great for the Kayaker!  One rod, two functions and if using 6 – 8 pound test spinning, you can cast further than you probably intended to fish!  It also allows you higher clearance while sitting in a Kayak (or float tube) for fly casting.

 

Thanks for your attention if you read this far, and know that I will appreciate any ‘word of mouth’, or by forwarding my emails to others my base expands. . . . . .

 

Dennis O. Freeman

RODMAKERS

13457 Blanco Road

San Antonio, TX 78216

210-479-3477

rodmaker@rod-makers.com