March 17, 2005 Newsletter


 

A couple of weeks ago this old ‘field and streamer’ had an opportunity to fish our salt water pastures with good friend and customer Joe Mitchell.  He called on a Monday afternoon and after closing the shop for the day and making arrangements with Randy Bland to baby sit the shop for the next day, I headed directly to Rockport to meet Joe at the Crab ‘N’ for a little adult beverage, fresh Copano oysters, crab cakes, and of course, a little key lime pie.  Yum, yum!  In the morning following we left out of Hampton’s landing in Aransas Pass going to the back of Brown and Root flat in his newly acquired flats boat and upon Joe’s insistence; I took control of the pointed end of the boat fishing in about 10 inches of water.  I had just stripped off about 40 – 50 feet of line from my reel as Joe gave his third shove on the pole when I noticed something not quite right in the grass about 35 – 40 feet to my front left.  First cast nothing moved, my next cast was in the face of a honest 30 inch redfish (caught and released) that took off like he was ejected from a cannon stripping off a good 50 to 75 yards of backing off my Tibor Freestone reel, attached to my Sage 6 weight TCR rod.  After all these years of fishing, a good sized redfish on light tackle is still as good as it gets!  Still gives me goose bumps!  Speaking of which (goose bumps) I had plenty of after I promptly made a reverse back flip into the water from the poling platform, and I am convinced if it were an Olympic event, even the Russian judge would have scored it an 8 or better!  Either the boats they make nowadays aren’t as stable as they used to be or quite possibly I am not as stable as I once was.  Nah!  I can assure you when wet and the wind is from the north, goose bumps are abundant!

 

This coming Saturday March 19th, my regular casting instructor retired Col. Randy Bland will be offering casting instruction free of charge in my casting area behind the shop for anyone that has an interest in fly fishing or maybe just to tune up your casts in preparation for the spring/summer/fall fishing.  Might be a good time to test out one of my new Sage rods and get a feel for the Bermuda Triangle Royal Wulff lines. . . . .

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FLY TYERS!  Have I got a deal for you!  This coming Monday March the 21th I will be having a ONE DAY ONLY sale of all fly tying material, hooks, vises, tying tools and anything that has to do with fly tying – all at 33 1/3 % discount!  Randy Bland will be in the store for advice as well as doing his own fly tying till 8: p.m.  If you want to upgrade your vise, you couldn’t find a better deal than a third off a Renzetti or Dyna King vise.

 

I will be changing my Monday hours beginning April 4th due in part to Monday’s generally being a very slow day; Herb Mossman deciding not to make the long drive from his home to assist fly tiers and work the shop; and the fact I need a day off during the week.  As of April the 4th, I will close on Monday’s.

 

The action on Trout is great on the Shonto Ranch – www.shontoranch.com (830-257-5982) and the Joshua Creek Ranch www.joshuacreek.com – (830-230-5190).  Randy Bland will guide you should you want help and instruction – his cell number is 273-1892.  If you want personalized private lessons, Randy charges but $35 and as he says, he doesn’t watch the clock!  I get a lot of positive feedback from customers that learn a great deal and enjoy Randy’s company.

 

If you get a chance, check out my Website – www.rod-makers.com – on it I have a current listing of rods built and ready for action as well as links, pictures, and general info.  Give consideration to upgrading to the new generation V graphite’s from Sage be it a Xi 2, TCR, or the new lightweight TXL’s (00 to 4 weight!).  I am ‘stocked up’ on fly reels, fly lines, rod cases, leaders, fly boxes, and a good selection of flies.  I am overstocked on quality fishing optic’s (better known as sunglasses!) should you need a great pair of Action Optic’s or the new Rudy Project which is the best I have found for prescription wearers, Italian made and very stylish!

 

Good luck to my youngest son Ryan and his adorable wife Kristi as they are expecting their first child (daughter) this coming week.  Linda and I are very excited to have a grand child nearby.

 

Thank you and remember the one day sale on Monday.

Dennis O. Freeman

RODMAKERS

13457 Blanco Road

San Antonio, TX. 78216

210-479-3477

rodmaker@rod-makers.com