RODMAKERS Newsletter August 17, 2005

Last week I was bemoaning the fact business has been slow to my wife and she replied “sometimes you must make lemonade out of lemons”  . . . . . a little more of the glass is half full, not half empty?.  I guess I am quick to pass on my optimism to others but when I am given lemons, I am quick to ask ‘why me’?  I did have a chance for a cure of my ailment this past Monday when a friend, David Evans, invited me to come to his beautiful and very unique home near Rockport for a wonderful evening of dining and story telling followed by fly fishing in St. Charles Bay Monday morning.  St. Charles has the most beautiful shoreline on the entire Texas coast, in my opinion, and since much of the surrounding land is Aransas Wildlife Refuge which is not only natural and wild, it will never change.  Within the first five minutes of shutting down the outboard motor, I pulled a respectable Red from a small ‘herd’ that passed by within an easy cast while other groups were visible along the shoreline.  This was going to be a day of sipping lemonade . . . . . . . . As we maneuvered closer to a group near the shore we heard the first rumble of thunder from a towering cloud just to the South of us, then the wind began to ‘freshen’.  I got out of the boat approaching the herd upwind and got within 40 feet of them thrashing and splashing about, my fly poised in the air slightly ahead of the group only to have the fly and my 6 weight line blow back and drop three to five feet short on every cast.  Damn, should have brought an 8 weight!  Most saltwater fly fisher’s have been in that situation a time or two – I enjoyed the moment but cussed like a sailor when my casting failed me.  I can laugh about it now and as I reflect on the many missed opportunities of the past, more misses than connections realizing many of the failed attempts are more memory makers than the successes.  The clouds didn’t produce rain but did discourage us from venturing out very far and our day of making lemonade lasted but 3 hours.

 

You might want to make note of an offshore charter service Web site – www.ronand.com that was highly recommended to me from a friend and customer that fished with him recently.  He drives a 38 foot twin hull powered by twin 250 H.P. four stroke outboards.  He is from Belgium and loves to fish and offers accommodations at his house if fishing with him for $75 a night including 3 meals per day.  I have only seen his website (which is exceptionally well done!) but it looks very nice.  He prefers to troll and his cost for a 12 hour day is very reasonable considering the cost of fuel nowadays.

 

Another guide you might want to try for fly fishing the land cut/nine mile hole area is Ethan Wells – phone number 361-548-3952.  Ethan is one of the exceptional new ‘young guns’ and from what I understand, you should book him well in advance of your forthcoming trip.  I believe he launches primarily from Bird Island south of Corpus.

 

The upcoming trip to the lower Yucatan for Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon is only a little over two months away and it is time for those of us going to check our gear!  The balance of the deposits will be due by the middle of September.  I have kept a couple of spots open for latecomers and have not actively promoted filling these spots but it is time to make a reservation should you or anyone you may know that would have an interest.  Again, the dates are October 15 – 20^th and October 20^th – 25^th.  Cost is $1595 for 4 days guided fishing, transportation to and from the airport included, as well as our meals.  This represents a substantial discount and is located in a very remote area with exceptional fishing.  Visit their Web at www.costadecocos.com.  Costs for a non-fisher are $600 inclusive.

 

My ‘rod rack’ is filled with rods I have recently built for sale and I would like to remind you pricing for my finished rods is substantially less than factory built rods, and in my humble opinion, prettier with superior hardware.  I have several St. Croix custom built casting and spinning rods in addition to Sage fly rods from 2 weight to 13 weights.  I have a good inventory of blanks for rods to be built by me or if you would like to build the rod yourself with my assistance in the shop.  I have recently stocked up on Bonefish, Snook, Permit, and Tarpon flies in anticipation of the October trips.

 

Take advantage of the great fall fishing in our salt pastures and keep your glass ‘half full’ – of lemonade.

 

 

Dennis O. Freeman
rodmaker@rod-makers.com
13457 Blanco Road
San Antonio, TX 78216
210-479-3477