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I WILL BE CLOSED OCTOBER 15TH THROUGH OCTOBER 25TH during which time I expect to enhance my knowledge of the speedy Bonefish; the wary Permit; wiley Snook; and juvenile to mid sized Tarpon that I may share my experience with my customers. ‘Field Testing’ is a part of my job! Several friends and customers will also enjoy the hospitality and comforts of David and Ilana Randall’s Costa De Cocos lodge in the far southern reaches of the
Although there are a great number of rod manufacturer’s out there, I have found over the years rods invariably are compared to Sage rods – “this is almost as good as Sage”; “the action on this rod is similar to a Sage” etc. etc. From a retail standpoint, Sage is the ‘go to’ name brand providing customers with a wide variety of lengths, actions, and line weights. Sage spends a great deal of time and expense improving the design and actions of their rods in order to maintain their number one market position, however, they periodically replace one of their products with ‘new and improved’ versions without forewarning their dealers of the impending change. This can be a good thing for consumers as a very popular rod overnight becomes obsolete! But it does require the dealer to discount remaining stock of the old in order to replace with the new! On October 1st, Sage discontinued the making of the very popular VPS series of rods with the new VT2 series and guess what; this dealer has several of the VPS rods/blanks remaining in stock. VPS rods are medium to medium fast actions and are delightful to cast. The action on these rods makes them perfect for youth, women, and the occasional angler not willing to invest the big bucks, the new fly fisher that doesn’t want to start out with a Donald Duck combo or something Korean made, or for the hard core angler that require back up rods. With or without a personalized inscription they would make a wonderful gift for someone you would like to see share our passion.
The following list of VPS rods and blanks reflect a deep discount and are built as all of my rods are built with 5 star cork, built on the blank handle’s/grips, Struble reel seats, Fuji, or Hopkins and Holloway guides and are as pretty to look at as they are to fish. Also bear in mind per my last newsletter, I am discounting other rods already built be they the more upper end fly, casting, or spinning until October 15th. VPS rods/blanks are priced as follows until they are gone. All Sage warranties apply. Stop by for a test cast in my casting area and as luck would have it, I have a good selection or Ross and Tibor reels, and the appropriate lines in inventory.
VPS – 386-4; 8 ½ foot 4 piece for 3 weight. Special priced at $296.45.
VPS – 590-4; 9 foot four piece for a 5 weight. Special priced at $288.45.
VPS – 690-4; 9 foot four piece for a 6 weight. Special priced at $288.45.
VPS – 890; 9 foot TWO piece for an 8 weight. Special priced at $266.45.
BLANKS:
VPS – 490-4; 9 foot four piece for a 4 weight. Special priced at $120.00.
VPS – 590-4; 9 foot four piece for a 5 weight. Special priced at $125.00.
(2) VPS – 690-4; 9 foot four piece for 6 weights. Special priced at $125.00 each.
Conditions at the coast are of HIGH tides (bull tides) so it may be wise to check the water levels if you are planning a ‘sight casting’ trip. The Guad should fish well this fall and winter with releases of trout to occur soon and a better than average holdover. You may want to join the GRTU (Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited) if you haven’t already, and participate in their lease program for better access to the river. Also the Alamo Flyfishers are an active bunch that will stimulate your fly tieing/fly fishing passions. The Shonto Ranch (www.shontoranch.com) will be releasing trout soon as will Joshua Creek Ranch (www.joshuacreekranch.com).
I recently custom built a 12 weight 4 piece Sage Xi 2 for an upcoming article to be published in Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine (1/2 million subscribers!). One of the editors asked if I would like to participate in a feature article about ‘near shore’ and ‘off shore’ big game fly fishing. Needless to say I readily agreed to contribute my experience to this 500 plus word article and to share my knowledge with a photographer aboard a 50 plus foot Bertram beyond the 500 fathom curve (east breaks) in our part of the Gulf Stream. Should be out sometime in ’06 . . . . . . . . .(pat, pat, pat).
Thanks for your patronage and friendships.
Dennis O. Freeman
210-479-3477