Hello everyone,

The first rod I ever built was the last winter. An inexpensive 2wt, that I unfortunately made a few mistakes on during the building process. However, I still fitted it with a reel and line and couldn't wait to fish it.

Before it was stolen last year, I fished only with that rod. I've caught some lunker bass with it as well. I miss it dearly.

What I do love about the lightweights is this. I, like so many other folks, can't wait for the nice weather to get here, so I start hitting the creeks and rivers quite early. As soon as it's shorts weather I'm down in the water. The problem is, the water is still ice cold. I'm from Southwestern Ontario, Canada. There's not much cold water species close to me. So the waters aren't full of fish. The first fish to come up are baitfish.....or something. No idea what they are. But they're not much fun on my 8wt.

Now, we're talking small fish, 6 inches and shorter. But, on a 2wt they hit like sharks! Every so often they shoot right out of the water hitting that fly

I love lightweight outfits. Wish I could afford lighter. Even looked for 000 blanks

I've had people tell me light outfits are toys, they are for women, they're for kids, they were invented for people who don't know how to fish. The list goes on and on. I waded in the water away from a group of people in the ages of around 18-22 years old last summer. They cracked jokes for about 20 mins on how small my rod was. Would I like one of thier girlfriends to teach me how to use a "Mans" rod, so I can catch fish. All sorts of fun comments. Now the last comment I had to resist on replying with my own fun jokes. So, the next 50 or so minutes while I was the only one in the water catching fish. I was asking where all thier fish were, on thier "man" outfits. I even caught a good sized smallie. That was good times. After I left the water, a couple of them started asking questions about my outfit, turned into some good times.

Sorry to ramble, point is. Don't listen to the folks who say they're toys. They can hook fish, they can hook big fish, and they most certainly deserve to be fished. And if your lightweight feels a need for a fighting butt, let it have one!!

I plan to build up the other 2wt blank this year. Can't wait!!

Shane