Swamp Witches make a FINE fly rod!
Folks, I've gotta brag on miss Betty Hiner for a bit if you don't mind...
For my Christmas gift this past year, I asked my family to contribute to "the fund" so I could get a custom fly rod made by Betty.
I chose a Lamiglas glass 7-ft 3-weight blank, and after a nice phone conversation with Betty, we decided what hardware, grips, etc would make the rod look as I had thought out. I wanted a fairly simple, classic-looking glass rod to use for bluegill fishing. That's my favorite thing to do!
Well, after a long trip with the postal service (looong story!), the rod arrived on my doorstep late last week. Today was the first day I had available to test it out, and that's exactly what I did!
I went to a small local creek that gets very minimal fishing pressure in the spring and summer. It's full of small bluegills, green sunfish, largemouth bass, and a few nice carp. The creek is crystal clear most of the time, and the fish are somewhat jumpy. Sight fishing here is a blast, and the style of fishing done is totally different from almost anything else in the area.
Well, I found a hole that was holding a good number of fish, tied on a small black hopper from a recent fly swap, and started casting. My second cast found the center of the pool, I twitched the fly once, and let it sit. I didn't have to wait too long until there was a boil and I set the hook on a hefty little bluegill! I'm pretty sure it's the biggest gill I have ever caught in the creek!
I ended up with several more smaller bluegills and some brightly-colored green sunfish. This rod is very special to me already! The workmanship on it is second to NONE!
Thanks doesn't even begin to cover it, Betty!
Now I'm off to the lake to see if the bluegills are getting shallow there yet...
Zac
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