Well, Happy New Year to all my friends! Last year, 2025, was very busy in many respects: I was very fortunate to get out for more time on the water; fishing both vintage bamboo rods and some of my own builds. The brookies in northern Maine were eager to take my flies and I had a rare opportunity to fish some private waters where certain ponds had not been fished in at least 10 yrs. Some were over-populated with small brookies but other lakes offered brookies up to 19". Great fun on 3-5 wt. bamboo rods!
As for stripers, they were scarce last year and I didn't land one until mid-summer. The few fish that were around were mostly larger fish- apparently indicating the lack of successful spawning in the Chesapeake in recent years.
A highlight for me was my first trip to the Bahamas for Bonefish in November. What a powerful fish!!! I managed to land 40+ fish in 6 days. It was a blast, so I re-booked a trip with the same lodge for this coming November. Although I don't like to admit it, I used graphite rods for my first trip, and managed to break both rods in the first 2 days. One was my fault... but that's another story. This upcoming Summer, I plan to build at least one, possibly two bamboo rods for my next trip... 8 wts.
By the way, having a good reel with a drag system is a must for these race-horses. I used my Danielsson reels and they performed flawlessly. Many fish took me into my backing: especially when sharks decided to chase my fish and I had to back off on the drag to allow the bones to out-swim the shark.
Re: Rod Making Workshops: I continue to receive inquiries about possible rod-making workshops for this year, with over 20 people who have expressed serious interest in them. I am maintaing a list of interested people, and will contact them in the order in which I received their emails, when I decide how many workshops I will have time to conduct. Due to the high demand, I will have to schedule 2 students per class, and I anticipate only having time to offer 2-3 workshops this year. Both my wife and I truly enjoy meeting our new students and we have made many life-long friends through these workshops.
Fred
As for stripers, they were scarce last year and I didn't land one until mid-summer. The few fish that were around were mostly larger fish- apparently indicating the lack of successful spawning in the Chesapeake in recent years.
A highlight for me was my first trip to the Bahamas for Bonefish in November. What a powerful fish!!! I managed to land 40+ fish in 6 days. It was a blast, so I re-booked a trip with the same lodge for this coming November. Although I don't like to admit it, I used graphite rods for my first trip, and managed to break both rods in the first 2 days. One was my fault... but that's another story. This upcoming Summer, I plan to build at least one, possibly two bamboo rods for my next trip... 8 wts.
By the way, having a good reel with a drag system is a must for these race-horses. I used my Danielsson reels and they performed flawlessly. Many fish took me into my backing: especially when sharks decided to chase my fish and I had to back off on the drag to allow the bones to out-swim the shark.
Re: Rod Making Workshops: I continue to receive inquiries about possible rod-making workshops for this year, with over 20 people who have expressed serious interest in them. I am maintaing a list of interested people, and will contact them in the order in which I received their emails, when I decide how many workshops I will have time to conduct. Due to the high demand, I will have to schedule 2 students per class, and I anticipate only having time to offer 2-3 workshops this year. Both my wife and I truly enjoy meeting our new students and we have made many life-long friends through these workshops.
Fred
RSS Feed
