Just Too Much Good Juju...

[The Old Man]

I was 1/2-way through the eBay write-up, was going to sell my old St. Croix LU 8-wt. then I started listing the fish species I've caught with it, including...

...a bunch of redfish and trout on September 11, 2001. Just what the mind needed that day.

...my first fish out of the surf, a small pompano in Cocoa Beach, FL.

...my wife's first saltwater fly-rod fish, a bunch of small croaker on the OBX. She was crying b/c her line kept getting tangled. I told her "Wait a minute, Are you crying? THERE'S NO CRYING IN FISHIN!!!" [smile]

...34"striper on a popper, Pleasant Bay on the Cape

...24" speck, OBX

...first flounder on the fly rod, 20" at Henlopen 2 yrs ago

...ladyfish after ladyfish on small poppers behind the hotel in FL, what a hoot after a long day's work

...spooled by a tarpon at night on the ICW.



...numerous dink stripers and blues on the Bay with good friends

...and many many more species and fish, too many to remember.

And I said to myself, no way am I selling this rod. It's got too many good fish, too much mojo. I'll never sell that rod, it's a sentimental thing. Yeah, I'm soft, I admit it.

How about you? On this rainy weekend, can you think of any gear that's just too dang loaded up with good mushy memories for you to sell? If you can't fish today, then why not think about the good times....

I'm gonna go tie some flies while the kid is still napping.

-- Doug

[djones]

Yeah, I wouldn't part with an Orvis bamboo 71/2 foot rod they named the Midge model. It is rated as a 5 weight but I found I preferred a double taper 4 weight. I've caught more fish on other rods because I only use this one a few times a season. It feels like an extension of my hand, arm, and entire body when I cast it, and I love its looks and even its smell when I've taken it out of the rod tube.

I also remember the circumstances when I bought it 23 years ago. I had been fly fishing for a couple of years and had two fiberglass rods. Graphite rods had been around for a while, and it seemed at that time that new materials were coming out all the time. My wife was pregnant with our first kid, and I felt this might be my last chance to indulge myself economically for a while. After much consideration, I bought this rod and a Hardy reel to go with it and never regretted the decision.

[Cutter]

Doug,

I have a 9wt Cabela's I bought when I was a student and had less than no money. It has caught my only permit, first bonefish, 50# king salmon, 42" striper and a bunch of other stuff. It isn't my "best" rod, but it is my favorite. Keep your friend, it is worth more to you than anyone else.

[Patapsco Mike]

I couldn't count the number of fly rods I've made, but my favorite is still the first one I ever made- an old Orvis 5 wt. Far-n-Fine I made my junior year of high school. It's 19 years old and still going strong. I've been tempted to re-wrap it a few times over the years, but I'm now glad I never did. I have much higher performance rods, but I've grown to love the lumpy brown varnish and the POS reel seat (I spent literally every penny I had and could only afford the cheapest fly reel seat they had in the store).

[Mako993]

I also had designs recently on selling a 4wt and 8wt rod, both purchased at Bass Pro Shops awhile back, but like you, I remembered the first fish I caught on the fly with them - panfish, largemouth, catfish, etc. So, I won't sell, either.

Speaking of fishing, I went to the Four Mile Creek with my same 4wt and a slew of bass and panfish flies, hoping to get into some decent casting around here today, but no such enlightenment - it was seriously a raging torrent, moving flotsam and logs past in a gushing rage. Guess I'll have to wait, and I'm sure there's more of this elsewhere around here...

[Flying Fish]

Doug: Interesting post. I just took photos of 3 Redington reels and a spool I have that I am getting ready to sell on EBay, but there's one that I won't part with because it has lots of fish to its credit. (Not that I could get much for that one, anyway, it is very well used.)

Rods: A Sage 480 SP that I actually tried to sell once and couldn't get anything for it, and the first "good" fly rod I ever bought, an 8.5' 5-wt T&T Emerger, back when they put really pretty hardware on those rods, even though I rarely use it.

Went to Skippers in Deale today (great arsters!) and it was pretty wild even in the creek for a while.

FF

[The Old Man]

I believe it's pronounced "ersters"...at least where I grew up.

Yeah, I can't sell that rod...I just love the action, it's so smooth, plus it practically seethes with good mojo.

-- Doug

[wahoo4228]

There's a shirt that I've had for a very long time. It says "When the going gets tough, the tough go fishing" on the front. I wear it just about every time I fish, except when it's too cold. Even though its covered in stains from bleeding fish and bait, filled with holes, and pretty small, I refuse to get rid of it.

[DF]

D -
I feel that way about oh..40 of 'em or so.
You should document your rods...where they went, what they caught, within reason, of course. Someday your stuff will belong to another sport, and any true angler can feel the spirit of the one who had it before it came to them. I'd love to know the history on some of my older cane rods.
Favorite rod of all time? Easy, in spite having some nice wood, it's my G904 Scott.
DF

[mike cozzens]

4 piece 6wt sage sp for me. Also my first "good flyrod" Slow, lazy casting and heavy, but I'll never sell it. Been through too much together. It's the most "unsage" sage I've ever cast.
Coz

[Flying Fish]

Isn't that interesting, Mike. I had a Sage 6-weight SP--it was 5 pieces, as I remember it--and I sold it for the reasons you gave! Now my FW 6-weight is a Winston LT-5. But I love my 389-5 SP.

FF

[Bonefish79]

Back in the early 70's short fly rods were the "in" thing, so I bought an Orvis Mitey Mite 5'/ 5wt bamboo and an early CFO III. Feels like you're casting with nothing, but it a great little rod and has taken a boatload of trout, smallies and bluegill. I'm terrified to fish it much now, but I'd never part with it.