My (Not So) Guilty Pleasure...

I used to use the excuse that I was fishing a glass spinning rod and crickets since I was fishing with our then young children.  Fast forward a few years and they are both teenagers.  Where did those years go?

I guess I'm doing this since I just like doing it.  Who doesn't like a guilty pleasure sometimes? 

 

And, is there any better made for fun (tasty too) fish than the bluegill?  I'll wait.

GEAR NOTES

If you're at all a gear nerd (guilty) then it's easy to overthink fishing from a kayak.  In reality, you don't need much.  In this case, a couple of light wire hooks, foam slip bobber, a little weight to get the crickets down to where the fish are, and that's about it.  

 

Here are a few things that I used on yesterday's pond trip of note...

GRAYWOLF RODS UL SPINNING ROD - Shane and I often have conversations on what's next, what's not out there, and other new ideas that he further delves into.  He's offered glass (and carbon) spinning and BFS (Bait Finesse System) rods for a couple of years now and the 5'11" UL glass spinning rod that I have is just too much fun.  In fact, if I was ever pinned down to come up with a "Ten Glass Rods Everyone Should Have", one of these ultralight spinning rods would be on it.  No joke.  

Shane loaded up a couple glass spinning rods on his website earlier today and if he doesn't have what you're looking for, it's always worth sending him an email.

HELLBENDER NETS - You might remember a previous T.F.M. post where JD Berry walked us through the making of his bamboo nets.  That highlighted net arrived on my doorstep soon after and it's been in and out of my kayak all summer.  The Hellbender Nets are as functional as they are stunning to look at. 

RON'S FLY ROD TUBES - John Noble of Scaly Designs and Ron's Fly Rod Tubes reached out to see I needed a rod tube for any wayward rod and I just so happened to need one for this little spinning rod.  There are a lot of options for building your own rod tubes as far as diameter, length, hardware finish, and color of the aluminum tubing.  This dark orange with black threaded cap is the perfect compliment to the yellow glass with dark orange/brown wraps.

Use "TFM10" for 10% off your order and the code will be on the T.F.M. Affliations page too.

SHIMANO SAHARA 500 - When I circled back to spinning rods after a couple of decades absence, I started investing in Shimano spinning reels and when I needed a ultralight reel for this glass spinning rod, it didn't take too long to settle on the Sahara 500.  This is a sweet little reel that balances this outfit perfectly. 

YETI GOBOX 15 GEAR CASE - As soon as the LoadOut GoBox 30 was released what has to be a couple of years ago, I was already looking for additional size gear boxes to be introduced.  There was a bit of a wait but the GoBox 15 and GoBox 60 are now out to round out this solid collection of gear cases.

I see a lot of different possibilities for the GoBox 15 depending on the season, trip, or where we are going.  For this trip, the included cargo tray was perfect for keeping track of fishing gear and my soft side camera case fit underneath.  Snapping the lid closed is easy and where I've learned the lesson the hard way on zippered waterproof cases, the GoBox 15 latches closed for a waterproof lid fit.

What are your not so guilty pleasures?  If you needed someone to suggest that you need a glass spinning rod in your life, this is it.