my nifty Father's Day presents

[HuskerFlyFisher]

My dad is a fly fishing nut, and he enjoys tinkering with rods, reels, and flies as much as the fishing, itself.

Well, for fathers day, he gave me this long, skinny, metal (tin?) tub. The end cap had about a dozen thread so I thought it never would unscrew.

Well, I opened it up and out came something wrapped up in a white cloth, and as I unrolled the cloth, there were four distinct pockets.

What do you know if it isn't my very own bamboo fly rod! What's really cool is that this rod is from 1931 and is ORIGINAL. It is 9 feet long, and for the tip, I have a choice of a "lighter" ?? tip or a heavier tip, depending on the type of fishing I am to do. The rod is in MINT condition - I'm almost afraid to use it!

Next, my dad completely refurbished for me a 1950s modle "Flueger" (sp?) reel. It is super slick. It's still in the original box that came from a sporting good store somewhere in Wisconsin and it has a price tag still on it. $9.95.

WOW! Happy day! We are heading up to the Arkansas River in Colorado next weekend for a couple of days of fishing!

[Don Kirk]

What a lovely gift. It was made for fishing, perhaps not for taking on trip around the Horseshoe, but nevertheless, it’s for fishing. By all means fish it. Most of the cane you see from those days was made by Montague, South Bend, Shakespeare, H&I, and Heddon. Pflueger cane is usual, but extremely well made. I believe you will enjoy casting. My guess is that it slow as molasses and smooth as a Cohiba. Let us know how the old girl flings line. Do you have a picture of it to share?
dk

[HuskerFlyFisher]

Hi Don. First of all, I can only assume that you are the same Don Kirk as the author of the Smoky Mountains Fly Fishing book. If so, I have it in my library in Texas here and I have read it over and over.

It, along with a book by Ian Rutter, are my fly fishing "bibles".

I will take a few photos of this new gear in the next few days. We are going to be fishing two spots in southern Colorado next weekend so I will be reporting back.

Unfortunately, we will not be coming back out to the Smokies this summer due to some unforeseen circumstances here in Texas. But hopefully I will have a pretty day or two out there at New Years!