'Boo-'Gills

As I wrote about back in early December of 2017, (Click Here to read Boo!) I won a John Irgens-built bamboo rod at my Trout Unlimited Chapter's Holiday Banquet. It was super exciting to win something, but I am not a bamboo guy, and the bamboo rod I won was not an everyday kind of a rod, being a 6'6" long 2-weight. I wasn't really sure when I would fish with it, but tonight I finally took it out of its tube and hit the favorite local water with it. And I gotta say, it was pretty fun!

First fish on the bamboo rod

My quarry tonight were bluegills, something I figured the diminutive bamboo rod could handle. I fished with a size 10 Foam Rubber Spider, and the rod handled it just fine, as long as I didn't try to make any 50' casts. Thankfully there were a ton of hungry 'gills close to shore, and every one of them put a nice bend in the rod. My wife was nearby, and whenever she saw me fighting a fish, she assumed I had a brute on the end of my line. She was always surprised at how ordinary all of the fish turned out to be...

A very ordinary bluegill put this nice bend in the rod. At least my 2-year-old was impressed!

In a half hour or so I landed about a dozen fish, and missed a lot more that were just nibbling. It was a fun way to christen my bamboo rod, and I think I'll bring it out again in the near future!


Gear used: John Irgens 6'6" 2-weight bamboo rod; Maxcatch Avid 1/3 weight reel; Size 10 black Foam Rubber Spider with chartreuse legs.