Happy April
But first, shop news.
We have a couple new innovations to announce. As many of you know, we have a very successful line of surf rods. Based on that success, Ray has decided to branch out into a couple of new areas. The first area is reels. But instead of just having a copy made of a successful Shimano or Daiwa reel and putting our name on it, we decided to be innovative. We know there are many anglers who prefer the casting distance, spool control and fish fighting strength of a conventional reel, but don’t like that gravity makes the reel want to rotate to the bottom of the rod.
So what’s the solution, an acid wrapped spinning rod? No, that is an utterly stupid idea.
We designed a conventional reel that goes on the bottom side of the rod. We call it the Grumpys Low Hanger Conventional Reel. All the control and strength of an conventional reel with none of the detractions. And no need for silly guides wrapping around to the other side of the blank. Made with military aircraft 10,000XC quality proprietary aluminum alloy, this is the strongest reel on the market. Has 80 pounds of max drag, one pound of minimum drag, and holds 800 yards of 50 pound braid, these can be used for anything from bluegills to bluefin. Comes in anodized blue and gold, and for a limited time we are going to have “hot rod red” and gold, i.e. the Ironman special.
We should have these available sometime in late June or early July. Here is a nice yellowfin caught on the prototype.
Another area of innovation Ray has gotten us into is electronics. We have Grumpys Sandstorm Hovershark 6000. What is it? It’s an underwater drone. What makes it better than the other underwater drones you may have seen on YouTube? Well, the other drones just let you see what is under your boat in real time. With the Hovershark 6000, we installed a claw, so if you see a fish you like, you just drive the drone up and grab it. This device will make fishing rods a thing of the past. As you can see by the color, Scott had input into this item. Of course, Scott insisted we have a sand crab attachment. We expect them to be available in early fall.
We will also be releasing a titanium claw upgrade, for those who want to go for truly big game like swordfish and wahoo.
Bob, not wanting to be outdone, is working on a new invention of his own. He is creating a line of rods for Canadian Geese. He has fished, or, more appropriately, “goosed” some of his prototypes and said the results are positive. When he connects with a goose, he says it is like “flying an angry kite.”
As for the fishing, we have some good and bad news. Based on the most recent catch reports, the striper fishing has shut down. No, the government did not shut it down. The fish heard how much overage there was and just stopped biting. They are on trike and refuse to bite until we meet their demands. They want flavored plastic fishing lures (they say they prefer “sand eel”), and would like us to go back to line with more stretch. Their dental bills are kinda high with braided line.
Oh, good news…
The weakfish are back. We have been hearing of good catches of weakfish from 20 inches to 34 inches in the Oyster Creek area. They are hitting live blueclaw crabs exclusively. We should have a few bushels before the weekend ends.
There is also an incredible hogchoker bite in the bay right now. They are hitting Daiwa SP minnows. They prefer chrome or translucent sardine. Do not use any mackerel colors, as mackerel and hogchoker are natural enemies.
Ray is speechless from all that is going on. And yes, he needs a shave…
