How are ya? Spring is right around the corner.Steve is doing fine and says hello!!

You are certainly welcome to come and fish with us again this spring! Now that we know what to do there,we should catch many more fish.I look forward to fishing with you again in the spring.
BTW, My email just plain will not work!! I have no idea why !! But I will keep in touch. Good to hear from you..Bill

His e-mail works but his machine is corrupted somehow!!! Bill, bring your computer to my house this weekend!!!

Hi Bill!
I was disappointed that I didn't get to go out with you again before the season ended. I am really looking forward to this spring. I was wondering if you could give me the name of the guy who builds your rods. I'd like to have an 11' rod. Hey, maybe this summer you'll show me your secret spot on the island. I have a new e-mail address, it's wendymicheleo@aol.com. Can't wait to get out there again. I'm going to get some waders with the boots built right in, too. Talk to you soon!

Hey John,
Maybe I'll get to meet you this summer.

Wendy,
I'm looking forward to meeting you this year too.

Question for ya, do you really want an 11 foot rod??

Hey John-
Well, that place Bill likes in the spring might. I was about 10' short of where I wanted to get it and he suggested a longer rod. The rod Steve gave me is 9'. I was hoping I could pick up the extra distance with a couple extra feet.

Hi Wendy, if you are looking to get that extra 10 feet, you may wish to make changes in line or maybe go to a 10 foot rod, but not all the way to an 11. You maybe able to get extra distance with a different reel or even running a little extra line hanging from the end of the rod as this adds to the theoretical lenght of the rod.

If I recall, that rod you got from Steve was pretty sweet but there are a few options you can do. Do you remember the specs on the rod by chance? It was a custom rod so it might not be labled. Was this with the jigs used earlier in the spring time or with eels?

I'd have to agree with John about the rod length. I had an 11' lamiglas rod made as a wedding gift a few years back.

I can definitely hurl plugs out there, but the thing is a horse. Add a Penn 8500 on and an hour of casting... dude, my shoulder and elbow are screamin'.

Too big an outfit can wear you down and do some damage over the long term. My shoulder will definitely need some work in the next couple of years as it has gotten worse and worse (and I'm only 30). Now that's not all from fishing, but it certainly contributed.

Casting is as much timing and technique as it is strength, so with work you can throw a 9-10' rod as far as any of us.

I hadn't thought of that aspect. Thanks for the good advice. I must have misunderstood Bill. I know that Steve has an 11' with a spinning reel. Maybe that's where I got confused. Thanks again!

Wendy, 10-1/2' might be the perfect compromise. You should take a little drive down to M&Ds Tackle in Wareham and talk to Mike Thomas, he builds most of my rods (Bill gets most of his done by Bob Andrade in Attleboro). All Star makes a couple of featherweight blanks that I think you'll love, the 1265/2 and the 1266/2. The lighter "65" should be perfect for spring schoolies in most of the places Bill fishes. They're 2 piece, but otherwise, I love those blanks. Mike's making a 1266/2 spinning rod for me. These blanks are thinner and much lighter than the 11' Stevie M fishes, which is probably a Lamiglas.

I believe Steve's 11 footer is a steelhead rod that he uses to launch small jigs into low-earth orbit. Quite a rig and I do think it is a Lami. It's pretty amazing to see Bill and Steve casting half ounce jigs well past where most everyone else is getting a 3/4 to an ounce out there. Bill with his 8 or 9 and a Calcutta 250 and Steve with the 11 steelhead and a mini-VS (Tim Coleman may have been close to the truth when he said Steve has 28% of the Van Staal reels sold in the Northeast :P ) Now if you were only dropping 10 feet short of them, first off, you're a darn good caster, secondly, maybe a second season with them will get your range out as well...