As much as I love playing with and fishing the latest and greatest products, there is something to be said for going “old school” every so often. This past winter I finally sat down and wrapped a blank I had been eyeing for a while, a Lamiglas BT 108 3M. This is a 9-foot fiberglass blank that has been around for many, many years. It has been touted as a great lightweight surf rod, capable of tossing plugs and eels up to about 3 ounces with ease. Like many fiberglass rods, it is very whippy and features a parabolic action which flexes deep into the reel seat under the load of a good fish. I not only wanted this rod for myself, but I also built it with plans of it being my son’s first rod when he eventually begins joining me in the night surf. I built the rod to handle 20-pound Fireline and a Van Staal 150 reel, the beginning of old meeting new.
The way the 2019 surf fishing season has been going for me, the rod didn’t see any use until late July. I was finally into a halfway decent bite with fish into the 30-pound class, so I figured it was a good time to christen the rod. I started off the night throwing a Super Strike darter on my go-rod, a Lamiglas 132 1M, and quickly landed a few bass in the teens. I swapped out for the 9-footer and wanted to make the rod’s first fish special, so I clipped on an original Danny plug crafted by the late Danny Pichney. I don’t know exactly when the lure came off Danny’s lathe, but I figure it has to be at least 30-plus years old. I rewired the plug with some modern swivels and rigged in my standard single-treble hook manner (more old meets new). The first few casts were uneventful, but then I had a solid whack, which I totally slept through. I kept at it, working the same general area where the edge of the defined rip line softens into an eddy, and the water erupted. I set up on the fish, it took a short run and was quickly brought ashore. It was no giant, but a quality fish of which I would have paid a pretty penny for just a few weeks earlier as I was amid a 24-day long string of skunkings. I had my camera already set up on shore, so within 30 seconds of landing the fish I held its tail in the wash before it kicked off in a welcomed spray of water on this hot and muggy night.
I landed several more fish on the night, nothing over 15 pounds, yet it was a night I’m sure I’ll remember for years to come. With any luck when the time comes to pass the rod on to my son, he too will make a lasting memory of his first fish on the rod.
