I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had joined the Manley Rods Pro Staff.
Today I want to tell you a little more about the company and their rods.

Terry L. Manley's vision was to create the best performing fishing rod on the market. To do that he invented the patent-pending MRF (Multifunctional Rod Foundation) System (AKA the Adjust-A-Butt System). The MRF System is extremely durable and it allows anglers to adjust the length of the butt for different styles or types of fishing.

THE RODS

GOLD SERIES

The Gold Series Manley Rods are built with versatility in mind. The flexibility of the MRF System allows the angler to use one rod for multiple techniques or lures. With our high modulus, proprietary blend blank, these rods are sensitive enough to let you feel everything while having all the backbone you'll ever need so you can enjoy a strong run, not fear it.

PLATINUM SERIES

The Platinum Series Manley Rods are built with one purpose: to perform at the highest level. Whether you’re a bass addict or redfish junkie, these rods will give you peace of mind in knowing you’ll feel every bite while having all the backbone you need to pull a big fish out of heavy cover. The flexibility of the MRF System allows the angler to use one rod for multiple techniques or lures, reducing the number of rods you need to keep on the boat. These rods will meet the needs of even the most competitive anglers and help you get more fish in the boat when it counts.

I have been fishing with both the Gold and Platinum Series rods for several years now and have found them to perform better than any other rods I have ever owned. They are super sensitive  to even the lightest strike or bump. I love the MRF System as it allows me to carry less rods in the kayak and still be able to fish a variety of different baits by adjusting the length of the butt. 

Get you some now at http://manleyrods.com/ and use my code JERRYHAMON at checkout and save 60%

New Opportunity

I am proud to announce that I am now a member of the Manley Rods Pro Staff. I have been fishing with their rods for several years now and feel very blessed to be a part of the Manley Rods family.

What a way to start the new year!

2015 ended kinda slow but 2016 is off to a running start.

It started with a visit to the 5th Annual Red River Rendezvous at beautiful Bonham State Park.

I hitched up the Tiny Trailer and left out after work that Friday for what turned out to be a really fun adventure.

The Tiny Trailer proved to be an extremely fun way for me to travel, transport the kayaks, and camp with little to no extra effort or work involved.

I spent Friday night in it at the group area and woke very refreshed for Saturdays events.

Saturday was a fun day with lots of food and a little bit of fly tying action. I took the Native Slayer Propel out on the lake for a quick spin but the extreme wind made it a very quick one.

Thanks to all of my Red River Fly Fisher friends for a great weekend of fly tying, eating, and fellowship!

Last weekend a few of us from Mariner Sails met up at the Brazos River below Possum Kingdom Lake for a paddle up river to the dam to try our hands at catching a few fish. The flow was fairly strong and on top of it we had a strong head wind. My new Bending Branches Angler Pro paddle with the Plus Ferrule did the job for me on this tough paddle.

We made the trip to the dam and began fishing. I was throwing a blue/white #6 Clouser fly on my TFO Clouser 7wt fly rod. First cast I caught a decent sand bass. On the second cast I hooked into a striper in the 26 inch range which put up quite a fight.

They continued to bite really well on that fly. I caught a lot more fish (all in the white bass family) before we decided to float back down to the take out and grab a bite of lunch before making the trek home.

More adventures coming soon!

Until then, tight lines!

The REV

New for 2016

Well, 2015 has come and gone like the wind and now it's time to jump into 2016.
The weather has been a real bear so far and has kept me pretty much in the house.
I have gotten out some this year but not much.

So far I have only fished one time this year and that was the 9th Annual Denison Trout Derby at Waterloo Pond. It was cold and windy but I bundled up and headed out to try my hand at catching a limit (5 fish) of stocker trout. The stakes were pretty high with $100, $50, and a trophy on the line. I did manage a limit of trout and did not manage to win anything except a digital scale in the door prize drawing.

I decided over the holidays that I wanted to convert my kayak trailer to a multipurpose trailer with the ability to carry 4 kayaks and for me to have a nice little camping area inside of it. After much head scratching we started the construction. It only took about a week to get it to a point where I can use it to camp. The interior and all of the add ons will come at a later date.



      

The Slayer Propel 10's will go on top and the Ultimate FX's will go on either side.

Looking forward to trying it out this weekend at the 4th Annual Red River Rendezvous at Bonham State Park.

Until next time tight lines,

The Rev

This past weekend I participated in the Backwoods Ft Worth Kayak Bass Tournament on The Brazos River below Lake Whitney. Prior to heading down I visited TFO and picked up one of the “NEW” 7wt Clouser Series Rods to fish the tournament with.

The first thing I noticed about the rod was how light it is compared to my Series 1 Clouser 7wt. I also noticed the beautiful midnight blue blank with the gold accents and lettering (being a cop that was very appealing to me). The rod is topped with TFO’s Tactical Series Stripping Guides, ultra-lightweight chromium-impregnated stainless snake guides, and a beautiful new style cork grip. The rod is just beautiful. Oh, did I mention that they are now nine-foot in length?

I loaded up the rod with my Echo Ion reel and 7WF Float line and tied on an orange #6 bead chain eye Clouser, jumped in my kayak and headed down river.

Shortly after leaving the launch I stopped by a high bluff where I observed some guys catching a lot of fish. I eased down river from them about 15 or 20 yards and began casting at that same high bluff. The very first cast I hooked up with a magnum sand bass. I was very impressed with how well the rod performed while I was fighting and landing the fish. The next cast blessed me with what turned out to be a 22 inch striped bass. It was then that I realized the strength and amount of backbone that the Clouser rod had. I landed that striper with little to no effort.

The tournament was 10 hours and 8.5 miles long so I had the opportunity to catch many fish that day. I caught close to 200 fish during the tournament. They included striped bass, sand bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and a variety of sunfish. 

At the end of the day I have to say that the New Clouser Rod is a win for TFO. It is perfect for every species for a 22 inch striped bass to a 2 inch bluegill.

They come in 9 foot, four-piece configurations in 5 through 10 weights.

The NEW Clouser Series retails for $199.95 - $219.95 and comes with TFO’s Limited Lifetime Warranty. 

Brazos River Expedition

On April 18th myself and 20 others from the Mariner Sails Kayak Fishing Club launched our kayaks for what turned out to be a very memorable adventure.

We left the launch around 10 in the morning and paddled up river to a gravel bar which would be a our campsite for the night.

Many paddled and fished en-route to the campsite.

Others paddled straight to the site and began setting up their tents.

That evening we all met back at the camp to prepare our dinners.
During dinner several folks were closely monitoring the weather radar as a huge storm was working it's way across Texas.

That storm found us at about 7:30 Saturday evening and brought some serious wind, rain, thunder, and lightening with it. We all hunkered down in our tents to ride it out. It lasted for about and hour and a half and then moved on.

Once it was gone we decided to get out of our tents and survey the area to make sure everything was okay. Fortunately, everything was still intact.

While we were out we observed something huge and black in the river that appeared to be floating our direction. It first was believed to be a kayak that had gotten loose, then someone said it was a huge cow, and as it got closer we realized it was a large herd of wild hogs and that they were headed right toward us. Fortunately, when someone yelled "it's hogs!" they turned and ran away.

It continued to rain late into the night so we all turned in.

The next morning everyone was up at the crack of dawn. Some jumped in their yaks and took off up river in search of more fish while others of us hung out and cooked up some breakfast.

During break fast we handed out three collectible water bottles to three folks.

Funniest fish story of the trip went to the Lopez Brothers.

Person who brought the most stuff went to Dan Nelson.

Youngest camper on the expedition went to Hannah Brimage.

After breakfast it was time to start packing up and heading back to the take out point.

We all converged on the take out point around 2 o'clock and began dragging all of our gear and yaks up the hill to our vehicles.

This was a really fun trip. Many of the folks who attended had never tent camped much less load all their gear into a kayak and paddle it 3 miles up river and setup camp on a gravel bar. Then you add in the severe thunderstorm and it wound up being quite an adventure.

Everyone on the trip reported that they caught fish. Several stated that they caught over 100 fish over the two days.

I want to say a big thank you to my buddy Rick Hall. Without his help this event would not have taken place.

mi vida loca

Okay, maybe it is more wonderful than crazy but keeping up with it sometimes makes me crazy.

I have spent time fishing, tying flies, attending tackle/boat shows, and even fishing a trout derby.

I'll back up to December 2014.

The City of Denison had their annual Adult Trout Derby in December and in spite of the freezing temperatures I decided to give it a shot. The fishing was slow but I was bale to catch a golden trout in the first 5 minutes and therefore be qualified for a prize. that was a good thing as I was not able to catch a limit of trout to be eligible for the grand prize of $100.

When it was all said and done I walked away with a cool monogrammed hat and a nice ultralite spinning rod/reel combo.

The next weekend was spent with my son in law Austin and my grandson Christian at a HOW outing. It was Austin's first time fishing from a kayak but not Christian's. We had a great time and caught some sweet fish.

The next week I met some buddies at Lake Fork for a little crappie fishing action.

We first had breakfast at Oak Ridge Marina where lots of lies were told and lots of challenges issued. We all signed a $1 bill and put them in a hat. Those were to be the prize for the biggest crappie. 

A rod/reel combo was donated for the prize for the smallest crappie.

The winner of the biggest crappie was..... me!

The winner of the smallest crappie was.... me!

Here they are!!!

Well, the weather did not cooperate too well for a couple of weeks so I spent some time indoors.

THEN, it warmed up and the sun shined so it was time to fish.

I gave away 4 guided trips at the Mariner Sails 40th Anniversary party.

The next week I took a couple of guys out for trip #1 of 4.

Fishing was good and their faces tell the whole story.

The last two weekends have been spent at tackle and boat shows.

Mesquite

Dallas

Oh, I forgot to mention...

On the 29th of January we had a Chili Shootout at work.

And the winner was...

I hope each of you is having as wonderful of a new year as me.

Have fun and be blessed in 2015!!!

Until next time, tight lines!!

The REV