Early Springtime fishing. Where can I start...well, with a trip to a “local” tackle shop. It was a warming evening with the sun shining out of Philadelphia. I could tell there was a special feeling in the air that motivated me to get on my move as quickly as possible in order to avoid traffic and get to Ship Bottom, NJ.
Taking the PA Turnpike 276 into the NJ brought me back through some beautiful back woods of our nations Garden State. I could savor the fresh air coming through the windows of my jeep because I could be sure this route wouldn’t be made again for a while. The twisted highways lead to flat and calm throughways of 72 and onto the “island”. I was finally there to pick up a rod I had my bud build for me while being out of town. I made it around 6:30pm and was greeted by great guys thinking, speaking, and doing everything fishing. It was a great feeling to be back in Fisherman’s Headquarters. The helm Greg leads is a frequent spot for many anglers and for me it is a place I spend countless hours.
I ended up taking my time to catch up and test out a few new Seeker Hercules blanks. GTS70L, H, & XH to name a few that I had some interest in. I had been anticipating my custom rod and felt that although it was a first of its kind, once people understood the capabilities of this blank they would find a good usage for its action and taper.
This is the one blank I used from Sean Elumba back last Fall with Captain Rich on the Lady Frances. I decided on a spinning setup for all around fishing that could range from porgy, black seabass, bluefish, stripers, along with the marathon fishing up north for cod, pollock, haddock, & hake. The composite S-glass that Seeker rolls out was designed by a local stud named Billy Vivona of Staten Island. His work helped produced a lineup that can introduce a typical west coast tackle company to the east coast shores lined with sharpies young and old.
I anticipated this trip down to the shop that I underestimated my time I would spend talking tackle. I had to leave because I had a fishing trip to get on!
