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The Ugly Stick Fishing Rod - Amongst the Best

With its unusual name, many people might not think of a fishing rod when they hear about the Ugly Stick...but that is what it is. It's not ugly, either, it's is quite a handsome looking fishing rod, and one of the most popular on the market. Its popularity comes from its strength and durability, and its relatively low price for the quality that you get. Avid fishermen can't ask for more than that!

It is the color of this fishing rod that gave it its unusual name; clear along the tip end, and a gray color on the rest of the rod. Most people think that the Ugly Stick fishing rod looks just fine, however - even attractive - but nevertheless the name has remained the same for many years.

Created by a company called Shakespeare, which has been in business since 1897, the Ugly Stick fishing rod became popular in a very short amount of time. Quality craftsmanship and reasonable pricing made it a formidable contender in the fishing rod market, and many fishermen, although at first skeptical, switched to using this fishing rod after they tried one for themselves. Catchy advertising these days, such as "Fish Ugly", has made the Ugly Stick fishing rod even more of a unique item to own. The Ugly Stick fishing rod was a big seller soon after it first came on the market, and today it is the largest selling fishing rod of all time.

Shakespeare makes several different types of Ugly Stick fishing rods, for different types of fishing. There are Ugly Stick catfish rods, Ugly Stick crappie rods and poles, and Ugly Stick striper rods, to name a few. Some people may think that it doesn't matter what type of fishing pole you use when you are freshwater fishing, as long as it is light enough to be comfortable, but experienced fishermen know that this is not true. Ugly Stick enthusiasts very rarely have one type of Ugly Stick fishing rod - most have several. Even those rods that are for a specific kind of fishing come in different styles, to make sure that fishermen have the right rod for what type of water they are fishing in and what type of fishing they are doing.

For big water and deep water fishing, Shakespeare makes a version of the Ugly Stick called the "Wicked Stick", a longer and wider pole built for being able to tackle big ocean fish such as tuna and shark. Wicked Sticks actually come in different colors, unlike their "Ugly Stick" counterparts.

Fishermen who are looking for a good fishing rod, no matter what type of fishing they will be doing, would do well to check out the Ugly Stick first - they may not feel the need to look any further!

About the Author

John Gibb is the owner of fishing rod guides
, For more information on fishing rods check out fishingrod-sources.info

Fishing, Oysters, Alligators and Me!

Sleet and occasional flurries of snow are making tap dancing sounds on my deck. Outside the cat is snuggled up inside his box in the garage. He's able to go outside if he wants, through the pet door which I have opened up again. A family of raccoons decided to move in with him and until they found a new home, I had to board up the pet door.

I'm keeping warm tonight by making plans for my summer vacation. I'm going to a warm and sunny beach on northern Florida's Gulf Coast. Having visited the Apalachicola area before, I've decided that that's where I'm going again! Since the last time I was there, I've done more research on the area and discovered that I missed a lot of things simply because I didn't do my homework before I arrived. This time I've made a list of some of the things I want to do when I get there this spring.

The first thing on my calendar when I get to the bay is to go oystering. I'm going to book a four hour trip with one of the guides who make his living harvesting oysters. I didn't make the trip any longer than 4 hours because after reading about the oystermen, who are called 'tongers', I don't believe my aching body would last more than a few hours. At that I may be pushing the limits of my endurance!

Charters will take 2-4 people with them at a time. That's about all the 20-24 foot boat will safely hold. The boat will have a culling board so you can sort the oysters according to size when you haul them aboard. The guide from whom I booked the charter says culling is not as easy as it sounds, but by the end of the tour I'll probably be an expert.

From what I have seen by watching oystermen from the shore, tonging looks like hard work. This is the way many of their fathers and grandfathers harvested oysters many years ago. They use a tool called 'tongs' that look like a heavy steel rake with long wooden handles that operate a little like a post hole digger. Sometimes the oyster beds are in 5-10 feet of water so the tonger has to be able to reach that far down.
This certainly sounds like work to me, but I want to take a shot at it.

Another item on my 'to do' list when I reach the Apalachicola area is to go to the St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge. It's a barrier island, providing natural protection for the mainland from damaging winds and waves. You can only reach this northwestern Florida Gulf Coast island by boat. One of the great things about this place is that there are no human inhabitants. There are caretakers who live on the island sometimes and keep the place as natural as possible.

This island, with its marshes on the bay side of the island, is home for many specie of animals including Sambar deer, white tail-deer, alligators, loggerhead sea turtles, raccoons, ospreys, and bald eagles. Threatened or endangered bald eagles, sea turtles and the red wolf, enjoy life of the island. My wife is not as thrilled as I about going to an island that has neither souvineer shops nor restaurants, but to me this sounds like paradise. Spending the day fishing on the gulf side of the island and picking up shells that haven't been picked over by others is my idea of a relaxing vacation.

One of the brochures I've read boasts that as many as 2400 visitors boat to the island and walk the beach each year. Can you imagine? There are 2400 people on most Florida beaches each day! The island remains primitive and pristine because visitors to the island take care and clean up after themselves as they should on every beach.

These are my two must see trips I'll put on my calendar for this summer, but no vacation would be complete without dining out at local restaurants. The last time I was on St. George Island which is one of the four barrier islands protecting the mainland, there were two restaurants. All I can say is that one was wonderful, the way a seafood restaurant should be when you're on an island. The other one wasn't great. I would not recommend that one!

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Just give me a couple of brochures about fishing and eating and I'm happy. With each day getting a little longer than the one before, I know it's getting closer to vacation time!

Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, holiday eating and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
bluemarlinbob and
bobalexander.ws

My Fishing Partner

Fly fishing here in Alberta, Canada is about as good now as it was when my father first took me as a young boy, 35 years ago. My dad was my fishing partner for all of my life, but sadly he got very sick and that was the end of his fishing days. Fishing was never the same after that, as for 2 years I walked the backwoods and cut lines alone, and I caught my share of trout, but something was missing. I finally decided that I would have to find someone to share this experience with me, someone who would enjoy this as much as I did.

Over the next two years I fished off and on with 10 different partners and came to the conclusion that I would never find anyone that enjoyed fly fishing as much as I did. I was totally convinced that I would never find anyone that would walk the remote creeks and rivers all day long without complaint, and sit by the campfire long after we should have crawled into our sleeping bags. My brother came out to fish with me one day and brought along a friend of his by the name of Zuk. Now this guy was green as grass when it came to fly-fishing. Zuk fished the day with us and I don't recall him catching anything more than rocks, and he lost all his hooks, and a dozen of the hooks I gave to him. Later that evening we started a small fire along the river we were fishing and I fried a couple of trout that my brother and I had caught. After we had finished eating we ended up sitting around the campfire long into the night, talking about the events of the day and poking fun at Zuk. The only comment Zuk had about the day was that he had never had this much fun fishing before, and he was wondering if he would be able to do this again. We were in the early days of September, 1994, and I thought we would be able to do one more trip, but the weather changed to early snow and we never did get out again that year.

The following spring I decided to give Zuk a call and we arranged a five-day trip together in September. After months of planning, the big day was here, and we packed my truck and headed out on the four-hour drive. I could see that he was as excited as I was and when we arrived I don't ever recall setting up camp in such timely fashion. We got geared up and spent the whole day fishing, and that evening, sitting by the campfire, Zuk's only question was why I caught all the fish and he couldn't catch any. We talked about fishing long into the night and I told him many little tips and tricks that I have picked up over the years. He sat in silence nodding his head. The next morning we arose with the sun and headed out for a long day of fishing, and as I watched him fishing and I could see that what I had told him the previous night had not been in vain. Zuk caught several fish that day and he was amazed at his good luck, that night by the firelight we talked about what he had learned that day. In all my years of fly fishing I have never seen anyone that could be so absorbed with every little detail he was told and still be able to store it in his memory, never to forget.

We have been fishing partners for 11 years now, and I have to always been at my best game when it comes to fishing for fear that he will show me up, as he has done so many times in the past few years. The first few years we fished together at some of the more popular spots, where there was usually several other fishermen, it was normal for at least one or two of them to come over and ask what I was doing different that allowed me to catch more fish than they could. As the years have slowly gone by and people wander over to us looking for advice, its not unusual for them to direct their questions at Zuk, and you know for some reason I feel good about that. This story is not about my abilities as a fly fishing teacher, this story is about an exceptional fishing partner who had the ability to learn, and teach himself, and in doing so helped make me a better fisherman also.

Good luck and tight lines.

About the Author

Andy Klynstra works for Oil-Net.Com providing professionals in the global oil and gas industry with the information, products, and services they need.

Thoughts about homer alaska fishing
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Rusty, Spinner, Xelon

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