Approval

It's no secret that I love panfish.  Depending on my mood they tie (with smallies, of course) for the #1 spot of my favorite fish to catch on the fly.  I really think that they are an underrated fish to catch on the fly.  This has always bothered me given that pound for pound panfish fight just as hard as other bigger gamefish like smallmouth or largemouth.  It was great to see the Year of the Bluegill last year. Hopefully we will see the Year of the Panfish in the near future.  Anyways....I digress.

Based on my love of all things panfish, I tend to seek out and buy those rods that were specifically designed to pursue these marvelous gamefish.  I recently shared some photos and knowledge about my newly acquired Wright and McGill quad solid panfish vintage fiberglass rod.  About two weeks ago, I discovered that there was a particular Shakespeare fiberglass rod on eBay that I had been looking to buy for quite some time.  Between 1956 and 1963, Shakespeare made two different fiberglass fly rods called the Panfish Special.  Both models came in two different lengths which were 6'6" and 7'0.  Both were two pieces and designed to cast a DT4F or L5F.  Truthfully there really aren't a lot of vintage fiberglass rods that are rated for a four weight line.  Upon examination of the listing, I knew I had to have this rod.  HAD TO HAVE IT!  Sadly, I had only recently sworn off eBay for a while.  I had been encouraged to slow down my rod acquiring, eBay searching habit by Melissa... apparently there's a premium on space in my house.  I'm unclear on why we can't just buy a bugger house!  When this guy popped up, I was worried I might not be able to bid on it, due to the aforementioned hiatus.  Thankfully, Melissa knew that I had been searching for quite some time for one of the two Shakespeare panfish models.  She graciously gave me approval to ensure my successful purchase of the rod.  If I am being honest here, some spouses do not understand a fisherman's need or desire to purchase fishing tackle.  To them it all looks the same and functions the same which is funny because shoes seem to be collected on a regular basis.  Maybe we should demand to have a rod for every pair of shoes our spouses own?  Last count of Melissa's collection of shoes put it around 55.  Given that I only have 52 rods, I SHOULD be able to grab three more give or take.  No way in hell that ever happens though right?

Well, the rod arrived today and I am thrilled with it.  This one is the 922 model and it was manufactured in Sept of 1962.  Everything appears to be in fantastic shape aside from a small scratch through the decal.  I can live with that though.  I can not wait to cast it.  A DT4F....for real?  Like I said, not many of them out there from the 50s and 60s.  I'm glad to say though, that this one is now mine and I can't wait to put a bend in it with some panfish.

I big thank you to my wife for almost encouraging a purchase of a fly rod!  Now she'll probably want some more shoes.  HA!