Big Neil visits Sydney continued and the custom built rod

[DerekD]

@big Neils trip to the big smoke continues...

Karma can be a funny and beautiful thing.

While I don’t believe in a cosmic force bringing balance to the universe I do point out sometimes that if you p!ss enough people off it is likely to come back and bite you sooner or later.

The wonderful thing about karma is that it also has a positive side. Do good things for others and you might find yourself blessed in ways that you never could have foreseen and in a quantity well exceeding the original action.

Years ago I did a long reply in a post to help someone asking for advice on catching kingfish. This one in fact:

 

I then received a very complimentary response from @wazatherfisherman . If you ever seen the detail and quality of any of his articles then you will hopefully see that that is high praise indeed. Not long after I was contacted by Big Neil asking for help with ticking kingfish off his fishing bucket list.

There were several chats with Wazza on how best to give Neil a shot at a kingfish and John Dory in the same trip. We settled on Cremorne point for several reasons and sent out the invite. While not successful and a kind of miserable day to boot we did get the chance to meet several raiders including @savit , @frankS & @HenryR.

This was the beginning of a lovely 3 way friendship. Wazza has health issues and can’t get out easily so I try and call him once a week to discuss fishing (theory, trips, memories, advice, etc.). I also enjoy chatting with Neil on a regular basis and catching up with him on his trips to Sydney and seeing him tick other items off his list (e.g. catching squid on a jig, first kingfish, blackfish on fly rod, etc.). Neil helped me and my friend @Flop get my first Murray cod and trout cod in the same trip down to his area.

Where is this heading you may ask and thank you for your patience if you are still with me.

One of Neil’s fishing bucket list items is a 1m Murray cod and preferably on lure. He doesn’t have a rod quite suitably for what he has in mind. He reached out to Wazza to get a custom made baitcasting rod. Longer than standard but with a slightly softer tip to allow better control when casting.

After Neil left @mrsswordfisherman and @swordfisherman on Friday afternoon we met at Wazza’s place for a catch up, dinner and to collect a Wazza’s custom built rod.

Neil being presented with his new rod. May you get many years of joy fishing with it.

Neil checking out the balance, feel and details of the new rod.

Some of the patterning above the grip and below the first runner.

Some of that positive Karma I was talking about turned up during this process. Between Covid and his health Wazza has been very house bound and has had a lot on his mind. Prior to this project, while not coming across as depressed he has been a bit down for a while. Since he started on it this it seems to have invigorated his passion for rod building as he has built many since. Behind the scenes we’ve had many a pleasant chat about the specs and the challenges with Neil’s rod. It was a lovely chance to catch up with friends in person. There were smiles and laughs all round on the night.

After dinner we made our way to the lower North shore to where Neil was staying in preparation for two big days of fishing related activities with myself and some other guests.

TBC.

Edited September 19, 2022 by DerekD

[Green Hornet]

Great to see 3 RAIDER LEGENDS get together and help each other out where they can.

Enjoy that new rod @big Neil. I know Waza put his heart and soul into that build and @wazatherfishermanreally nice to see things are improving for you and feeling better.

[mrsswordfisherman]

Great report!

This is the essence of fishraider spirit. The special friends we have all made due to a love of fishing is outstanding. 

@big Neil can’t wait for the report of a capture using the “wazatherfisherman special” rod. 

[bessell1955]

Wow what get together! 

[Little_Flatty]

Loving these get together reports!

What a beautiful rod for a deserving recipient in @big Neil. Is that threadwork that you did there @wazatherfisherman? I've seen a video on how to do this before, it kind of blew my mind (and then I found another video teaching me what I actually wanted to do!).

[zmk1962]

True raider spirit on display - well done everyone!

cheers Z

[Rebel]

Top story.

Glad to see things picking up Waza.

Keep on keeping on.

[Burger]

Always good to put a face to a Fishraider name!

Good onya Waza for creating a work of art for BN!!

and 👍 for DerekD for reaching out to a friend in need.  

[wazatherfisherman]

Thanks Derek and Neil I really enjoyed the visit and was happy to build the rod for Neil, hope to see some nice Cod caught on it soon! There's never enough time to talk about all the things fishing that you'd like to!

Building a few rods again has certainly helped with focussing on fishing and got me to make some of the blanks I had into rods- which has been enjoyable to say the least.

Look forward to catching up with Raiders as the Raider community is such a wonderful group and sharing experiences and information with like minded folk is soul food for fishers!

[wazatherfisherman]

6 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Loving these get together reports!

What a beautiful rod for a deserving recipient in @big Neil. Is that threadwork that you did there @wazatherfisherman? I've seen a video on how to do this before, it kind of blew my mind (and then I found another video teaching me what I actually wanted to do!).

Hi Mike no it's not 'marbling' but I thought it would be a nice match for the colour scheme of the purple blank. After finishing Neil's rod and starting to muck around with a few more, I did a couple with diamond binds, chevrons and stumbled across a new way (for me anyway!) to do a 'fish-like' pattern.

I stopped doing decorative patterns years ago due to worsening eyesight, but with better glasses, more light and plenty of time have done a few again (some turning out better than others!) with mixed results. They don't catch any more fish but are nice to 'individualise' a rod

[Flop]

I'm welling up - lovely to see.

[Bennyg78]

That looks like such an awesome rod!

Looks like a great time spent together 

[big Neil]

On 9/20/2022 at 7:37 AM, mrsswordfisherman said:

Great report!

This is the essence of fishraider spirit. The special friends we have all made due to a love of fishing is outstanding. 

@big Neil can’t wait for the report of a capture using the “wazatherfisherman special” rod. 

Aha, me too Donna. Looks the goods, that's for sure. May well be when I venture to Mulwala, unless the Murrumbidgee happens to become fishable when the Cod season opens on Dec 1st.. Can't wait to try it. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get a L/H wind baitcaster.reel. Luckily Pickles pulled a few strings and I managed exactly what I wanted from a place in Penrith.

bn

[big Neil]

On 9/21/2022 at 7:38 PM, Flop said:

I'm welling up - lovely to see.

Many thanks for the great night we had at your place. Fabulous hospitality mate. bn

[big Neil]

On 9/20/2022 at 2:56 PM, wazatherfisherman said:

Thanks Derek and Neil I really enjoyed the visit and was happy to build the rod for Neil, hope to see some nice Cod caught on it soon! There's never enough time to talk about all the things fishing that you'd like to!

Building a few rods again has certainly helped with focussing on fishing and got me to make some of the blanks I had into rods- which has been enjoyable to say the least.

Look forward to catching up with Raiders as the Raider community is such a wonderful group and sharing experiences and information with like minded folk is soul food for fishers!

Many thanks for the excellently built rod Waza. Itching to try it out and hope it won't be too long. Great to check out your "collections"... you have a passion for fishing, greater than anybody else I know.

Cheers, Neil

[wazatherfisherman]

1 hour ago, big Neil said:

Many thanks for the excellently built rod Waza. Itching to try it out and hope it won't be too long. Great to check out your "collections"... you have a passion for fishing, greater than anybody else I know.

Cheers, Neil

Hi Neil glad you like the look of the rod- now looking forward to seeing you catch some big Cod on topwater. Hope you'll be able to pop in when next you are around this way and yes, I really love fishing. Great you got out in amongst the pretty ordinary weather and caught most of your target species too

Cheers Waza

[big Neil]

On 9/21/2022 at 7:38 PM, Flop said:

I'm welling up - lovely to see.

Oh you big softy...(he,he). bn

[frankS]

7 hours ago, big Neil said:

Aha, me too Donna. Looks the goods, that's for sure. May well be when I venture to Mulwala, unless the Murrumbidgee happens to become fishable when the Cod season opens on Dec 1st.. Can't wait to try it. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get a L/H wind baitcaster.reel. Luckily Pickles pulled a few strings and I managed exactly what I wanted from a place in Penrith.

bn

Was there something wrong with the LH wind one you got off me ?.

Frank

[big Neil]

27 minutes ago, frankS said:

Was there something wrong with the LH wind one you got off me ?.

Frank

Heck no Frank. That's on another rod. Do you wind left handed as a norm? I'm going to put a post on here to see whether more people wind right or left handed. Look forward to your contribution.

Neil.