Nothing says summer
 

like a hopper 'n' dropper rig on a blue collar rod and bluegills...

https://i.imgur.com/tr7zVLll.jpg

Thanks for posting this, Phil. Now, I need to get the boat ready, the poppers tied on, and hit the local ponds.

What great summertime sport.

Nice Phil! I have a nice collection of the Pflueger Medalists that are my go to reels. They just look "right" on a cane fly rod.

Nice, I really enjoy farm pond fishing for bluegills, but havent been out with the fly rod yet.
Also love me a big platter of deep fried 'gills.

i have a 1494, a 1494 1/2 and a 1495 but I don't use any of them anymore. After catching a 5 lb. landlocked salmon in hard current with the 1495 I decided not to use that reel again or cut out part of the frame to expose the spool so I could thumb it... but I just chose to retire it and got a Hardy Prince and mounted it to my brand new (at the time 1983) 9-ft, 7/8 wt. Thomas & Thomas graphite Illiaska Special.





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The reel isn't a Medalist, it's a South Bend Finalist 1133. Similar appearance but very different and somewhat unique two-stage drag system. Shakespeare made most of the South Bend reels or so I'm told. It pairs up well with my old South Bend 7-1/2' 290. Horses for courses; no need for an 8/9 weight or a reel you can thumb on these fellas :)!

I had a full range of Medalists but I sold most of them. I kept a 1492 because it's so darn cute, and a 1494 for an old 6wt H&I glass rod. I agree, Richard; they look great on a vintage glass or bamboo rod and they're as good a reel as you need.

So it is Phil, so it is. They're so close in appearance, I wonder if South Bend waited until the Pflueger patent ran out... :whistle:

Hmmm... 2-stage drag? I coulda used one on the landlocks.




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I have a pretty complete collection of Pfluegers from the 1492 to the 1495. I even have a couple of the wide models, which I really like. Someone was/is? making replacement mounting feet for them so they would fit the smaller diameter cork handles on modern rods better, which I took advantage of also.

I bought two of those too Richard.





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Now you have me wondering what model Pflueger I have up in our attic that I bought somewhere around 1982? Put it on a used HL Leonard, my first graphite fly rod. Had to modify the reel seat a bit to fit the reel.

There have been a bizillion different models; here's a common range of Medalists sizes you're likely to find these days unless you get into the really collectible ones. Right to left: 1492, 1494, 1495 and 1498. Some of the early ones with the round line guards, etc. are really cool. I never put the p-foot on any of mine as I always paired them with vintage rods.

https://i.imgur.com/KiX9fQhl.jpg

And in case anyone is interested here is a comparison of the drags; Medalist 1494 on the right, Finalist 1155 (a beast!) on the left...

https://i.imgur.com/Aa6SAZZl.jpg

Anyone else have any of their 1/2 reels? This is a 1494 and a fatter 1494-1/2 together. They also made a 1492-1/2 and a 1495-1/2. I thought I had a 1492-1/2 but can't find it. I used to buy these for $20 or less! I really like the 1/2 size. The 1/2 sized reel here has the earlier style plastic medallion and is in pretty much unused condition. There sure is a ton of these old reels for sale on Ebay! Some are unused and mint.

Yup, I still have my 1494 1/2





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Nothing says summer like these. You can actually catch bream during the winter, down he'ah. But you can't get these except in summer. Anybody like to guess what these are?

https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/71068_800x600.jpg

bullheads?? or a bird?? Hard to tell what they are

Frog legs.

Winner, winner........ tv dinner!

We will be cooking them up a week from tomorrow night, along with some rockfish, at my son's shop. Oooh, I love those things!

A friend asked if he and his wife could gig 'frogs last Saturday night in my ponds. They got here late and only went to one small one, but got seven (14 legs). Said he missed a bunch, being out of practice. We'll get more later. The summer's young.

Frogs, especially bull frogs have become quite rare here in the Northeast... don't know why but we never hear them anymore - only hear the smaller frogs.





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My son Harry likes frog legs. My philosophy is if it tastes like chicken, eat chicken.

Fishing and boating are the only pleasant things to do in the heat down here, so I am looking forward to getting on the river

Oh, they are tasty!

We used to have a local restaurant that had them on the menu in season; kinda interesting for a change of pace from the typical chicken fry, but like Mills said: if it tastes like chicken, just eat chicken. I'm with ya Dean: don't hear many around these parts any more either. Maybe that restaurant cleaned 'em out?

Agreed, which is why I love frog legs. They do not taste like chicken, at all...... any more than venison tastes like beef.

I might have to try it now. My son loves frog legs