In late April I put a listing in the classified ads for some 3/8oz jig heads. Two years earlier, I had made a special order from a bait shop and the guy screwed up and sent me 3/8 instead of 3/4 oz (big difference). I was stuck with about 150 brand new jigs that I had zero use for.
I recieved a reply from a gentleman from Wyoming (Perch) asking if I would be willing to trade for some soft plastic baits that he makes. He sent me some pictures and I thought they were great. Heck, anytime you can get trade something you don't need for something you can use is a great deal. He sent me his address and I sent him mine. I stopped at the post office, put them all in a (if it fits it ships) box, insured it, and sent it on its way. The next day, Perch sent me the confirmation number and I did the same. He said that mail takes a little longer to reach him so don't be alarmed if they don't show up right on time. I had a garunteed three day delivery.
Within a couple of days, I had recieved the plastics from Perch. In all my years I have never seen anything so cool. I really liked them. They looked great, had great feel, and most importantly to me, I am almost certain that the guy next to me doesn't have any.
On April 10th (7 days after I sent the jigs) I get a message from Perch. Both his wife had gone to the post office and the jigs still had not arrived. I contacted the 1-800 help number from my receipt. To make a long story short, it was frustrating. I relayed the information to Perch and let him know I was ontop of it. The next day, I was on the river walleye fishing when I got a call from the post office. They told me the same things I have been told twice. I again relayed my information and told him that I was frustrated. Perch sent me a message back, almost in a concerned way. He was telling me not to worry and not to let this ruin my weekend. His wife was concerned that I was angry and she also wanted to convey that it isn't worth getting worked up over.
To be clear, I am a very soft spoken, level headed person. When I get angy, it is like most people's "annoyed". I just don't let things bother me. But to have someone say something like that was amazing. In the end, I visited 4 different offices, was on the phone over an hour on two occasions, was treated rudely by three different people, and had to fill out paperwork twice. Thankfully I insured the package.
During this time, Perch and I spoke almost daying (by PM). He showed me all the baits he used and made, what he caught, and gave me updates on fishing and weather in his area. He didn't want me to go to any trouble of making new jigs, or purchasing new jigs, and that we could work something out. It wasn't either of our faults that the post office made a mistake.
How can I make this right I thought. I don't have the mold to build these jigs. Then it dawned on me. I build custom rods. I asked Perch if he had any preference as to what type of rod he would like. We decided that a two piece 6'6" rod with a light weight fast action would be just what he needed for trout and pan fish. Although he was concerned about it being a fair trade, I would have none of it. I ordered an MHX custom blank and designed a guide eye program that I hoped would have the ability to throw a light weight jig further than a standard rod.
I have yet to duplicate a color pattern on a rod so this is special to him. I even added a crappie decal under the rod finish. This rod was completed two weeks ago and shipped on Tuesday the 6th. I used Fed-ex this time. As luck would have it, a nice spring storm came in to his area. What was supposed to be a couple of day delivery ended up taking a touch longer. He recieved the rod on Monday of this week and wasted little time putting it to good use. Driving almost 100 miles, he fished in the sleet and snow.
I am a member of a couple other forum type sites. The members always seem to be very negative. As if they are better than the next guy. They are always concerned about catching their limit, what they have that others do not. With our site, you don't see that. Encouragement, help, ideas, fishing holes, and everything in between is what we discuss. My daughter is 7 and I would never have a problem with her being on our site. I say "our" because we all take ownership in making it so great. I cannot say that for the other sites.
Perch is a great guy (like many of our members). It is funny how it takes circumstances to bring people together for whatever reason. I'm glad I was able to build this rod for him. As he put it: "It is way better than 10,000,000 jigs I could have ever recieved".
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