Anyone have a piece of fishing equipment that is no longer in production or you simply can't find that is breaking your heart? Here's my story. I encourage everyone to share their own story and pass along leads to anyone that has a broken heart looking for their lost fishing love.
I'm 36 years old and this is the first time in my fishing life that I've had a product discontinued that is rocking my world. The product was actually discontinued before I ever knew that I needed it so badly in my life.
Frabill Ice Hunter 38-Inch Medium Ice Fishing
These are the rods that Eric Haataja helped design with Frabill before we went his own way with Haat Rods. I bought one by happenstance off of amazon a few year back because it met the size requirements I needed for walleye fishing and it quickly became the most reliable stick in my bag for all of my ice fishing needs. Mine is still running strong, but I decided that I wanted to buy a few extras to run on my iFish Pro's and basically have a spare. When I scoured the internet and came up with NOTHING I decided to do some research on this rod. That's when I read up on the history of Eric Haataja designing these rods and how they were the precursor to his Haat-Rod Series.
I would love to have a bag full of Haat Rods, but who can afford that without their wives performing involuntary surgery on them in their sleep? At a $40 price point, these are the ultimate rod. Unfortunately, they went out of production shortly after things started. I've scoured Amazon/Ebay/Internet, but can't find any for sale. If anyone has any leads, I would be appreciative.
I have a great childhood memory of my father having his favorite baits production be cancelled. I'll share once we get a few more posts.
Thanks!