New School Nation II

It’s been a few weeks since our last installment of New School Nation, but we are back! Recently, I got the chance to talk with Geremy May. A glassblower and fly fisherman from Tennessee who specializes in making unique glass Bass pipes. You may have come across Geremy on Instagram under @gmayglass, his feed is full of incredible hand made pipes and glass pieces, be sure to check out his profile and give him a follow. In this addition of New School Nation, I caught up with Geremy to find out about where he likes to fish, how he makes these beautiful pieces, and learn a little bit about his love for fishing.

Background, where are you from? where do you live?

Im originally from a small crappy town north of Chattanooga TN, called Soddy Daisy but I live in Columbia TN right now which is 45 min south of Nashville.

How long have you been fishing?

Pretty much my whole life but heavily since I was 12 or so

Conventional, spinning, fly rod?

I used to use bait-casters and spinning but since early this summer I've been only using a fly rod and I don’t think I’m going back.

What’s the main body of water you fish?

Usually I’m fishing on the Duck river because it snakes all through where I live and there are several spots close to me.

What makes this body of water special?

Smallmouth fishing when its cooler is pretty good and when its hot in the summer there are plenty of huge smallmouth buffalo and gar, which are a blast on the fly.

PB

Ive caught three that weighed 4lbs, never been able to catch one bigger than that. The most recent being on my fly rod with a wooly bugger though.

What’s an ideal day on the water like for you?

As long as I’m catching fish its an ideal day on the water for me, Im not too picky about what I catch I just like to catch fish.

Shore, boat, wade?

Wade because I don't have a boat

If you could fish anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Probably go to brazil and fish for Peacock bass. Brazil would be a beautiful country to visit and I’ve always wanted to catch peacock bass but never got the chance.

Is there any one person responsible for getting you started or involved with fishing

My uncle Terry for sure he taught me a lot when I was younger about crappie and bass fishing.

What in the bass fishing industry do you do beside fish?

Im not really in the bass fishing industry, Im a glassblower and I make pipes that are shaped like bass and other fish that are used heavily by bass fisherman, so if that counts then that haha. I have been trading people flies and reels for pipes so that has been a perk of being somewhat involved.

How long have you been blowing glass?

6 years

What influenced you to start making Bass pipes?

I bass fish a lot myself and I wanted to make a fish pipe so it fit to make a largemouth.

What’s your favorite Bass pipe that you have made?

The river scene rigs are pretty fun to make as well as the bass bongs.

For those of us who have never blown glass or don’t know anything about it, walk us through a little bit of the process to make a pipe

I prepare a clear blank, roll that blank in white frit (glass color crushed), then half in green frit for the top of the bass, and then I apply a line of black frit on each side and scrape away portions to make the lateral line. After color I then make the main shaping for the fish and push the bowl for the mouth. After this I add the eyeballs which are made of millefiori that I make myself. After that I sculpt the gills and add all of the fins. To finish I grab the fish with Kevlar grabbers and pull off the blow-tube and pop open a hole where the mouthpiece will be. I then heat up the top and bottom of the mouthpiece and pinch with tweezers to pull out the tail fin, I finalize the mouthpiece hole with a graphite reamer to ensure it's perfectly round and then it goes into the kiln.

Outside of the fishing world is there anything you could see yourself doing every day?

Blowing glass and fishing are the only things I could realistically see myself doing every day

Is there anything about the bass fishing industry that you would change?

Im not really involved so I can't say.

Have you seen any big changes in the Bass fishing industry as well as the community from when you began to the the present day?

I have seen more and more people, myself included that are turning over to fly fishing for bass.

Where do you hope to see the bass fishing world ten years from now?

I like how flies for bass are evolving it will be cool to see what people come up with.

If your interested in being featured in our next New School Nation, apply here! Until next time, keep your lines tight, your bass bowls burning, and the good time rolling. Cheers.

-Mike