Monday, May 21, 2012

Broken Rod in March


March 2012

Some days, random events try to make you insane.  However, these are the times that can be the most rewarding. 

It was a late Sunday afternoon in the middle of March and the black caddis had been making the trout on the Chattahoochee crazy.  So around 3:00 pm on a perfect mid spring day, I quickly gathered my fishing equipment and headed to Cochran shoals for a short late evening fishing adventure, knowing that the fish would be active at that time of the day, feeding on caddis and midges.

I arrived and geared up with the float tube on the back and headed up the trail on the east side of the shoals, around a ¾” mile hike.  I typically do not rig up my bamboo rods until I arrive on the river; safer to transport along the trail.  Once at the river entry, I started to put my rod sections together only to discover I had two sections of two different rods; a 1/16” can be large at that moment.  What to do?  Too late to drive back to Alpharetta.

I thought how this can be.  I then remembered that I had performed repairs on the river before on a broken rod tip and knew that a bamboo rod can perform with a spliced joint.  So I packed up the gear and headed to the car to rummage through my equipment bag, a  ¾” mile hike back to the parking lot.

 I always carry one of the most important must have in the survival gear

  duct tape.

I aligned two of the guides from the top and bottom sections. Using a spiral wrap of the tape, I jointed the tip and butt around the guide alignment. .    A rod just like new only 8” shorter. 

So off to the river again, getting my exercise along the trail.  It turned out to be a banner day of fishing with active fish all evening hitting caddis.  Shorter cast but when fish are feeding it is not a problem to get close to cast your dries. 

So remember the duct tape and don’t let a broken rod stop the fishing.