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.