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.
