Shades of the short rod

[cpierce]

The sun was out and so was I. I drove 60 miles over to the Bear River to spend a little time teasing the fishies.

As I sat down on the bank to rig up, I could see fish nibbling on the surface. I eased into place below the hole and started to pull line off to get my fly in position, I false cast once and then went to lay the line out. SNAP!!! Out of the blue my rod broke in half. I was stunned! I didn't even have a fish on. I was just casting, and not even a long or hard cast at that.

So there I was with fish sipping all over the place and me with two pieces of rod in my hands. My other rods were 60 miles away. I don't know why I didn't bring a second rod. I usually do.

Then I thought about the video someone posted on here a while back. ( I think it was on here??) It was of the guy that was casting fly line with just his arms...no rod. So I took the tip half of the rod and pulled some line out and started messing around.

With using the tip section in one hand and a pile of line in the other I was able to cast far enough to get the fly in the seam. I was amazed! I was even more amazed when I caught a fish!! Fighting a fat 16 inch rainbow on 4 feet of fly rod without a reel is really a challenge!

I wish I hadn't left my camera at home. I know that that is one fish I won't forget for a very long time. What a hoot!! I felt like I wrestled it in by hand, which was pretty close to the truth. I caught one more smaller one that came off sooner than expected, then I lost my fly to the bushes behind me. With that I called it quits and drug my tail home.

Now I get to see how good my rod's lifetime guarantee is.

I also won't forget to take a second rod with me from now on!!
[signature]

[flygoddess]

That is so cool. Way to stick with it! The roda I have broke unfortunately are only 6 to 8 inches. And the bottom half is terrible to cast with.. I am going to have to give the arm rod a try.
[signature]

[macfly55]

I remember that video ... And that is awesome that you were able to adapt that way .... I wish you had a ca era though ...:-)
[signature]

[cpierce]

I would have thought that it would be more normal for a rod to break in the tip section. It was weird... this one broke almost right in the middle. It is a 4 piece 8.5 ft 4wt. It broke in the 3rd section right below the second ferrule. I have no idea why it broke. The only thing I can figure is that it had a flaw of some sort there. I have fished with it quite a bit and had it for about a year.

Anyway, for anyone that is interested... here is one of the videos of the guy that can cast without a rod. [url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0fES1sfBRE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0fES1sfBRE[/url]

Even with the short tip section I was using it was hard to do so many things that are just second nature with a rod. No roll casting and mending is a pain. I didn't continue for too long ...although experimenting was fun, keeping the line untangled was too much work!
[signature]

[riverdog]

My shortest rod is a 5 ft 2 wt. I find it a bit hard to cast and only break it out for extreme brushy situations. Kudos to you for improvising and catching a 16 inch bow with a broken 4 ft segment of rod.
[signature]

[flygoddess]

I hear ya. I have a 5'3" 5 wt. Fenwick. It really likes TT line but as you said, harder to cast. Hubby just bought the Cabela's glass 6'6" 3 wt. Man what an awesome rod, but I think it feels like a half and half, but I think if you want a short rod, glass is nice. Or bamboo[]
[signature]

[cpierce]

Wow a 5 footer. That must be interesting to cast, but like you said brushy and you don't need to cast much. Can you roll cast with it?

The hardest thing I found was managing the line. I would have done better to have hiked back to my car and pulled some tape out of the trunk. Then I could have restrung the tip section and taped the reel on to it. As it was, I was constantly fighting with the river for my line.

The Bear River has the most horrible lava rocks that you can imagine. They are like velcro and they grab everything from flies to the fly line. I have caught tons of rocks there at other times, but this time it was grabbing my line if I let it drop below me. If you don't stop and untangle it, it will shred your line. Nasty stuff! So by the time I lost my fly behind me, I'd had my fun and was done.

It was still a bit painful to walk away, as I could see some more really nice fish rolling and taking emergers and midges. But I was afraid I would break the tip too, and I wouldn't be able to explain two breaks!!
[signature]

[macfly55]

Cindy you would of made a grat Marine with the "adapt and overcomne" spirit.. [cool]

MacFly [cool]
[signature]