Today while float tubing on Antero Reservoir in Colorado, I had a guy paddle near and ask what I was catching them on. I told him a gilled callebaetis nymph.
He asked to see one. We paddled closer, and I gave him one to try. He had a bright yellow piece of foam rubber clamped to his rod between the cork and the
stripper. I asked him what that gizmo was, and he called it a rod saver. It's job, to float your rod if you lose it overboard. He said "Hell, this
Winston rod cost $600, the reel $300, and the line was $79. Thats a thousand dollars! The Rod Saver is cheap insurance." He then glanced at my outfit,
and the glance became a stare. I guess he thought my bright blue GC rod was a bit colorful. I said "the rod was $20 on eBay, the reel ( a Martin 72)
was $35.00 at Discount Fishing Tackle, and the line was $15 on eBay." He was amazed. I had trouble keeping a straight face. So what happened next? I
hooked a 20" cutthroat, and while netting it I got excited and dropped my rod!! That big Martin makes a hell of a sinker, and it went straight to the
9' deep bottom. The rod stood straight up, and I was able to pull it up, grab the tip and retrive it, and get back to the business of releasing that big,
fat fish. I have not dropped a rod in a lake for years and years, but that Rod Saver was the curse. Maybe I should get one, or remain calm when landing big
trout ( that will be the day!) That gilled nymph is a great fly during a callebaetis hatch, when the fish are nailing the ascending nymphs. What a day.
wacokid54
wacokid54
But then again, I don't care if
they do.
