Rod Carnage

I took JJ and his boy Cody out again yesterday for a short float. We put in at the Craig Bridge and took out at Stickney Creek. The bugs have got be close but still, nothing on top. We did manage to nymph up a number of fish in the three hours of fishing but again, they weren't where they're suppose to be because the bugs just aren't there. It's got to be soon...

So the picture above shows Cody fighting a good fish about ten seconds before his rod snapped in half. By his rod I mean, my rod. It's not a big deal because I know it's going to happen although there are things one can do to prevent it. It's not being careless, it's just what happens when you're throwing lead and bead heads and eventually, a sinker smacks the rod and cracks it and then the next time there's a load on it, it busts. The thing about this particular rod however, is that I've had to return it now three times in less then a year for the same thing.

The rod is an Orvis Access and quite frankly, it's a decent rod for the money. It's light and has some pretty good back-bone. It's fairly fast action but it's not too fast for the beginner. It's a great nymphing rod especially; but I've broke it now three times and I don't know if it's coincidence or if the rod is made so light that it might be a bit brittle.

Orvis has been pretty good about the return policy although the first time I took it in to the Orvis shop, it took a few months to get back. The last time however, I called Orvis myself and they waved the repair costs and I had the rod back in about two weeks. We will see what happens this time. At some point, it's just not worth having to keep returning it and paying shipping and repairs.

Keep 'em where they live...