FIVE BY FOURTEEN
The itch was in full force again. I had accomplished all the things that needed to be done for the day and it was time for the line to go into the water. I had been looking at the swap flies I received. I was looking at some other flies also that I had not used or had not used for a long time. Time to see if they still worked or if it was time to strip the materials of and reuse the hooks. The flies went into a box, along with a few favorites. The favorites were insurance in case the flies did not work. Who wants to be skunked?
Took the boo and another rod out to the pond. I knew that this acreage had just been mowed and baled. That meant that I would not snag the grass as I drop my back cast. Castwell never saw anyone with as many bad habits as I have in casting. I had already put flies on the line. I hate to do that at the pond when the flies could be in the water. So I was ready to cast when I got to the water.
I made some casts and found that the fish were a little deeper than I thought they might be. That was fine. I cast the fly out and had something hit it hard. The rod bent down and the tip broke just above the ferrule. With the tip gone there was too much pressure on the leader so the line broke. Lost the fish and broke the boo rod. It was not a good moment!
I had the choice to suck my thumb and go home or to use the other rod and see how I might do. I started casting with the other rod. Caught a few more fish and then had an idea. When I caught five fish on a fly, I would change to another fly.
I moved to another spot on the pond. I knew that there is a break line about 12 feet off shore that goes from about three feet of water to six feet. I wondered if fish might be along this break line. It turned out that they were, and I was getting a fish about every other cast. I kept track and changed the fly after I caught five fish. I am smart enough to know that the flies I used I needed to put on the other side of the box. That way I could keep track of the flies that I had used. After a while I looked at the box and saw that I had used 12 flies. I had a few more flies that I wanted to try and put one of those on the leader.
It did not take long to catch the five fish on this fly. I am not superstitious, but who wants to stop on 13? I put on another fly and caught a few more fish. Got to thinking about how many fish were in the basket and the hike out. Decided that it was time to leave and headed home.
I had 5 five on 14 different flies. Guess I will have to keep those and tie up some more of the other patterns.
I have looked a the boo rod and I think that I can clean the ferrule out and reset it, but I just have not worked on it yet.
Hope you get out on the water, WITHOUT THE ROD DISASTER.
Rick