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Monday, August 3, 1998
No angler is complete without a selection of
rods
By JOE DOGGETT / Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON -- The concept of a quiver dates to the archers of
Asia and Europe. And, no doubt, to the early tribes of the Americas.
From the get-go, the full quiver was the universal ally of the
A-Team warrior and hunter.
The notion carries outdoors today, especially among anglers.
Say what?
Rods -- like arrows -- are trim and lightweight, easy to gather
in compact order. And, relatively inexpensive rods are feasible
to collect. Even amid today's high standards of $600 fly rods
and $300 plug rods, a quiver of fine sticks is within reach of
many budgets. Many outstanding rods are available for less than
$100, and, if you have your priorities straight, a functional
quiver of three or four rods is not a major expenditure against
the humdrum costs of day-to-day living.
Toting one rod, except during the most casual backyard forays,
seldom saves much space. Not to mention face. At once, the angler
with a single rod on a real trip (and aren't they all) is regarded
by peers and pros as suspect. One stick is much too restrictive.
Fragile also comes to mind. A careless foot or a sudden door followed
by the soul-deadening snap of graphite, and you are reduced to
begging and bumming from the nearest sympathetic quiver. Major
style points lost there.
A quiver is essential for any major expedition. The angler
would no more travel with one rod to Bristol Bay, Alaska, or Ascencion
Bay, Yucatan, than the golfer would travel with a single club
to Augusta. North or south, world-class angling destinations demand
separate rods to cover different situations.
On tropical flats, the savvy angler has at least three rods
rigged and ready for "quick draws" on sighted fish.
A typical fly-rod flats quiver would consist of an 8-weight for
bonefish, a heavier 9 or 10 for permit, and a meaty 10 or 11 for
tarpon or barracuda. The true opportunist might include a 15-
or 20-pound plug rod for tarpon/'cuda, and an 8- or 10-pound spinning
outfit for bonefish/permit; when the "up" fly-rodder
takes his turn on the bow, his partner armed with "conventional"
can lurk in the stern for long-range or upwind sniping opportunities.
As the flats skiff leaves the dock under a cloudless sky and
a favoring trade (you lucky rascal!), each specialized rod is
rigged with a suitable leader/fly (or jig/plug) combination and
stowed in a secure gunwale rack. All rods are ready before the
fishing grounds are reached.
Yes, the bonefish 8-weight will suffice for small permit and
a single 10 could cover both permit and small tarpon, but the
idea is to be cocked and loaded when a fleeting chance presents
itself in the clear "skinny" water.
If, deep in Ascension Bay, Ixtahuatopa al Jumal, the Maya high
priest of the flats, nods with uncommon favor and sends a 30-pound
permit on a suicidal feeding binge at 60 feet, 11 o'clock, you
don't need to be frantically re-rigging from a 3/0 tarpon streamer
on a 60-pound shock leader to a Merken crab fly on a 15-pound
tippet. The quick draw with a suitable rod and offering is the
key to successful flats fishing. You seldom have much time on
sighted fish, and many grand opportunities have been squandered
during fumbling, sweating attempts to re-rig. The deep quiver
keeps you primed.
So, too, in northern waters. The bounty of Alaska seldom requires
a quick-draw grab, but the variety of species encourages a deliberate
selection of light, medium, and heavy rods. True, one rod might
more or less suffice from salmon to grayling, just as one shotgun
might more or less work from geese to quail, but the idea in angling
(as in wingshooting) is to shoot with style.
A typical fly-fishing battery for Alaska might include a 4-
or 5-weight for dry-fly grayling, a 6- or 7-weight for small (15-
to 20-inch) rainbows and char, an 8-weight for "filthy pig"
rainbows pushing 30 inches, and a 9-weight for 8- to 12-pound
sockeye, chum, and silver salmon (depending on the run). If big
king salmon topping 30 pounds figure into the mix, a 10- or 11-weight
is the smart player's tool.
The angler using "gear" (casting or spinning tackle)
should equip with similar latitude -- 6-pound spinning for grayling
and small trout, 8- or 10-pound spinning for large trout (where
legal) and small salmon, and 12- or 15-pound two-handed spinning
or casting for big salmon.
By either approach, two or three rods typically will see duty
during a single day in the bush. A compact quiver of breakdown
travel rods is the superior way to cover the options via float
plane or jet-drive skiff.
The same concept applies for summer/early-fall fly fishing
in the Rockies. One rod is a loser (this side of a high-country
backpacking trek when space and weight are critical). No, within
reach of lodges and SUV's you need a crisp 3 -- to 5-weight for
dry flies and small water (spring creeks, beaver ponds), a 6-weight
for big rivers and larger dries (hoppers, salmon flies, etc.)
and nymphs, and maybe a no-nonsense 7 or 8 for "banging the
banks" with "chuck and duck" casting with weighted
woolly buggers and streamers.
An 8 is not too much rod when we're talking weighted lines,
heavy tippets, and 6-pound browns. When the game plan gets down
and dirty, better to have too much than not enough. One thing
is certain -- the angler toting nothing but a spring creek 4-weight
to Montana is facing a long day in a McKenzie drift boat under
afternoon gusts on the mighty Yellowstone.
And, check out the nearest bass boat. Bass anglers have refined
the quiver concept for 30 years, and the rod lockers on today's
rigs are designed to swallow at least three rods per angler. And
three is the minimum on serious water. Many bass fishermen feel
naked without four or five rigged-and-ready shooters.
The bass quiver is not for quick draws on sighted fish, nor
is it intended to reach a variety of available species. It stands
ready to present different lures to cover changing circumstances;
like an artist with different brushes, the bass pro is equipped
to paint the changing contours of a reservoir shoreline. Top or
bottom, fast or slow, or most anything in between, the opportunistic
angler can reach for the best rod for the cast.
A typical battery might include a surface plug, a safety-pin
spinnerbait, a crankbait, and, yes, the obligatory Carolina-rigged
worm. All the level-wind gunslinger needs now is a caddy. The
multiple rods often are tapered and balanced for specialized service.
For example, worm rods are stiffer than topwater rods. Many crankbait
rods incorporate the delayed flex of fiberglass for surer hooksets
on fast-moving subsurface plugs. This is the quiver concept at
its finest, with each rod primed for overlapping presentations
to reach the depth and mood of most all bass within reach.
Coastal pluggers increasingly are adopting the bass fisherman's
approach. The typical center console bristles with topwater rods,
mullet-plug rods , and soft-plastic (or spoon) rods, each blank
and butt tweaked to improve performance with the intended payload.
Regardless of quiver type, two schools exist on handle designs.
One favors duplication so that a similar thread runs through each
choice. This familiarity should inspire positive casting in the
clutch. The other school supports different contours and grips
-- "different strokes for different folks." Or fish,
as the case may be.
I've tried both schools and tend to favor the latter on a big
trip. Different grips and pressure points can provide relief from
cramping or fatiguing during long hours -- repeated days -- of
aggressive casting. Also a thought, if you raise a painful blister
on the casting hand, you cannot escape it among a batch of identical
grips.
Scoff if you will at the idea of a rod quiver, but fine tuning
is part of every big-league sport. A-Team angling is no different.
Fresh or salt, near or far, tackle is designed to cover specialized
circumstances, and the enjoyment of a trip is greatly increased
by using the "right stuff." The biggest problem (other
than maybe hiding that next must-have stick from suspicious eyes
at home) is getting the right fish to hit the right rod at the
right time.
But, sometimes, even the wrong rod works OK.
------
Distributed by The Associated Press
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