THE YARDSTICK

I’ve just brought a new rod. OK it’s not a new rod, but it’s like new, and new to me. It’s a 6’ #4 2/2 bamboo rod, perfect for fishing on my favourite mountain streams, even though being a 6’ #4 roll casting under trees or big line mends are difficult. It doesn’t come from a “name” manufacturer being instead assembled on old light brown blanks bought from Herter`s in the 1950’s by a guy in Nova Scotia called Richard. He’s added a nice cork handle and a modern reelseat plus “old” (although it all looks previously unused) hardware. The is rod was obviously assembled with half an eye on the beginner’s market but I like it’s medium action a lot and cast 50+ feet easily if overhanging branches allow which is all I need on the little streams where I intend to use it. Each section is exactly 36” long and because I bought it off e-bay (the world’s biggest yard sale) I’ve named it myself – it’s officially called The Yardstick.
It’s a simple fact of life that if you fish with a rod sooner or later you will break it. Accidents happen. You fall in a stream, you catch it in a car door, you get chased across a field by a bull and, (well I’ll tell that one another time.) The point is the only way not to break a fishing rod is to stop fishing with it and then it stops being a fishing rod anyway and becomes just an expensive stick. I saw an Orvis anniversary special once. It was new in “mint museum condition” – which is to say had never been taken out of the box, never assembled let alone fished. I think I was supposed to say “wow!” – but all I could think was what a waste.
You probably realise by now I enjoy bamboo rods. This wasn’t always the case. My first rod (thirty odd years ago now) was a second hand bamboo one; my older brother had a new fibreglass one, state of the art. I was really jealous. Still as I have admitted I am a teacher and new bamboo is expensive, out of my price range. I’ve a couple of old rods I get out once in a while but most the time I use graphite. It’s very “businesslike.” I reserve bamboo fishing for lakes, or larger water where there’s less climbing and scrambling, less chance of breaking them. I like to think I’m managing risk.
My favourite graphite cost me less than $150 new. It’s not the best casting rod, but is one of the best fishing rods. And yes, rod makers of the world, there is a difference. It’s not the sort of rod people aspire to, just a good cheap no fuss rod that works. It’s marketed by a mate of mine Mick Hall, for Jarvis Walker and it’s called a “Blackridge.”
I’m not a fan of expensive graphite for the following reasons:
a) They are too fast –that is to say they cast over the horizon but this can make setting the hook harder. I can’t see a size #16 Jetson’s Black Spinner at 70 feet, and if I could why would I want to be able to pull it straight out of a fish’s mouth anyway.
b) The difference between a middle priced rod and a top dollar rod is often only the warranty, and as I’ve already mentioned these guarantees aren’t always what they seem to be at the time.
c) They cost as much as a reconditioned bamboo rod like a Granger, and more than a Shakespeare, or South Bend – and that’s no contest.
I’m on a stretch of the Victoria River, right down by where it flows into the Cobungra. I’d camped the previous at the old hydro plant site on the Cobungra. I’m not sure if you are allowed to but if you’re far enough off the beaten track nobody is going to stop you. I guess at one stage it must have been possible to get into the bush there without too much drama or they couldn’t have put up the hydro place. Now all that’s left is the foundation slab, and the road has been reduced to a rough walking track you couldn’t take a 4 wheel drive down. It’s a nice day: warm, overcast, and virtually no wind. I normally fish this stretch with my $150 graphite special but today I’d decided on giving the new rod a workout.
The first stretch is tough fishing, tight and overgrown. I scambled over the rocks and waded through brambles, but the fishing rewards the effort. Browns live in this stretch, good fish that see very few anglers, and the nearest you get to matching the hatch is to tie on a #14 Royal Wulff before the first cast and snip it off again at the end of the day. It’s not the best water in the area, for example there are the three rivers up at Angler’s Rest but as the name implies Angler’s Rest can get a little busy.
The river here is small, full of food, cool and clears quickly after a little rain. It’s a favourite stretch of water for trout and anglers. It’s not a secret stretch, but I’ve never met another angler on it, upstream gets more attention but few are prepared to climb down the cliff to fish the lower section, below the waterfall. It’s the sort of place you mention to other anglers and they say, “yeah I know that stretch it’s one of my favourite small waters, but I haven’t been down there for a few years.” I still fish it regularly although the climb takes longer than it used to because I stop and have a breather on the way up. I know when I’m not prepared for the hike and the climb I’m getting old. So I make myself do it – it’s my yardstick.