All right, it wasn’t all peaches and cream when I took my daughter on her first fly fishing excursion. Besides forgetting the camera, I forgot to bring a pair of polarized sunglasses for her. And when we got to the river, there was an even bigger problem.
Before leaving on our little outing I asked my son to grab my reel from the truck so I could put it in the car. He came back a few minutes later.
"Uh, dad? I dropped your reel. You might want to check it."
Wow, he actually told me he dropped it? Now, my son is a good kid, but the reel is in a little velour pouch and I don’t know if I would have told someone I dropped their reel. Kudos to you, my son!
"Naw, don’t worry about it, I’ve dropped it before. Just toss it in the car."
At the river we got ourselves ready and I put the rod together. I got the reel out of the little pouch and attached it to the rod. As I was tightening it, the spool feel out of the reel. Plop. Right on the ground. I have clumsy finger and figured I dropped the whole reel, but no, the rest of the reel was attached to the rod. I bent down, picked it up, and stuck it back on the reel. Plop.
"What the …" I checked myself just in time as my daughter looked at me with those big brown eyes, "…heck?" I lamely finished off.
I should have listened to my son and checked the reel when he asked. I examined the reel a little more closely and realized that the center plate that has the spool release in it was cracked.
The reel should look like this.
You’ll notice the two screws and the small little spool release lever. There was a crack in that plate from one side of one screw to the other side of that screw. It caused the release lever to just flop back and forth. Hence the spool kept falling off.
The plate is made of a composite material. Why in the world isn’t it metal like the rest of the reel? This is a Loomis Venture 3 reel. It’s a fairly decent reel for $100. I like the quietness of the reel (no clicking in either direction). But for all the places to scrimp on a couple of cents, to do it in a vital area that holds the gears and levers and thingamabobbies that keep part of the reel functioning, that was silly.
There we were, ready for our big father/daughter fishing adventure and we were reel-less. We were about 40 minutes from home and I just didn’t want to drive back and pick up a different reel. Solving unforeseen problems on the fly is not typically my forte, but sometimes I get lucky.
In the exact same spot about six years ago I showed up to fish and realized I had no reel at all. The stream is small and most places can be reached within 20′ of the fisher. Lots of places are even closer. I took 15 feet of 2x tippet, tied it to the reel seat and ran it through the guides. Then tied on several feet of 4x and a couple of feet of 6x. I caught a handful of fish that day.
I figured I could repeat the procedure, but I really wanted a real reel my daughter could use so it wouldn’t be a completely lame experience. I rooted around in the car for someting. If I would have taken the truck I have extra rods, reels, glasses, tools, empties, three year old dropped fries, spinning lures stuck to the back of the seat (you get the idea, a man’s truck), but no, I had to be frugal and take the better-gas-mileage car. I was hoping for a little something I could use to unscrew the screws and mickey mouse with the gears to jam them.
I’m no MacGyver, much more along the lines of Red Green, so when I finally found some Stride™ chewing gum in the glove box, heh, heh, heh—that’ll do!
What a little gum can do for you.
The crack.
Hey, Loomis, spend an extra 20¢ on these reels. And I’ll try to be a little more careful (look at the scratches on that bugger, this is definitely a fishing man’s reel—I have a habit of being hard on my gear).
And a big thank you to Stride™ chewing gum, made by Cadbury Adams.
Sorry Tom, my trip was before the maxim accompanying the photo with this picture. If you would have posted a couple of weeks earlier, I would have been prepared! Scout’s honor.
This was such a great post. Put a huge smile on my face. I love those moments of pure self satisfaction when you know you one upped karma/fate/life/silliness or what ever you want to cal it. Thanks Scott
Thanks for dropping by Colby.
Are you still into the muskie and carp and other big ugly things that make me say “ICKY” at the thought of touching them?
Um…since when does Emerson have backup gear? HLT has borrowed waders, reels, rods, sunglasses,wrist rockets, beetles…everything but boots and my bucket o’ chain, since we have fished together. This is a story for the ages.
Okay Talking Bull (is that abbreviated BS?), Hikes Like Turtle (HLT) has the following gear: 4 fly rods, 3 fly reels (4 if you count the automatic reel I haven’t seen for a couple of years and must be stashed somewhere over the garage), 2 pair of wading boots, 1 pair of waders (2 if you count the pair you gave to Ben), two pair of polarized glasses.
Why do I borrow? Because we ride in your truck (by the way, you forgot that in your little list of things I borrow). When we are in your truck I don’t take my extra gear. In fact, I have a problem remembering my initial gear, hence you loan to me. What a nice guy you are.
Hey Scott,
Nice job with the chewing gum!!
Though somewhat embarrassed to mention this….several years back fly fishing on the South Fork my reel fell into the river. Of course I was able to retrieve it by grabbing the fly line going through the guides. As I looked at the situation the cap on the end of the rod handle had come off and was lost in the river somewhere. (This part had come off a few years earlier too) Thus, now my reel wouldn’t stay on and I didn’t have a back up rod with me that day. Fortunately, my pickup has many things in the tool box including duct tape. Red Green would have been proud. Not wanting to go home and being about 80 miles from home, I secured the reel to my Winston fly rod with duct tape. Crazy thing is…I knew it was on to where I would never have to worry about it falling off again. I ended up leaving it on for several years. Finally…the “Political Correctness” of it all got to me and I ordered a new cap and glued it on. The cork handle still looked and felt great. (it wasn’t ruined by the years of adhesive) Years later the cap has still stayed on. (Knock on Wood)
Thanks for the encouragement Ron!
I’m afraid I’m going to be in your boat here–it costs $50 to replace the spool, $100 to replace the reel, or $0 to keep it the way it is. Everything is working fine except that if I strip and reel in, strip and reel in, the drag starts to loosen and I have to tighten it. The slightly bigger problem is that if/when my line does something crazy in the reel (anybody else ever get their line tightening on itself, almost like a knot in there?), then I can’t take the spool off to easily fix it.
Hey Scott,
If it is your reel that is the problem, here is the best suggestion I can give you. Go purchase yourself a new reel. The company make is Okuma. The model is a Sierra. I used to work in a fly shop and messed with various reels there. However, this reel I am telling you about looks like an expensive reel. Mine even have a wood handle. The cost for the reels? I paid $25 for “each” of them a few years ago at retail at Sportsman’s Warehouse. Yes, I have 2 of them. I really like them. I think the spare spool cost’s $12. Heck at that price, I just purchased 2 reels. I have one that is a 4/5 and one that is a 5/6. I have 2 rods set up with 4wt on one of them and 6wt on the other. I have landed many big fish and I have never regretted the purchase of either of them.
Ron,
I’m not a reel snob, so less expensive reels are certainly an option (I have three other reels) as long as it meets one main requirement–it’s quiet, both the reel and the drag. I don’t know why, but loud drag bugs me. I guess it’s my life-long aversion to loud noises and not doing things that bring noticew to me. I’ll have to check those reels out.
That is a forgotten concept (on my part) in having a quiet drag and I appreciate your two reasons. It reminded me of being in a fly shop one day and hearing a guy tell a story. As he was on the river he kept hearing someones reel buzzing from running fish. It cued him to the fact that the other guy “gave away” a good fly fishing spot. I think he termed it… “sold the farm”. After reading your reply I just got up to check to see if there was an option clicker to make the drag quiet. There is not on mine, not that I notice anyway. So, as you put it…….my “reel is quiet” but the “drag does click”. But, for any other characteristics of a real….especially for the retail price, I have been very impressed with my 2 reels.