Equipment failure while fly fishing
Although I probably have too many fly rods, I do not consider myself a fly-fishing gear junkie, because I do not seek out the newest and flashiest of fly-fishing accessories. I also care for my equipment in a minimal way - cleaning my waders possibly twice a year and treating my fly rods and reels with Simple Green occasionally. So I guess I am fortunate that gear failure does not occur more often, despite being on the water to fly fish about 60 days per year.
In fact, I cannot remember an instance of multiple occasions of gear failure on any single fishing trip over the course of my fly-fishing evolution, which spans close to thirty years. I do remember having broken a rod tip once while climbing an embankment in the early years, and since then have packed two fly rods as insurance on every fishing excursion. Of course, I have never needed that backup rod since I started the practice.
Until a recent fishing trip to Iceland!
Let me begin by suggesting that when embarking on an expensive fishing trip, make sure your gear is in good order. Do not….repeat, do not….rely on gear that is living on borrowed time. Now, having said that, I only knew of one part of my fishing gear ensemble to be suspect in this regard. I had a pair of wading boots that looked to be separating at the seam where the upper part of the boot met the sole.
Wading boots falling apart
But I still chose to take those boots – why? - because I felt I needed the flexibility to change out the soles depending on the water/terrain. We all know which brand of wading boot that is – but I am not blaming them as these were two-year-old boots. I thought that filling the gap between upper and sole with a bit of Shoe Goo would extend the life of those wading boots for at least two weeks. That was wishful thinking. The Shoe Goo treatment wore out very quickly because of the amount of trekking required to get to our fishing beats. Thankfully, the lodge at the back half of our trip was able to source a loaner pair when I arrived.
Landing net holster
On the same trip, my landing net holster failed me. As I said, I am not a gear junkie, but one of my most valued accessories is the landing net holster that fits on my wading belt and holds a Fishpond composite landing net. My friend Lars covets both, and I know he wishes he was down stream of me when my landing net recently slipped out of the holster and sank into the Laxá River in Iceland. Again, the lodge at the back half of our trip was able to source a loaner net.
Wading staff falling apart
And I will not expand too much on the fact that my collapsible wading staff also fell apart on this trip. I had this item all of four months before the nylon cord inside the staff frayed. I will only refer to this company as a retailer known for its Outdoor World super stores.
Fly fishing rod snapped
But the most epic moment of equipment failure in my fly-fishing life was again during this trip to Iceland. Thankfully, I am not singled out in this regard, as will be explained later. I learned that the native brown trout of Iceland are dirty fighters that will expose any weakness in an angler’s technique or tackle. Expect a fragile knot, a wind knot or a damaged leader/tippet to be taken advantage of by these cunning fish.
What I did not expect was a failure of my Orvis Helios H2 5-weight rod. This is not an indictment of Orvis or its products - the rod was more than ten years old and had sentimental value for me as it was my first serious fly-fishing gear purchase. After a fight of about 15 minutes, and the fish six inches from the net, there was a thunderous crack. My rod tumbled in pieces into the water and the fish was free – four sections had become six in an instant.
I was not the only one that week….two other anglers, one being in my party, had fly rods splinter while fighting fish – a true testament to the fact that the brown trout of Iceland punch above their weight class!
Tight lines!
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