"Right
here, may I inject a thought that may prevent the ruination of a good bamboo
rod -- perhaps loss of a treasured friendship at the same time. Many anglers,
to be good fellows, loan their fly-fishing equipment to someone else. When
this friend returns it after two or three weeks of use, the owner finds
the rod just does not feel the same. So the friend is blamed for giving
the rod improper use and thereby ruining it. He is generally right, too!
However, both owner and friend are equally to blame. No man should ask the
loan of another's fishing tackle, and no owner should grant the use of his
equipment to anyone, no matter how close he may be as a friend. Why? Here
we come back to "balance" again! Because of the difference in physical
characteristics between individuals each and every angler exerts the pressure
needed in casting in a different way. And this difference in leverage means
that the rod action, or strain on the rod, whichever you call it, occurs
in a different place on a rod. Therefore, when some man other than the owner
uses it for a length of time he forces a "stress" at a different place on
the rod and a change in action through the weakening of the bamboo cells
at a new place."
"With Fly, Plug and Bait" by Ray Bergman (1947
--
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Jimmy D. Moore - Scout Exec. BSA (Ret.), TOWA, TF&G Contributor, GRTU Past VP. Past Pres. McGregor Rotary. Freelance Outdoor writer, humorist and half-assed Texan.
Author - "MOON HOLLER MISFITS Fishing & Hunting Club", ©
http://home.earthlink.net/~rayado/rayadoflyfishingflypatternstips/index.html
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"Being able to read trout streams is just as valuable to a fly fisherman as the ability to read a defense is to an NFL Quarterback."
Jimmy D. Moore - © [2004]
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