Thanks to all who offered advice about my shattered Orvis rod. I'm consdering
my options, but I've almost concluded that because of my innate aptitude for
seeking out slippery boulders and falling on my backside, that maybe my best
choice in a rod replacement might be to tie guides on an old broom handle. It
would only handicap my casting ability a tiny bit, and it could also double
as a wading staff. A postscript: A week after I fell and broke my rod, I took
my nephew fishing at Money Creek, near Stevens Pass. He fished down stream
and I went upstream. It was one of those glorious, warm, cloudless days and I
was having a great time fishing dries through the pocket water in search of
the small, wild rainbows. With the brim of my hat pulled down low over my sun
glasses, I was boulder hopping along, intent on getting to the next inviting
looking pool. What I failed to notice was a football-sized hornet's nest that
was attached to a vine maple branch that hung out over the water. Of course,
with my luck, I scored a direct hit on the nest with the side of my head and
my right shoulder. A swarm of enraged hornets were on me in a flash, looking
for bare flesh in which to imlant there stingers. I can't imagine a more
supercharged catalyst to get you moving. I reacted with my first impulse,
which was to run damn fast to deeper water. Running in chest high waders over
moss covered boulders in knee deep water with an army of ill tempered hornets
in hot pursuit, with much yelling and cussing and flailing of arms- well,
let's just say that I don't recommend it as a way of ending your fishing
trips. After a few a blundering, splashy steps, I encountered another of
those pesky slippery rocks and did a balancing act that must have resembled a
hog on ice. Of course, gravity won in the end and I took a very ungainly,
graceless tumble on the rocks. The bees had pretty much left me by this time,
most returning to their nest undoubtedly to share their funny stories about
the hapless human trespasser who got just what was coming to him. After
looking around to see if anyone might have been a witness to my clown act,
and had ruptured themselves laughing,I checked for hurts - a few scrapes and
a very sore hand ( which was later found to be broken ). Oh yes, And the
hornets had zapped me 5 or 6 times on the back of my neck. Ah, but this time
I had'nt broken my rod . I had dropped it right under the bee's nest along
with my hat, my sun glasses, and two fly boxes. So, while soaking my sore
hand in the cool water, and swabbing the back of my neck with a moist
handkerchief, I waited for about 20 minutes or so to make sure that those
damn hornets had calmed way down before I slowly, stealthfully crawled back
to retrieve my things. And I got them all too. The fly boxes and my hat were
still floating around in a back eddy. My rod was unscathed this time, and I
only had to bob for about 10 minutes, with one eye warily on the nest above
my head, before I found my sun glasses under two feet of water. It was a
memorable day and the fishing was pretty good too! Good luck, and stear
clear of those nests. Bob Martin
