Great story!
> 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
>
>
