One of the fun things Casual Friday enjoys is the time spent testing new products in the outdoor world. While CF doesn't deny the pure delight of being first to have something, it's also interesting to see how technological advances in everything from metallurgy to biomechanics the really rather primitive outdoor devices we've come to expect.
Take fishing. As a kid, we fished - a lot. We also caught a lot of fish using nothing more elaborate than a barbed fish hook, split shot sinker (known to cause cancer and other horrible diseases including a total disregard for stupid warning labels from California like "Hot" on a cup of coffee), a cork bobber - of real cork, and some monofilament fishing line. We didn't even need fishing poles. We cut fresh poles according to the length we thought we'd need that day from a stand of maiden cane between the house and the fishing pond.
Today, it's rare t hat CF doesn't hit the banks or boats with enough baits, lines, lures, and poles (three's the limit in Alabama to have in the water, but you can have 1,320 with you at any given time - provided no more than three lines are wet) to equip a small fishing derby. Factor in the gadgetry, and it looks more like an expedition to the surface of some strange planet than a quarter-mile hike to the fishing lake. It's also a great excuse to drive the truck right up to the lake rather than "waste fishing time just walking" (and gasping for air from carrying all the miscellaneous "stuff" CF feels he "has" to have to fish -poorly).
But a new piece of equipment arrived not too-long ago that drove C-F back to something approaching his minimalist roots. A company called Emmrod sent me what they said was a "revolutionary " new fishing rod. To me, it looked a lot like what I had done to a rival high school guy's antenna on his '57 Chevy (statute of limitations has to have run out by now), but CF dec ided to give it a try - and to get others to try it as well.
To visualize the Emmrod, imagine a piece of springy steel rod with a rod eye at one end, several coils about 15 inches away on the other end, followed by the usual composite fishing rod handle and rod seat. It looks a little bit like an itsy-bitsy limb from a composite hunting bow - after it's been wrapped around something several times. Very sci-fi.
Now the good folks at Emmrod say this little rod - and its several variants would be a great rod for backpackers, hunters, horse backpackers, RV'ers, campers, boaters, bicyclists, kayakers, pilots (as part of a survival kit)- and a kite flyers' pole, as well as "fishermen of all ages."
Being a professional skeptic, C-F decided to spread the hyperbole around, asking two other outdoor friends to "give this thing a go."
Surprisingly, our individual reports look strangely like someone shared notes in an essay assignment. We all found it harde r to m aster in our minds than our hands, something that looked pretty strange compared to a six-foot piece of composite materials. As my friend "up east" said, "overhand casting was fruitless for me, not enough whip in the rod and lots of 3 foot 'kerplunks'". Ditto, I just couldn't seem to get the hang of how to "let the rod do the work - when there didn't seem to be enough rod there to do any work.
My foreigner friend, however, is truly a gifted outdoorsman. And having moved to the United States as an adult, he's more than accustomed to seeing Americans do things "in some rather unusual manners". He, being the fishing snob of the trio, used the rod for fly casting. "It took some getting accustomed to," he said over lunch, "but I did find that I could get 20 or so yards out of it on the cast without having to do anything untoward."
Untoward?
Whatever that meant he caught bass on wet flies, pronouncing the Emmrod a "great option" when facing space constraints . A fo rmer special forces veteran, he said it would certainly have been something he'd have liked in his emergency kit. He also said it would be great for oil crewmen, lifeboats and other emergency vessels - and the "personal water craft" we occasionally being used as fishing platforms in our area.
Meanwhile, back in the East, my tester had a successful time with his Emmrod too, hooking a "good sized bass, despite some heavy weeds." The weeds, incidentally were no problem due to the stiffness of the rod.. A fair trade, he reckoned, for the lack of feel beyond the dragging weight on the reel.
Loaning it to a couple of young guys led to some amusement - and another bass on the line. After trying unsuccessfully to cast overhand (remember our 3-foot kerplunks?), they switched to two-handed baseball casts and got good distance. They also caught a nice largemouth, but lost another due to lack of "apparent bite" through the rod.
Personally, CF, not a great angler, h ad pre tty good success with the Emmrod as well - after becoming accustomed to the fact that the slightest twitch on the line could be a bite.
The consensus of three "average angler" testers - and a pair of youth draftees- was amazingly positive.
Be prepared for a few jokes (AM or FM?) when you're fishing with an Emmrod, but like all fishing gear, a fish on the other end of the line quickly silences even the most dedicated comedians.
If you're looking for something to toss in "just in case" other than the telescoping six foot rod (which also has very little feel), an Emmrod might be just the ticket. It works in a very small space and appears virtually indestructible - something you should consider for a compact field survival kit. You can see what model might work for you by visiting (www.emmrod.com).
Regardless of the type of equipment you're carrying, get out into the outdoors this weekend. Invite someone along, too.
The Outdoor Wire - Wednesday, September 13, 2006
