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When you fish long enough, things break. That’s the nature of life, really . . . things fall apart. But if you’re resourceful, you put them back together.
Sometimes it’s out of necessity. Honestly, a couple decades ago, I simply couldn’t afford to go through gear as fast as it was wearing down, so I learned to patch waders, fix a fly rod, mend a fly line, resole my boots, sew tears in my fishing vest and fix my landing net.
Likewise, we’ve all run into those moments on a fishing trip where we need a quick fix for a broken rod tip or a wader patch . . . whatever it is.
We all spend a lot of time, money and effort to get to the river and go fishing. But as we all know, even the simplest gear failure can change the day — it can ruin your trip. But by carrying a few things like zip ties, electrical tape, tension straps, Dacron and maybe a sewing kit, field repair or maybe just fifteen minutes spent at the tailgate can save the day.
Also, part of a life on the water is the maintenance and preparation — doing what you need to do — to keep your fishing gear stocked, functional and ready to go.
Being a versatile angler, like we talk about so much, requires a lot of stuff, and if you don’t think it through and keep on top of it, gear failures can hold you back.
That’s what the guys are here to talk about tonight.
My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell, Dr. Trevor Smith and Steve Sawyer join me for a great discussion.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | All the Things
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Versatile Angler – S3, Ep15
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Season Fifteen of the Troutbitten Podcast continues next week. So look for episode eight in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
For wader repair, especially for pin holes and seam leaks, I have used Flex Seal and spray it on the inside of the wader. For seams you may have to do several coats, but it works great for pin holes.
Dear Dom and the Troutbitten crew,
I really enjoyed the podcast on gear fixes and found the advice helpful and practical. There was, however, an important tool that wasn’t mentioned: a tenkara rod. While limited in what it can do compared to a rod and reel–as you’ve written about previously–in a pinch, it can serve as a good substitute if your goal is to fish with tightline methods. Tenkara rods also have some benefits that can help with some of the specific situations mentioned during the show (eg backpacking or being too far from your car to come back for extra gear). Tenkara rods are lightweight and because they are telescopic, they pack down very small and are easy to carry as a back up system in a either a backpack, or even sticking out of the back pockets of a vest or chest pack. A high quality tenkara rod is also relatively inexpensive, costing around $150. I keep one permanently in the back of my car and it has, on more than one occasion, saved the day when a critical piece of gear (rod or reel) suffered a catastrophic failure. Although not technically a gear fix, it can be a perfect fix for a bad situation where you might otherwise have to give up and go home empty netted.
Best wishes,
Dustin from New York