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Musubi to the Rescue
Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't written anything for you in months. Totally slacking, I know, but I also haven't done anything worth writing about lately. Just the usual bonefish and fly tying around the shop. If you're really that curious about what we've been up to, follow us on instagram for daily fly fishing pics. But now I have a story to tell you might actually be worth reading.
So I went fishing on my usual day off, and everything was pretty much the same ol' except the winds were light and it was very cloudy. I knew that I wouldn't be able to see very far, and since casting wouldn't be much of a problem I dusted off my 5wt Sage Salt rod. I figured since I'd mostly be targeting tailing fish, the light line would land quietly and help from spooking the fish. I haven't used this rod in what feels like forever with all the high winds this fall, but like all my gear the rod and matching reel were cleaned and taken care of before storage.
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But on this particular occasion, when I went to tighten the drag on my reel, I couldn't. Incredulous, I kept spinning the drag knob, but it just kept free spinning in place. Despite being fine on all my previous fishing trips, it appeared the threading in drag knob was completely stripped out.
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My mood upon realizing this matched the weather.
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But there were fish tailing and I was already wet. I wasn't going home and giving up. I knew Clay and Dean-o landed big fish on click-n-pawl reels. But this was different. I didn't even have a clicker.
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After some deep thinking, I realized that a draw bar drag system simply uses pressure from a spring to push the drag surface against the spool. But how could I press on the draw bar with the handle spinning and a fish running? Aha! If I simply shove something under the drag knob to add some pressure against the draw bar that ought to do it. I didn't have a sliver of wood or plastic or even a coin handy. But I did have the wrapper from my breakfast musubi in my pocket. I ripped a piece off, wadded it up, and shoved it under the drag knob.
Ghetto rig in place, I was back in business. I only got a few ounces of drag from the rig, but it would be enough to prevent a backlash.
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Sure enough I got a decent fish to take my fly and I was off to the races. Palming a small reel against a big strong bonefish sucks. I got quite the hand massage from the spinning handle. I saw more backing leave the reel than I have in years. But in the end I outlasted the fish and got to yell at it. And Jeff at Abel has promised to give me a new drag knob so all is right in the world again. I even got a story out of it. Hope you're having fun out there too. Aloha