Earlier this week we saw something terribly sad in the shop. Heart breaking almost. Someone brought in two Scott Radian fly rods, a 9′ 6″ 6 wt and a 9′ 4 wt, with two Hatch reels that had been left on the top of his car and fallen off on the interstate. Ouch.
The story goes that he and his dad were headed out camping and had placed the rods (which were not in tubes, just the rod sock) on the roof of the car to prevent them from being crushed by the packs and whatnot they were loading up. True, the excitement of a couple days on Slough Creek in Yellowstone will get to anyone. But still… Once the car was loaded, they simply forgot about the rods and hit the road. The next time he saw them was a little flash of red from the Hatch reel case in the rearview mirror as it fell off on I-90. This poor guy quickly doubled back and watched in horror as one of them got pummeled by a semi. Even some of the best gear out there can’t take that kind of beating.
What makes this story even worse is that they weren’t even his rods. He had borrowed them from a friend. Apparently the owner was cool with it, provided this guy made it right which it sounds like he did.
We’ve all broken rods before. It happens. That’s one of the reasons we pay so much for the damn things, just to have that lifetime warranty so you’re covered when stuff like this happens. I’ve broken rods fighting fish, stepping on them, in raft frames, etc. I really felt bad for this guy, he was pretty upset about leaving them up there.
Always, always, always make sure you know where your stuff is before you get in the car and drive away. Personally I’ve left some nice sunglasses on the tailgate or back bumper, but I always turn around and make sure I can see my fishing gear when I leave. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose.
