TO AVOID BREAKAGES
The main cause of fly rod breakages is not the action of fishing or a large fish, but rather careless accidents, such as accidentally closing the trunk or doors, or leaving it untidy. Here are some tips:
- When traveling, always keep your rod in its protective tube.
- Only set up your rod when you are ready to fish and take it down first when you are finished.
- Do not put it on the ground or in places where it could fall or be stepped on.
- Avoid bending the rod too sharply when playing a fish or when the line is knotted around the tip.
Main points
- Bamboo is a resistant material, as with graphite rods, the worst enemy is not the fish, but the car door or the boot that steps on it.
- The rod must be transported in its protective tube inside the fabric case. If it is wet, it must be dried before storing.
- It should be stored in a dry place, hanging vertically. The ferrule should be protected from dirt.
Once this is done, to care for your bamboo rod you must follow simple instructions dictated above all by common sense.
- Always assemble the rod last before going into the river.
- On the contrary, disassemble the rod before any other maneuver, when you stop fishing.
- The rod can get caught in the rain or fall into the water, just dry it before storing it.
- Before storing it in the case, check that the rod has not bent during the recovery phases of a nice fish: If so, bend slightly and delicately on the opposite side to the bend until it is straight. A straight rod will tend to remain so even inside the protective tube.
- Rotate your wrist during the final stages of the fish recovery, so as not to always have the same curvature on the rod.
- Make sure that the angle between the handle and the fish does not exceed 90°, if necessary, to bring the prey closer to the landing net, extend your arm in the opposite direction to that of the fish avoiding strangling the curvature of the bamboo.
STORAGE OF THE ROD
The best way to store a bamboo rod is in its cloth case, hanging vertically in a cool, dry place. Avoid heat sources, direct exposure to the sun, and humid places such as cellars. If you must leave it in the tube for a long time, remove the cap to allow air to circulate. Do not leave it in the car, inside the tube, under the sun.
To clean the rod, use warm water and neutral soap with a brush and a soft cloth. Avoid solvents that could damage the paint. Spirit is excellent for cleaning the cork handle.
FERRULE CARE
- When assembling or disassembling the barrel, while applying force, make sure that the pieces are aligned.
- When assembling the barrel, if the pieces are not aligned, you must disassemble and start over, do not try to align by rotating the pieces with the ferrule inserted.
- When the ferrule does not insert easily, clean the male part with a tissue or denatured alcohol, the same goes for the female. Avoid lubricants that would attract dirt. If necessary, rub it with Marseille soap to improve insertion. On the contrary, if the female of the ferrule is not tight enough and the pieces tend to misalign, pass paraffin on the male of the ferrule.
- Never use abrasive paper to clean ferrules; if you must, polish the ferrule with a fine steel wool (#0000), protecting the painted parts. If the ferrule is only visually dirty but works well, leave everything as is: do not touch what works.
