“I like rods.”
And with that, Patrick Walters went on to explain to me why there always is a massive pile of rod-and-reel combos on his front deck. The fetish with rods isn’t about junk fishing, as I suspected. Let him explain.
“If you can have 15 rods on the front deck, then why not have 20 rods on the front deck?” he said. “You know, this is America, everything is big.”
Yeah, okay. Let’s get real.
“It’s for different techniques, different lures, different sizes, varying depths and most of all, for fishing the conditions,” he added.
I’m convinced he’s right. Next time I see a pile ‘o rods on a guy’s deck I will not assume it’s for junk fishing. Having rigged rods at the ready for a moment’s notice, and for the fishing situations as they are encountered, is also practical. And especially when every cast counts.
From a practical standpoint, today’s lures are so specialized; even with baits within the same category. Similarly, specialized knots take more time to tie. Add it all up, and everyone wanting to keep fishing more, and rummaging through the tacklebox less, should have a rod fetish.