NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[Yak Fish]

I went to one of my favorite lakes again today to pull crankbaits for crappie from my kayak. The gate to the lake normally opens at 6:00 AM and I was shocked to see the parking lot full and several boats on the water at 6:02 AM on my way to the boathouse. I figured there was a night tournament going on and the guy at the boathouse confirmed it.

Since the ramp was tied up with another boat, I took my kayak over to the kayak launch dock closer to the boathouse. I couldn't lean out far enough on the floating kayak launch to put all four rods the their holders, so I left two rods right beside the kayak, then would load them as I got in to launch. I drove my truck up to park and saw some of the tournament fishermen bring their boats up to the kayak dock to get to the boathouse faster. By the time I got back to the kayak, the bass boats were gone. As I was loading the rods, I noticed slack line on my favorite rod. I turned the reel handle and the tip top guide and the top six inches of the rod slid down to the line keeper, just as broken as it could be.

I seriously doubt anyone broke my rod on purpose. I set it far enough out of the way so it couldn't be kicked in by accident. I saw footprints in the dew on the dock where somebody besides me walked over to look at my kayak and ultimately stepped on & broke my rod.

I know I can't cry over things that can't cry over me, but I believe a swift kick might have been less painful than losing my favorite rod. It is a 6'6" light action All Star Rod made in Texas, USA that has literally brought tons of fish to the boat. I bought it new in 1992 and they quit making that model in about 1997. The light action rod worked great with braid because it had enough give not to pull hooks on the smallest crappie and absorb the pull of the heaviest slabs. I caught an 8 pound bass on it a couple weeks ago, a 11 pound channel cat ten years ago, and my personal best crappie 2 lbs, 10 oz.,which won a tournament in 1994. We had some history together.

It is my fault for leaving the rod where it could be stepped on, even though I never expected anyone else to use that dock. I'm looking into replacing it with a rod designed for kokanee as the the most similar light action rod I can find.*heavy sigh*

Jim