Joe McIntosh wrote:
The real problem is getting in and out of the stream , JR do you aim
rod ahead between brush or reverse rod and lead with butt?

ARGHHH! Joe, do you have ESP or something?????

Used to be, sometimes I'd do one, sometimes the other, with mixed success.

BUT.... the other day, I parked at what I thought would be a new and
improved parking spot on a favorite river, then had to walk a new way to
get to the water. A way that turned out to have no good path and a lot
of undergrowth. I turned the rod around and led with the butt..... and
had to pull the rod through a couple of particularly tangly spots.....
and got to the river with the bottom three sections of a 4-piece rod.

Tried to retrace the route..... (hopeless).

Fortunately, I had a cheapo back-up rod in my truck so I did manage to fish.

But my rule *from now on* in that kind of country is going to be to
carry my rod broken down in its rod sack and assemble and rig it only
once I get to the water.

BTW, although Sage will repair a broken RPL tip for free, it charges $71
to replace lost tips. (In my case, a stupidity tax I richly deserve to
have to pay....)