On Aug 26, 11:42*pm, wrote:


I wouldn't do that, even if it has intermediate wraps, and definitely
not if doesn't have them. *If the glue fails, esp. the tip, it could be
damaged if not ruined. * If you are _at all_ concerned about the glue
(esp. if you know the rodmaker had glue issues), wrap painter's tape
(_not_ regular "masking" tape, but the blue or green "delicate finish"
type or other similar delicate surface-safe tape) around the tip section
at 2-3"/5-6cm intervals and _gently_ flex it a few times. *Tape the
remaining sections at about 6-8"/12-15cm intervals and tape the
ferrule/cane joint. *Assemble the rod and gently flex it against
something like a mattress or padded, carpeted floor. *_Gradually_
increase the amount of flex.

TC,
R


Yeah, so only buy such a rod form a second hand store that sells
matresses as well, or has a padded carpeted floor, and make sure you
have "delicate finish" masking tape with you.

When the rod breaks, and the shop owner shoves it up your ass, asking
"Do you want fries with that", reflect on your sins, and the
aberrations encountered on the internet.

This is not the story of a bamboo, but may be of use to you anyway;

"Have a wiggle!". "Go on, have a wiggle", he said. So I had a wiggle.

Unfortunately, even after wiggling, I was not much wiser than before.
Despite the fact that I have handled thousands of rods, and fished and
cast with a goodly number, all I get from "wiggling" them in a tackle
shop, or indeed anywhere else, is a very rough idea of their unloaded
action, whether they are particularly stiff or floppy, and a vague
inkling of what they might be able to do.

Under no circumstances would I buy a rod, as a result of such a
wiggle. I consider wiggling, a time honoured, but basically more or
less useless tradition, and I only really do it to satisfy the wishes
of sundry tackle shop proprietors and similar unfortunates, many of
whom continue to labour under the erroneous and often dangerous
misapprehension, that it is essential.

Rather crestfallen, apparently because I only wiggled weakly ( I am a
weak wiggler by nature, and also by conviction, in point of fact I
really prefer not to wiggle at all if I can help it), and I did not
immediately burst into enthusiastic praise of the rod, he took it from
my hands, and said "Watch this".

Oh ominous phrase! On quite a number of occasions, especially when
casting, or handling fishing rods generally, the utterance of these
very words has proved to be a harbinger of impending disaster, and
nowadays, when hearing them,I get the almost uncontrollable urge to
hide, or run for cover. In this particular instance, I did neither, I
simply took several steps backwards to what I fervently hoped was a
safe distance.

I had no idea what he was actually going to do, but I was fairly
certain that it would be neither impressive or sensible. Over the
years, quite a number of factory reps, tackle shop proprietors, proud
rod owners, and potential world record casters,( at least they thought
so), have been moved to do the most amazing and silly things with
fishing rods in my presence. Perhaps I am a bad influence?

Long ago, after the first few such incidents, I realised that it was
absolutely pointless trying to persuade them not to, and that simply
allowing me to have a cast or two with the implement in question would
more than suffice as a demonstration.

Every single time, my exhortations proved completely futile, and
unsettlingly often with disastrous results.

Unmoved, and indeed apparently absolutely oblivious to my
protestations and misgivings, the gentleman poked the tip of the rod
over the counter towards his shop assistant, and said "Hold it
tight!".

My attempt to take yet another step backwards also proved futile, as I
bumped into a set of steel shelves behind me.

The assistant grasped the rod tip, and our worthy wiggler raised his
hand hard, putting an awesome bend in the rod, and continuing to do so
until it had very nearly described a complete semicircle from butt to
tip. At this point, the spirit of carbon fibre apparently decided that
he had had more than enough of this vile treatment, and gave up the
ghost.

Quite a small report sounded, followed closely by a shriek from the
shop assisant, followed yet again by another much louder cracking
report, and a sound like hailstones hitting a tin roof.

This all occurred within a split second.

The assistant had barely completed his marrow curdling shriek, before
clapping his hands to his face, from between which amazingly large
quantities of blood began welling and dripping. The wiggler stood
apparently dumbfounded for a second, and then dropped the remains of
the rod and began wiping his eyes.

Quite a few minutes, and considerable gentle persuasion,was required
to get the shop assistant to take his hands away from his face, so
that I could view the damage. A long deep gash ran from the side of
his mouth, nearly up to his eye, and although the flow of blood had by
now diminished a little, there was still plenty to go round. Indeed,
the counter top, his clothes, the floor, the cash register, had all
received a more than ample helping, and more was being freely
distributed by the second, should the first few gushes indeed prove
insufficient.

All anglers in Germany are required to have a first aid certificate
before they may obtain a licence. I had originally assumed that this
was in case of accidents on the stream, but now realised that the
powers that be must be aware of what dangerous places tackle shops can
be.

After about twenty minutes, an ambulance arrived and carted him off,
after one of the medics had removed a few loose splinters from the
wigglers eyes, and admonishing him not to rub them.

I heard he had to have sixteen stitches in the gash. He will have a
scar that any Cossack would be proud of, for the rest of his life.

In the meantime, the wiggler picked up the butt, and a few bits and
pieces, and holding them in his hands he looked at them, and then up
at me, saying "I cant understand it, nothing like that has ever
happened before! Must have been defective!".

I refrained from further comment, and took my leave shortly
afterwards. This particular tackle shop is no longer on my list of
"places I like to visit".

For those of you interested in the technical aspects of such an
occurence, here they are.

If you grasp a rod at the tip, practically any lateral pressure you
exert on this thin part of the blank will cause it to snap like a
carrot. Having done so, and still being under considerable pressure
from any wanton wiggler who is holding it at the time, the broken end
will spring up and out with very considerable force. Should anybody be
unfortunate enough to have placed his physiognomy in the arc which
this, unlike a carrot, extremely sharp and jagged implement, is now
describing at very high speed (which is basically unavoidable if he
was foolish enough to hold the tip of a rod for a wiggler), it will
almost certainly be permanently altered as a result.

Steel beams placed relatively low under the roof, are not a good idea
in tackle shops owned by wigglers (much the same applies to ceiling
fans). Having carried out the rapid, unwonted, and fairly large scale
plastic surgery on the luckless emloyee now holding his face, the
tipless rod continues its unstoppable journey upwards, until it
contacts just such a steel beam, with a resounding crack. Being
already damaged, the impact causes the remains of the tip to shatter
like glass, and spray fragments all over the place. Some of which may
cause injury or discomfort to innocent bystanders, and of course the
by no means innocent wiggler, and his already severely injured
assistant.

There are any number of morals to be gleaned from this story, but I
will confine myself to those having an immediate effect on anglers
wishing to purchase various fishing implements.

Wanton wiggling is a waste of time and effort, and risky to boot. If
you see tackle dealers, or anybody else carrying out wanton wiggling,
then don´t buy any rods from them. Even if nothing happens at the
time, a rod which has been wantonly wiggled is highly likely to fail
at some future date, as they are simply not designed to stand such
treatment, and will almost certainly be damaged by it.

The extremely high incindence of broken tips, for no immediately
apparent reason, when fishing, is in my opinion, at least partially a
result of wanton wiggling. Those who fish bead-head and similar flies,
using fast rods and tight loops, often have only themselves to blame,
but for many others, the reason is that you are probably the
unsuspecting victim of a wanton wiggler.

Tight lines! ~ Mike Connor