Frank Church wrote:

"fish.iddx.net" wrote in
:

Put a fightbutt on my light crispy SLT 8' #4 ? No way! :-) When you
buy a descent reel (sage or waterworks ie.) you get a nice neoprene
casing for your reel. I use that when i put my rod down on the ground,
or place my rod where the surface is plain grass without sand and
pebbles.

Fightingbutts are for fighting fish, and not for reel protection imho.
But be my guest Þ


....whenever I need to set my rod down (yes, even the kposes) if there
ain't some nice soft grass nearby I just take my hat off lay it down and
put the butt in there...works for me.

Frank the careful

Looks like I'm more abusive with my equipment than most of you guys, but
then having "nice" possessions doesn't do much for me. I don't care how
my equipment looks, but I do care about how it works. Roger's idea is a
sensible one (but I don't think I want a fighting butt on a four
weight). I like uplocking reel seats for the same reason. In addition to
the advantage of putting the reel closer to your hand, an uplocking reel
seat also helps keep the reel out of the sand and dirt.

I do expect my equipment to take some abuse without any serious damage.
When I feel like I'm going to fall, especially in rocky areas, I throw
my rod so I can fall "better." I'd rather hurt my rod and reel than
myself. Although I've put dings in my reels that way, the only ones
that I've had any "reel" damage with are those with modeled aluminum parts.

That brings up falling. Over the years I fallen countless numbers of
times. I seldom fall when I'm in the water. Almost all my falls are on
the edge of the stream or river. The gradients there are often steep and
there tends to be lots of loose material and mud. Although I do tend to
fall quite often, more than most people I think, I've never hurt myself
fishing other than a couple scrapes. What I have learned to do is fall
"gracefully". IMO, if you go with the fall and free your hands, you are
going to be far less likely to hurt yourself than if you fight the fall.
IMO, fighting a fall is how you tear, rip and strain things. MOST times,
falls aren't a big deal. Unless you're a giant, you're not falling very
far. (Being ROFF I think I have to add that, of course, there are
situations when falling is VERY dangerous or even life threatening and I
recommend that you DON'T go with the fall in these situations.)

Willi