I had a funny and embarassing thing happen today.

I have a couple of Mike Connor rods; one is a 4-piece 5wt rod that I broke
the butt section on several years ago, and the other is a longer, heavier
4-piece that he gave me last year. Last month, I finally got around to
repairing the butt section on the 5wt, but by then all the different
sections had gotted mixed up (being the same colors and all). So I assembled
what I think is an actual matched set made up of pieces of both rods
(probably the top three sections of the heavier rod, and the butt of the
5wt, but it feels like the best overall arrangement). Since I don't really
know what weight the new rod is, I took it and two reels out back to try
casting a 5 wt line, and an 8 wt line.

The 8wt line felt a bit hard to handle, it seemed heavy and it wouldn't
really load up comfortably, so I figure that the rod is really a good 5 wt.
I was casting the 5wt line, and was getting the same distance as the 7/8 wt
but with more control, so I guessed my figguring was right. Then, some
students came out and were chatting to me as I was practicing my casts. At
one point, I was talking to the kids and not really paying attention to the
line as I was reeling it in, and the far end of the line got twisted around
a clump of grass. I was completely distracted, and when the line slipped off
the clump, the rod tip jerked exactly as if a fish had struck. Without even
thinking, I said "Whoa! A fish!" and set the hook before I realized how
stupid that was. The kids almost lost it....I'm sure that I will not live
this down before the end of the year.

Man, am I glad I'm going to be fishing in SA this Tuesday!

--riverman