Fighting butt, and some fish pictures

Hi all,

I just thought I'd post on something that I was asked about at Penns.
Someone asked me about the fact that I had put a fighting butt on my 4
weight.
I think the reflection was that I wouldn't need one on such a light rod and
that it was too short anyway.
Actually, this might just be a good idea for any rod, without the notion
that you'd ever need it as a fighting butt.
I put it there simply because every time I lean my rod against anything the
reel is bound to touch ground.
Scratch marks on the reel can seem as only a cosmetic thing, but if you get
a scratch mark on the inside of the edge of the spool it will inevitably
affect the coating of the line. Scratched aluminium is sharp.
What I do is I put a very short fighting but on all my light rods and a
longer one on heavier rods.
The longer ones will protect the reel as well as working as a fighting butt
while the shorter ones (about 1 1/4 inch) are there only to protect the
reel.
A friend of mine once asked me how I could keep my reels in such good shape
over the years, so I showed him.
I ended up putting the same fighting butts on his rods as well as another
friend's rods.
Think about it, such a short fighting butt won't be in the way and it will
lengthen the lifespan of your reels.
AND, with the cost of those reels you'd likely want to expand the lifespan
on them.

BTW, I went fishing for Arctic char in the mountains with some friends. We
caught 14 and kept 2 for late dinner (2 am) by the creek (midnight sun and
all). This one was caught by me and was 19 inches
http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran3.JPG and one of those that we kept.
Here's a 20 inch fish http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran1.JPG
(released) and a 16 inch one http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran2.JPG
(also kept for dinner).
They're pretty fish the Arctic char, and tasty.

/ Roger
Daytime engineer
Lifetime fly fisherman
If you feel like it, visit http://www.imsoc.se/angler/ for info on fly
fishing in northern Sweden, Lapland,
or visit http://www.imsoc.se/ffgallery/ , the fly fishermen's gallery.

"Roger Ohlund" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
snip

BTW, I went fishing for Arctic char in the mountains with some friends. We
caught 14 and kept 2 for late dinner (2 am) by the creek (midnight sun and
all). This one was caught by me and was 19 inches
http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran3.JPG and one of those that we
kept.
Here's a 20 inch fish http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran1.JPG
(released) and a 16 inch one http://hem.passagen.se/alvsajtn/ransaran2.JPG
(also kept for dinner).
They're pretty fish the Arctic char, and tasty.


Bastid!

"Roger Ohlund" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I just thought I'd post on something that I was asked about at Penns.
Someone asked me about the fact that I had put a fighting butt on my 4
weight.
I think the reflection was that I wouldn't need one on such a light rod
and
that it was too short anyway.
Actually, this might just be a good idea for any rod, without the notion
that you'd ever need it as a fighting butt.
I put it there simply because every time I lean my rod against anything
the
reel is bound to touch ground.
Scratch marks on the reel can seem as only a cosmetic thing, but if you
get
a scratch mark on the inside of the edge of the spool it will inevitably
affect the coating of the line. Scratched aluminium is sharp.
What I do is I put a very short fighting but on all my light rods and a
longer one on heavier rods.
The longer ones will protect the reel as well as working as a fighting
butt
while the shorter ones (about 1 1/4 inch) are there only to protect the
reel.
A friend of mine once asked me how I could keep my reels in such good
shape
over the years, so I showed him.
I ended up putting the same fighting butts on his rods as well as another
friend's rods.
Think about it, such a short fighting butt won't be in the way and it will
lengthen the lifespan of your reels.
AND, with the cost of those reels you'd likely want to expand the lifespan
on them.

/ Roger



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


/Thomas - DK

"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

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

I do the same thing, even though my head also seriously needs the
protection. Just another manifestation of my priorities.

It's also good to have a vest with one of those rod holders (I think
some vests actually have two).

--
Jarmo Hurri

Commercial email countermeasures included in header email
address. Remove all garbage from header email address when replying,
or just use .

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.

I take care not to get dirt in the reel, but other than that I couldn't
care less about dings and scratches. They just add character. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Frank Church wrote:

....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

Hmmm.... butt in head gear, head up butt ... there's a joke in
there somewhere that I'm too polite to make. ;-)

That's exactly what I do, btw, when I'm on the bank. My vest
has a loop for the butt and a velcro for the rod that works
very well when I'm thigh deep in a stream.

--
Ken Fortenberry

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote...
Frank Church wrote:

....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.

Hmmm.... butt in head gear, head up butt ... there's a joke in
there somewhere that I'm too polite to make. ;-)

That's exactly what I do, btw, when I'm on the bank. My vest
has a loop for the butt and a velcro for the rod that works
very well when I'm thigh deep in a stream.

My original conclusion was that conservatives keep their butts in their hats,
but it appears liberals practice this as well. Further study has proven that
*either/both* will speak while performing the ritual.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

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

"fish.iddx.net" wrote in message
...

"Roger Ohlund" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I just thought I'd post on something that I was asked about at Penns.
Someone asked me about the fact that I had put a fighting butt on my 4
weight.

Put a fightbutt on my light crispy SLT 8' #4 ? No way! :-)

Why not?
How much do you think 1 1/4 inch of cork butt weighs?
Anyway, I've gotten so used to never having to think about not damaging the
reel that I wouldn't want to be without it.
To each his own, but I still think it's a good idea.

/Roger
Come to think of it, none of my cane rods have one and they're not likely to
have one in the future either ;-) but that's all about tradition.