Everyone has their preferences & their favourites. Long ones, short ones, inbetweeny ones, bendy ones, stiff ones, red ones, black ones, yellow ones, one piece, two piece, three piece, expensive ones, cheap ones, and everything inbetween.
When it comes to describing the action of a rod, I don’t know many people who truly claim to understand it all. Most anglers that have been at it for a while, have tried a few different rods, and have come to appreciate which qualities are important to them and the way that they fish.
It’s possible to choose just about any type of rod these days. It’s easy enough to find one and to order it. Forums & Blog reviews, manufacturers descriptions all allow us to get an insight into what the rods are good at, and not so good at. But, there’s one thing that the manufacturers can’t build in, and one thing that the reviewers can’t tell you ….. is your new rod a ‘lucky rod’?
Some rods just catch fish from day one. Some only seem to catch big fish. However, some rods seem cursed. The first fishless session isn’t too bad, at least you got to cast it & feel it’s action with a few different lures, but after a couple of sessions with no fish you just want to feel what it’s like with a fish on the end. A few sessions later it’s all getting a bit too much. Why can’t I catch a fish on this rod ? Even snagging a patch of weed now starts to feel attractive. A switch of rod the next day brings an immediate result, so the fish are there, so it’s back to the new rod, and …. still no fish !! What on earth !!!
Is it time to sell it on ? Should a chicken be sacrificed (note: no animals were sacrificed in the writing of this Blog post) ? Can a local ‘person of the cloth’ throw some holy water in it’s general direction ? Do I need to start to talk to it, perhaps take it to bed at night ? Is bad-angling involved ?
There’s one thing that’s for sure though, is that lucky rods need to be cherished, they don’t come along often, & maybe in Harry Potter fashion they select the angler, not the other way around. Should you even tell someone that you have a lucky rod, or is that too much of a risk, too much of a temptation for your friend, will you be able to maintain your friendship once they know that you own such a coveted item, maybe it’s time to lock it up ?
Silent success might be the best policy. Maybe only talk to the lucky rod about it. Yes, secrecy is the best bet.
There is no lucky rod. Honest. No lucky rods to be seen here. Move along please ……