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Backroads and Bobtails
The line went slack and….. Well, a physicist might explain the resulting spool-andline interaction using terms like "Isaac Newton," "gravity," and "inertia." Fishermen, most of whom are not physicists, know it simply as backlash, bird's nest, or other more colorfully descriptive terms. Knowingly, I mustered up the courage to look down at the reel in my palm and at the hopelessly snarled entanglement of line on the now-jammed spool. After a series of slow, deep breaths and a methodical count of ten, I allowed myself the required 15 seconds of vociferous cursing, after which I felt better and more able to cope with the task at hand. Thirty minutes later, I had the backlash picked out, the line straightened, and was able to resume fishing. There should, I think, be a law requiring tackle manufacturers and sporting goods retailers who charge more than $150 for a fishing reel to guarantee said reel as foolproof and trouble-free. I mean, it just doesn't seem ethical somehow to charge an arm and a leg for an item that invariably causes the loss of one's religion and multiple blood-vessel popping at the same time. I'm not even sure I'd oppose such an ordinance's being deemed a capital offense, personal friends in the fishing tackle industry notwithstanding. Though it might be said with some accuracy that the reason I can't operate a baitcasting reel with dexterity is due to clumsiness and a decided lack of intelligence, I hold that stupidity is at best a misdemeanor. Years ago, I never complained about my reels or any other pieces of fishing paraphernalia. I just naturally expected the occasional mechanical screw-up. My first reel, in particular, was unconditionally guaranteed to fail at least once during any given outing. That first one, which came into my possession around the age of nine, was a Zebco 33 handed down to me by a very frugal grandfather. Frugality here translates into, "Here, Bobby. I've had this dadgum thing for more than ten years and it's completely worn out. Now it's yours." They say you can't backlash a Zebco 33. The enclosed spincast design prevents it. Personally, I don't know. Something else always went wrong with mine well before reaching the backlashing stage. For instance, the reel was permanently full of sand, grit, and other foreign matter. My benefactor, bless his heart, had dropped it on a riverbank years before and never quite got around to cleaning it. As a result, the plastic gears and bearings were, respectively, toothless and flat. Cranking the handle always produced a sound reminiscent of filing the heads off nails or fingernails scraping the surface of a chalkboard. The action was smooth only when the line broke, which it did with regularity. That old Zebco had one feature I've never seen on any other reel. It had a self-removing handle. Problem was, the handle removed itself only during long casts, often falling into the water or flying too far into the underbrush to locate. Did you ever try winding up 40 yards of line by turning a quarter-inch threaded bolt between your thumb and forefinger?Today I have no fingerprints. My front teeth aren't in such great shape either. Angling life was no easier when the handle remained secure. With no anti-reverse mechanism to stop it, it spun with gyroscopic velocity whenever a fishtook the bait. Attempts to grab the flying crank left my knuckles swollen to the size of an NFLoffensive tackle's. That old reel is now long gone. Perhaps I threw it away when I received my first new one. I don't remember. I do know, after going through dozens of reels and a hefty chunk of my bank account, I often findmyself thinking about it. I miss it most when my baitcaster backlashes. I also miss it when I witness youngsters effortlessly casting and retrieving new Zebco 33s free of all defects. I wish the little brats had to use mine just once. On second thought, maybe not. Child abuse is, after all, the most heinous of crimes. |
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