This weekend while fishing with a buddy, I had the unfortunate experience of watching him baptize one of my rods. Threw it right out of the boat. My shock disppeared when I remembered I had made and installed one of the Rodmaker “Rod Rescue Devices” inside the butt end of the rod. When I then remembered that I had never tested it like the article said to do, my shock returned. I was about ready to give up hope when I saw the float bobbing on the surface almost fifty feet away.

I learned several lessons that day. It is wise to have such a rescue device in your rod handle. It adds very little weight and costs pennies to make. It is also wise to test it at least once per the article so that you KNOW it is going to work! Another thing is that even with the float bobbing on the surface you have to remember that on the water your position is not static and even anchored your boat moves a bit. So where you thought you tossed the rod and where it actually wound up may be two different things. I had almost given the rod up for lost and then turned around to the other side of the boat and noticed the little float.

This is a tool I am going to start offering my customers for ten bucks or something. My plan is to come up with a small cylinder and make them before hand in those and then just insert those into the rod butt. This might be quicker than making each one up right inside the rod butt itself. That way I can keep a stock of them on hand and even retrofit older rods that come in.

The Rod Rescue Devise is outlined in RodMaker Magazine Volume 11 issue 6


Hey Ken! What was so wrong with the rod that the guy had to baptise it?? LOL

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2009 02:54PM by Raymond Adams.

If you drop a rod in the water... hit MOB immediately on your GPS and you'll know where you should be looking...

I'm just going to fill my rods with an inert gas so they float. :)

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AD

I had originally tried to build the device inside a small tube but quickly determined that the space the tube required reduced the amount of room for the float within. This made the device less than practical on the smaller diameter rods. Thus I went back to simply constructing the device for each specific rod, employing the largest sized float the rod butt would hold.

But you could certainly construct the device independent of the rod. If you're working with larger rods that might even be the very best way to go about it. There is still room for evolution of the concept. Keep us informed which way you go.

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Where I fish, I don't think that I could stuff enough line into the butt to make it surface all the way to the top of the water...lol

Maybe not, but with braid you can do pretty well. 10 or 12lb braid is small enough to allow you store a good amount of line around the float.

Of course, if you're fishing the Marianas Trench. or some other seriously deep water haunt it's a moot point.

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Raymond Adams Wrote:
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>
> Hey Ken! What was so wrong with the rod that the
> guy had to baptise it?? LOL


Maybe it had demons.

Glad to know it worked out. I threw a rod my wife got me as a wedding present . Needless to say she wasn't exactly thrilled with her new husband.

matthew jacobs Wrote:
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> > Maybe it had demons.


Na, most likely just Gremlins LOL!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

It was an eye opening experience and took place in about twenty to twenty five feet of water. If not for the rescue device it would still be there I'm sure.

The device not only saved a nice rod, but an expensive Shimano Curado reel too!

Hi guys Has anyone heard of a device that would allow someone to get his rod back if dropped overboard? Remember ,the reel has weight also