Why get a mini fishing rod? I got the answer to that question on a recent long weekend getaway with my wife. We rented a cabin in southeastern Oklahoma. Calling what we rented a cabin is not accurate, this was actually a very nice house in the Quachita Mountains located about 50 yards from a very approachable bank on the Mountain Fork River.
The website for the proprietors of this rental property indicated there was good fishing in the Mountain Fork River and that they also allowed access to a pond full of bluegill. Now, I am not a fisherman. I grew up fishing. My father loved it, took me every chance he could when I was growing up. I have a brother that carries on the tradition, but I stopped abruptly after leaving home – giving all my time to a young family and trying to build a career over the years, always meaning to start back. But I never did…
However, amid all the choices I made over the years other than to go fishing, I still like the idea of fishing. I am one of those guys that did enough of it growing up that I can talk about fishing with guys that actually fish, but I am the one that always turns down the offers to go. I am still choosing not to go fishing.
So what does this have to do with a mini fishing rod? And why would a fellow like me, who always chooses to do something else other than fish, write about why to get a mini fishing rod? And why did a weekend trip to Oklahoma provide this epiphany?
Think about it. I am a guy that likes the idea of fishing, but I don’t want to go fishing. To go fishing means I am going to do all those things that means I have made a choice to go on a fishing trip instead of the myriad other things I now choose to do with my time. Stay with me, this has a point.
A fellow that chooses to go fishing is going to buy gear. At least a reasonably priced spinning rod and reel, lures, maybe live bait, tackle. He will most likely have to drive for a while and rent a boat, and this is done after planning where he will go.
Now all of the above is fine for someone that really chooses to go fishing on a more than occasional basis, but it always seemed too much trouble for someone like me. Someone that likes the idea of fishing but doesn’t choose to go, there just isn’t enough desire or need to go to all the trouble and expense.
Still with me? Good. Let’s take another turn here. What if the place and opportunity to fish is a by-product of another choice you made – like maybe a weekend trip to Oklahoma. What if that nice weekend rental is just yards away from an accessible bank to a river holding some of the best smallmouth bass fishing for that part of the country. What if the owner’s bluegill pond was an easy walk-up over a nicely kept yard area? What if going fishing was as simple as going for a walk, with the nice house, immaculate shower, hot tub, wine and dinner with your wife in front of the fireplace waiting for you afterward?
This is the time to have a mini fishing rod. A rod and reel that fits into the equivalent of a shaving kit or at least would not take up much space in an overnight bag. Something where the rod collapses into a tube that also holds your tackle and lures. Fishing gear that packs in the same place as your shaving gear and change of clothes. Chic and stealthy, yet not a toy.
When it’s time to go fishing, you expand your rod, attach the reel, tie on your lures and go. The perfect instrument for those rare times when the desire to fish finally meets absolutely no effort to go.