Before the Laurasian supercontinent broke-up, I used to backpack and fish a lot. I bought a 2-section, 7 ft rod rod on which I could put an ultra-light Mitchell reel or a fly reel. I carried a lttle book my mom made for me that had heavy felt leaves, between each leaf I could place a lot of flies or hooks or a few spinning lures. I guess it had 8-10 leaves. Very light and flexible allowing easy packing.

the rod was a piss-poor spinning rod (too whippy) and a piss-poor fly rod (too short & stiff). But the virtue of trading fishing methods was great. We were high in the San Juans or Estes Park so ponds were generally small and creeks were narrow and twisty. Back then we could have a campfire, which is probably illegal now-a-days. I carried a roll of Al foil that we'd wrap two layers around the gutted fish and bury it in the coals for 5-10 minutes. Gawd those fish were delicious. Are they really the finest flavored fish on Earth or is it faded roses from days gone by?

B