A Really Sad Day!

The saddest thing happened today on our fishing trip. I was having the most fun when all of a sudden a really big fish caught the hook and as I was reeling it in my reel shot craps!

My rod and reel was given to me by my Dad about 40 years ago for my birthday and it was one of my most treasured possessions.

It was a replacement for a rod and reel I had lost in Southern MO. Fishing at the crack of dawn, when just in the wink of an eye a fish took my bait and "whoosh" my pole slid into the abyss of a MO lake. I cried and my Dad bought me this rod and reel to replace it on my next birthday. A Johnson Citation 100B reel on a fabulous rod. I never had anything that fantastic to fish with before or since.

That reel could cast out farther than anything I ever had before. It was a beautiful piece of fishing equipment.

My Dad once said to me that he was so surprised that I wanted to sit by and talk to him rather than my new hubby when we all went fishing together, when Daddy and I first got married. I didn't tell him this, but I knew I would have so many more years to sit with your Dad than my Dad that I chose him and I was right.

We decided we would be fishing buddies as soon as he retired. We would go together all the time. But I started having babies and he got sick and we only got to go a couple of times, but they were the best times of my life.

I guess the gears on my reel just finally gave out. I don't know why but I thought it would be around for the rest of my life to pass on to the grandchild who loved fishing the most. (So far there is no-one who is passing that bar).

Anyway with some research and emails, I found out it cannot be repaired but can be purchased on Ebay. If I replace the internals and keep the original case it should still be the one my Dad gave me, just repaired.

So I feel a little better tonight.