I guess that most of you guys are not fisherman since you are looking at the
fishing pole as an afterthought to dispense the line rather than a primary
means of getting the line into place into your trees. I use what is known
as
a "spinning" reel which hangs below the rod and the line comes off the reel
very freely. I use 8lb test line. This type of reel yields far less
reel-based tangles
than either the old bait-casting type or closed face spin-casting type.
A fly reel doesn't provide any safety from tangles whatsoever, nor does it
facilitate
quick retrieval of your line since there is no gearing and it's merely a 1:1
crank
ratio. The spinning reels typically have one to "many" ratios (handle crank
to
line retrieve turns).
I'll admit that I've been fishing for many more years(30+) than I've been in
ham (21)
radio and have gotten pretty good at getting the line into the exact spot, or
close enough to, where I want it to be. This may be the hard part for
non-fisherman types. But with practice, it should be no problem. I have
used this
method to reach heights of around 80' which is the highest tree I have had.
Fundamentally, I use the same technique as the wrist-rocketeers with the 1 oz
"dipsey"
sinker. I put a loop at the end of the fishing line and pass the loop
through the
hole in the sinker. No fancy knots here. I open the loop up and pass the
body
of the sinker through the loop and pull it tight. This makes removing the
sinker
quite easy. I spray paint the sinkers with white paint so that they can be
seen in the trees. To cast into the trees, I hold the rod with both hands,
lift it
up over my head and as far back as is comfortable. I then snap the rod back
over my head and release the line at the appropriate point so that the line
takes the
proper trajectory to go over the desired branch. If I hit the wrong spot, I
disconnect
the sinker and reel the line back in - re-attach the sinker and try again.
If the sinker
gets stuck in the tree, I have had very good luck with pulling until the line
breaks and the
sinker usually drops to the ground ( I admit to losing a few).
After getting the fishing line and sinker over the desired branch, I remove
the
sinker and attach mason's cord (very, very strong and thin) to the end of
the monofilament line by tying it to the loop made earlier for the sinker. I
then reel
in the mason's cord. One thing that is good about the fishing pole is the
leverage you
can apply with the pole itself while reeling in the mason's cord. The line
always seems
to touch the maximum amount of branches creating a lot of friction. After
getting the
mason's cord down to the ground, I then tie the mason's cord to the antenna
support
rope. The rope that I use is the 5/32 green rope that K3KNH sells - good
stuff!
I tie the mason's cord onto the green line without making a loop in the green
line in
order to streamline it. I place electrical tape over the junction of the
mason's cord
and the green rope to further streamline the connection. At this point, I
wind the
mason's cord back on it's original spool and pull the rope over the branch.
As soon as the main rope is within reach of the ground, I cut the mason's
string
and tie the end of the main rope to an appropriate low branch.
I then go to the spool of rope and make a cut and attach the
insulator from the antenna. I can now pull the antenna up to full height.
The excess rope is coiled up and stored at the spot where the rope is tied
to a branch. This excess rope is not wasted - especially if you are
inclined
to change antennas from time to time. This way, once you've got the rope
in a good spot, you can reuse it for other antennas without going through
the hassle of using the fishing pole or slingshot again.
Happy fishing!
73,
Bob KR2J
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