Wazao as Your Fishing Diary
The first time you apply oil to wazao joint section, save the cloth used, and after drying, use it to wipe down the entire rod. It will add a new coat and intensify its esthetic beauty. The more you use and take care of your rod, it’ll add character and pride of ownership; marking the passage of time by deepening the finish.
Fishing & Casting
When fishing with a wazao, an angler must always remember to “rotate” the rod to avoid unwanted memory but most of the time, bamboo will straighten if you let it sit vertically for several days.
Casting with any rod requires good technique, but that is especially true for wazao. The most important piece of advice we can provide, is that casting against wind should be avoided, especially with smaller frail rods. The rod could split when used with force, and especially with a significant headwind.
Landing Fish
When landing fish, power of wazao is maximized when the arm is fully extended to a point where the arm and rod align and make a straight line together. Also, wazao should be rotated after every catch or every several casts, to prevent unwanted bend memory in the rod.
Putting Away
Each wazao section should be removed in sequence, one by one starting from the handle. Any line, rig or line keeper device should be taken off at this point. Many people have broken the rod tip section inside a rod sack because they wanted to skip a very easy procedure.
Maintenance
On Site
Once all sections have been taken out and your fishing rig is put away, wipe down your wazao with a damp cloth. It is very important to remember to wipe smaller sections of wazao in bottom to top direction only or the cloth can get caught on rod tip and damage it.
At Home
- Ideally after each fishing outing, all sections should be taken out and dried in the shade. If the rod was used in fishing saltwater, all sections should be wiped down again with a damp cloth before drying.
- A few times a year, joint sections should be lubricated with plant oil such as camellia oil.
Using a cloth, apply oil onto male end of a section, connect the section and rotate several times until the inside of the female section is thoroughly lubricated. Applying too much oil could damage the rod as well, so please limit oil application to only a few times a year. - If your wazao develops unwanted memory, damage and jammed sections, they need to be worked on by professional wazao builder.