Rico, my lab, posed nicely as we waited for some birds to come.  You’ll remember that I hadn’t had a chance to test the 80# line in the field, so that is what I had attached to my Centaur longbow.  It took a little while before I could convince a nice fat greenhead to drop his bright orange feet and glide into the ultra close bow range.  I let the string slide from my fingers as he started to backpedal.  My excitement vanished in a blur when the bow lurched forward and my arrow whipped behind me and then again in front of me.  The arrow stood there in the mud as I figured out what had just happened. 

I thought that I might have gotten the string wrapped around some part on the reel but that was not the case.  The light line that I had tested flawlessly at home, had somehow managed to only pull four feet of line out before binding up in a pile of knots.  I had just warned you of this danger and then it happens to me.  The line abruptly stopped, stored enough energy, and launched the arrow dangerously back past me. 

I was very blessed that I came out unscathed and can easily conclude that the 80# line out of the AMS reel is a complete and dangerous failure and should not be attempted.  The search for the perfect waterfowl arrow retrieval system continues…