Why Fly Rods Break

[jjtroutbum]

Fly rods break for a reason <~~~click

So tell us about em how did it happen.

Top on the convertable took out one of mine. Fish on a slipped ferrule took out the other one.

The score

My fault 2

Rods fault 0

[Wheatenheimer]

JJ, you had to open this topic, didn't you?

Yes, indeed. I have broke my share of fly rods and all of them, with the exception of one (and the jury is still out on this one), were my own stupid fault.

Number One

I'm thinking it was around 1986 or '87. My first fly rod. An Eagle Claw 8 foot, 6 weight fiberglass rod. All black. Black blank, black foam grip. Along with my Duran Duran concert T, I was cool!!!

I heard that there was wild trout in a place called Crane. These fish had made it on their own for a century or more, so I'm told. "If you hook one greater than 10 inches it will make you run home to Momma and thank her for protecting you from the wild beasts that could have gobbled you up when you were a tender lad.".........so I'm told. Well, as any seventeen year old boy would do, I was determined to tame these wild beasts that my Mother kept at bay during my childhood. Vengence would be mine!?!

Well, it wasn't the beast's, per say, that gave me a well deserved kick in the shorts. It was their domain instead. After spending all day, in search of conquering the elusive, wild McCloud's and getting skunked, not to mention losing a good majority of my fly collection.........the final "run home....supper's ready...Momma's boy!" slapped me right upside the nugget! I lost my footing and drove my Eagle Claw, tip first, into the cut bank that I was planning to ascend, hopefully, reclaiming what was left of my dignity from a day of getting spanked. At this point, my dreams.....much like my fly rod, splintered into ruins!

Not ashamed to say, I wept for my Mother!

Number Two

Early to mid 90's. I decided to build a fly rod. I bought a blank from Charlie Reading in Lebanon. Not just any blank, mind you, but a 9 foot, 3 weight Scott. Yes, indeed! I was going to be the envy of all whom has ever dreamed of casting a fly rod! This, my friend was going to be a masterpiece! Nevermind that I have never built a rod before..........it was all in my head how it would turn out! For I am an artist!!!!

I was doing it right. I bought the slickest, sweetest guides for the time. I bought burl cork rings that would make a marble-esque handle. I bought an exotic wood reel seat! Michelangelo had nothing on me! I put the cork rings on and attached the butt to my Black and Decker drill. Slapping some 80 grit to it and propping it up between the cushions of my sofa, lathing away, my friends. Just about the time the handle started to take shape, all of the resistance from point "B" on the sofa dissapated. Something bad has happened! The top 3 inches of the butt section stayed in the sofa, while the rest was still connected to the drill!

A broken rod before it had a chance to see any water..............tragedy! Not to mention, it was a Scott!!!!

Number Three

A few years later, I overcame the Scott tragedy and tried my hand at building again. I sent the Scott off to Colorado to have a new butt section built. It arrived and I had Charlie Reading do the handle for me on it. It was gorgeous!

But, still I pressed on with my own work. I built a few "cheap" blanks and did quite well. So my confidence was up. The product wasn't bad either. I had a buddy that wanted me to build him a rod from a Powell blank. Cool, why not? I'm on a good streak. I order the blank and all the hardware. I turn the handle out beautifully! The threads on the guides turn out perfect! Next step, epoxy....................epoxy goes on without a hitch. I leave the room and let it spin on the rotisserie.

A few hours later I go back into the room and find a good 3/4's of the rod spinning against the baseboard in my bedroom. The other quarter is in about 4 pieces, deeply imbedded in my carpet! Ouch, this one is going to cost me!

I was careless enough to not clean up the epoxy around the wraps. The rod gained traction and crawled it's way out of the support brace and across the shag, drying and breaking along the way!

Number Four

You remember that Scott that I broke the butt on? Well, like I said Mr. Reading did a fine job on the handle and I had a very sweet rod to fish with for many years.....up until one day on the White.

I really don't know how this happened. But, I do know that at the time, I had an '86 Isuzu Trooper and somehow the back door got slammed on the tip of my Scott. I may have been the "Slammee" or it may have been my buddy that I was fishing with that day. All I know is that I didn't notice it until I arrived home late that night. RIP......the Scott masterpiece has yet to see another stretch of water.

Well, I apologize for being so long winded. I don't post that often, but when I do..... I tend to make up for it. Thanks to all that took the time to read my nonsense! And really, to sum it all up...........if you fish, you are going to break some rods! Let's just hope that if you have invested a descent amount of dough on a rod, the company you bought it from takes into consideration that we are fisherman and therefore we are all a bunch of boneheads at times! So in turn, cut us some slack and treat us well and we will be loyal to your product.

Cheers,

Kevin

[brittsnbirds]

JJ-

2 years ago, my first 3wt. Backing out of the camper in the morning slight wind with the 3wt in hand. Just as I get out of the reach of the door the wind grabs it and wham the tip is snapped. Lesson learned? Anytime I am moving a fly rod(s) into the popup I disassemble them.

Last year. Propping the 4wt TFO against the rear of the truck with the rear window open on the cover. Got in a hurry and forgot about the rod. Slammed the window down and snap. Lesson learned? Keep the rods away from the tailgate and windows on the cover.

6 months later, same TFO. Fishing with a large fish on. Snap, unknown reason for the failure. Lesson learned? None?

So far I have (knock on wood) not broken another rod. I have read several articles about the care and use of graphite rods. Now that I am more intelligent about some of the causes I break my rods down more frequently. I don't leave them crammed in the back of the truck and wipe them of debris at the end of the day.

One other thing I have done is purchased rods that have life time warranty's.

Pat

[Bman]

JJ, Thanks for posting, great article.

A fishing buddy's power window broke the tip off a rod Charlie Reading built for me in '87...ouch!

I hold the rod high as possible on big fish with a lot of line out only.

[trout fanatic]

Been incredibly lucky with fly rods so far no breakage (have a week long steelhead trip that starts tomorrow tho-so knock on wood). BUT back in the late 80's when I mostly bass fished I was in the front seat of my bass boat just cruisin down brush creek (Truman Lake) with 3 rods hangin off the right front of the boat and 2 more off the left. Ran the three on the right side dead center into a tree stump and broke all three at the same time. Took me awhile to recover from that one

[Paola Cat]

I broke (2) fly rods in one night. Getting ready for a C&R trip last season. I was rigging up a custom Sage rod (beautiful rod made for me by a now deceased gentleman) in the living room and and the wife's cat grabbed the leader and took off .... snapped the tip off. Didn't even get a chance to play him out. I then rigged up a Lamiglass rod and went outside to lawn cast for a few minutes. On the way back into the house I missed the first step to the deck ... it was kind of icy .... I went down and snapped that rod in (2) places. These are the only (2) rods I've broke and they happened on the same night. PC

[vanven]

My first rod fell victim to the door of my truck. I had it laid across the floorboard in two pieces and had to open the door and reach into the back to grab something. That caused the rods angle to shift a couple inches and left the rod laying where the length of the rod > the width of the truck. When I shut the door I heard the rod shatter. Went straight to the shop and bought a whole new outfit.

I also bent a ferrule on my new rod when i had it leaning against the tailgate of my truck. When i sat down on the tailgate to put my boots on it caught on the ferrule and bent it a bit. Luckily it didnt break the rod or the ferrule and I was able to bend it back.

-Jerod

[3wt]

Step 1.) tie dog to picnic table while packing up at Montauk

Step 2.) friend unloads truck bed to make room, puts rod on same picnic table

Step 3.) listen for crunch

Step 4.) put no-fault warranty to good use

[Trout Stalker]

Unconditional Lifetime Warranty is the way to go.

[Greg]

I hadn't broken a rod in years until this spring. My wife, son, and I were walking along the bank of the fly area at Montauk with our rigged rods. A guy out in the water probably 20 or 30 feet from me executed a roll cast with what I think was a either a jig or bead head fly. I heard a swoosh and felt a slight impact on my rod. The tip of my favorite rod (custom made and irreplaceable) was sheared clean off 3 or 4 inches from the tip.

I felt sick and was immediately angry at the guy that did that careless roll cast (he saw us behind him). But I bit my tongue and later realized it was just a freak accident. Not his fault at all.

Greg