Public Service Anouncement 🙂
by our Rod Guru, Lou Caruso
In the last 3 weeks I have now heard of at least 14 rods snapping. This is the most I have heard of in any one season, especially so early in the fall run. It is not one particular brand either. It runs the gamut. Lami, both GSB and Super Surf, CTS, St Croix, Fiber Star you name it. No one has been spared.
A few quick tips and I’m back on the beach.
1 – STOP high sticking !!!!!!!! That means if you have a fish under the light, don’t think you can lift a fish up by the rod instead of going down the rocks and grabbing the leader
2 – Follow number one if you are up on a jetty fishing…. Remember, you change the angle to the water drastically when you are up on the rocks either under the light or atop a jetty fishing. This causes high sticking by default.
3 – Make sure of what is behind you when casting. You would not be the first to hook a rock or fence behind you when casting. The outcome is never good when this happens.
4 – If you are fishing a 2 piece rod make sure the rod is together tight. I have seen what appears to be a rod that twisted on the cast and exploded, also a rod that snapped at the ferrule. These are usually indicators that the rod was not tightly together. It can also happen if you are a side caster and twist the rod following through the cast.
5 – Like it or not, if you snap cast you stand a good chance of snapping a rod at some point…..The compression of the cast will eventually take it’s toll on the blank.
6 – This one is easy to remedy, watch what the hell you are doing with car doors, windows and rear hatches… In the heat of battle it becomes too easy to loose track of where the tip of the rod is …..nuff said.
With all that being said, if you have been using a rod for more then a week or 2 and snap it, it’s most likely not a manufacture defect. It’s user error. There have now been many tests done on blanks to determine how a blank snap. There tests have been done in slow motion and the results recorded and published. Be honest with your builder or tackle shop where you purchased the rod.
That’s it for now.
Lou Caruso
Thanks for the reminder Lou!
↓Before the advent of braid you didn’t see much of this as it was very rare. Braid is unforgiving with today’s rod blanks.
↓And better drags. Some think locking down the drag is a good thing because of stronger braid
↓Can’t even count the number of good excuses I’ve heard from guys who come back with broken rods. Best I ever heard was from a guy who thought he might have cracked the tip due to mental concentration or mind control, he wanted to know if that was covered under the warranty, LOL
↓Be careful driving with plugs and bucktails hooked to the guides that stuff banging against the blank can cause damage and failure
↓This comment is for the people who transport their rods on the outside of the vehicle, Think about that thin walled rod being hit with debris from the road. I do beleve that road debris can and does break window glass?
↓I saw 2 break today in Mecca. One of them broke in 3.
↓thks lou
↓Lou, Great FYI
Can you provide some info (links) of published “Test Results” as well as Video links?
Thanks Lou!
↓In over 50 years of surffishing I have broken 3 rods. Two were Graphite and the other was an S Glass 10 footer. One was my own doing as I was holding a bass in one hand while trying to get my footing on SS Rocks so I could unhook and release the fish. My rod was raised in my other hand and I slipped and dropped the fish. Snap, my fault I should have known better. The other was on a cast and one was while fighting a bass. One rod was while using mono and the other two were while using Braid. No doubt I was somehow the cause of those breakages. We all do stupid things sometimes while fishing. Good Luck.
vito
↓Thanks for the great read Lou, I’ve been building rods since 1990 and its funny that it appears that there are a select few that always seem the suffer from broken rod syndrome. If I would have to put a number on this population, I’d say its about 5% of my clients. The other 5-6% of population break their rods through accidental breakage ( tried to muscle a snag with a boat, caught on a back cast to name a few). For those, theyre not expecting a replacement but asking if I can fix this at their charge. To be honest, I would replace the rod at my cost,(great to see the look on their faces when I hand them a new one and just walk away ) I figured its a small price to pay for a satisfied client. As for the repeat offenders that show up with a “crushed” break and claim they broke it fighting a fish, no problem I’ll repalce it ( by this time they’re glad that I didnt quiz them on how it broke and are just glad because they got away with it), they may be waiting until the end of the season for it but they will get it, eventually. This is my way of trying to be honerable but please dont confuse kindness with stupidity. As you indicated in your read, JUST BE CAREFUL and be HONEST when a break does happen. Dont act like you just pulled on over the builder because for the most part its very transparent. Thanks again Lou for the great all the great articles.
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