Echo carbon 5wt

[FishingFreak]

I was up in potter county fishing 2 weeks ago. Fishing many different places and have a good ole time. We finally made our way to the allegheny river delayed harvest area, while i was sitting on the bank tying a different fly on i pulled my leader down towards the but of my rod but not flexing my rod no more than a fish would to finish my knot and SNAP!! Couldn't believe it.. I sent it back and still waiting for it to be fixed or to get my upgrade.

Does anyone else own an echo? What did i do wrong?

 

[StudentofTheStream]

FF,

I own a couple echo rods (none being the ion) and have no complaints about them at all. I like the look of the new ion's for sure though I have yet to cast one.

I wouldn't be too worried about it I'm sure they'll replace the tip section of the rod. I've had that happen on a Redington rod just pulling the nail knot through the tip top without much flex.

Your rod may have been nicked there inadvertently by a branch or your flies at some point and thus made a weak section in the blank. That's why it's nice to have a rod with a warranty. I've never dealt with echo's warranty department so you'll have to let me know how it goes in case I ever have to.

 

[GreenWeenie]

There are a couple possibilities.

The one I am inclined to go with is this breakage had nothing to do with what you did right then and there. More often than not a broken rod results from prior damage to the graphite fibers most commonly caused a fly hitting the rod just right and cutting or breaking the fibers. A small scratch/cut in the surface fibers is all it takes to cause a weak spot and continued casting/landing fish puts stress on that spot and at some point the rod will fail at that spot. The fact that it happened when you pulled the leader could be coincidence and it just as easily could have happened on your next cast or next fish.

The other explanation is you simply overstressed the rod. If you pulled the leader straight down the rod from tip to butt that would put incredible amounts of stress on the rod because you basically are trying to bend the rod on itself in a tight ‘U’. When a rod bends/flexes the fibers get compressed on one side and stretched on the other side and at some point the fibers will fail if overstressed.

One of the things I do after fishing is I take a wet paper towel and wipe down the rod and then wipe down with another paper towel. More than anything I am trying to feel for any scratches or cuts because if you find one you probably can get the spot repaired easily before the rod breaks.

 

[ezpickins]

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. I had an echo 3-wt that landed many large fish in heavy current without breakage.

Could have been a defect or maybe it was damaged earlier without you noticing.

Were you using any large beadheads (or conehead flies) or large split-shot?

You can damage a rod when casting, if the weight hits the rod - my father snapped the tip off of a rod with when a cone-head bugger hit it.

 

[FishingFreak]

Yea i kinda figured that it had a scratch or a nic somewhere but it never crossed my mind at that point. I talked to a guy at international angler and they told me the same thing. that pulling it straight down puts alot more stress on the rod than a fish would.

I called echo and asked them my options when i got back from potter and they didn't say much but send it back with x amount of $ for shipping and they'll take care of it and get if back to me. So lets hope its here by this weekend...

heading up to the clarion area.... first time fishing up there so gotta do some homework.