How/why fly rods break

[k-bob]

I have also hit the last few inches of a rod on a branch while casting and snap...

 

[midnightangler]

Quote:
I had a brand new rod break once in the act of casting. Didn't even snag anything, it just snapped in half on my backcast.

That rod had to have some unnoticed cracks in it from some other incident, which then slowly grew with your repeated stress of casting big weighted flies, till it finally gave way. This is not uncommon, but the root cause was whatever put those cracks in it in the first place.

Nope. That rod was brand new. Broke the very first day. It had to have been a manufacturing defect. I made perhaps a few dozen casts with it, fishing dry flies.

 

[pcray1231]

Ah, infant mortality, the famous bathtub curve. Yep, due to manufacturing defects, or stuff that happens on shipping, stocking, etc...

Curve fits for just about any product out there, but the scales of the axis change. Originated by the car industry, I believe, to calculate warranty periods and expected cost of warranty coverages.

 

[gfen]

FWIW, this is one of the nice things about fiberglass. I won't say its indestructable, but it sure is harder. Bought a rod with some assurances from people it should be fine, there's two big sections where the epoxy and paint have chipped off clear to the blank, and its no issue.

Also used my Eagle Claw, and smashed the rod on a back cast full force against a large stone pylon. Damage? Two hunks out of the finish, clear down to the bank, and I suspect they'll bury me with the rod.

Graphite, on the other hand, is supposedly prime to fail at any weak point in the finish, or if the actual fibers get damaged themselves it toast.

 

[TLoomis]

Thats a cool video. I never broke a rod until last month. I broke BOTH my rods in a week. Shut one in my dorm closet door, and broke the other reeling up to a snag, hit my indicator and snapped effortlessly. It was a 3wt and was super fast. Bought it off Skiltonian actually. Great rod, too bad I used it a whopping 5 times....oh well i think I can fix it

 

[BPS]

Watched that Bill Dance video, went home and put my les paul in the ceiling fan. Luckily' it was tougher than Bill's rod (did chip the finish on the headstock tho). fml

 

[rudeone]

Ceiling fans, that is funny my son did that just this year at xmas. he unwrapped his rod which he got from my wife and I and was so excited he stood up and shoved the rod tip right into the moving ceiling fan. Not a fly rod but a spinning rod. Gander replaced it no questions asked.

 

[FishingCreekEmerger]

I just joined the ceiling fan club last month. I broke the tip off of my trident tls. I am now the proud owner if a access 4wt replacement ...... the tls mid cast alot nicer the the accesss is a nice throwing rod just a tad faster.

 

[PennKev]

I once saw a brand new TFO sitting on the rack in a fly shop that had a *hole* in the wall off blank just above the ferrule. I pointed it out and, needless to say, the rod went back to TFO. I can't say that seeing this improved my opinion of TFO's products.

Kev

 

[jdaddy]

Rods break due to selectivity of trout imo.

 

[salmonoid]

I've broken two - one trying to free the hook from some fairly tough grass/weeds growing by the stream bank (the grass won), the other when I closed my tool box lid on the rod, while both were in the trunk of my car. While fishing the Loyalsock one year, I tossed the tip section of my brother's spinning rod into the deep run near the cabin area; not exactly your conventional break, but the two pieces definitely separated, and one didn't come back. And a Redington fly rod that I bought my brother as a gift gave up the ghost on upper Elk last year, while he was fighting a steelhead..