FS Digest

I recently broke fly rod number 3 and I need some reassurance that I’m not the only one who breaks a unreasonable amount of rods.

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by smittendogo21

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Well,,,,,,,,,,,,, no help here, I have fly fished over 70 years and I have yet to break one. If I fall down going across a stream, the fly rod is the first to go. I have never lost any either.

charlykilo Loc: Garden Valley Ca

How many fly rods have you snapped?

0 nada zip

ReelT Loc: Montana

I have only broken one flyrod… rolled a window up on it and snapped 6” off the 9’ 8wt. Of course it was brand new and at the start of an Oregon Steelhead trip.

Sorry that has happened to you.
How have the 3 breaks happened?

Fasteddy Loc: Gulf shores

Have they all broken in the same or similar place along the rod shaft? If so, as we all do from time to time, you may be throwing a tailing loop on your front cast, which often causes the fly to score the rod in the tip section, create a weak point, and will eventually cause the rod to break. As a guide, I or have had a client break every rod I own, which are numerous. Hope this helps

Fish4fun Loc: Clinton, NJ & Venice, FL

I’ve done it twice. Both times trying to free a snag by not pulling with the rod straight down the line. Some folks (like me apparently) just don’t learn.

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

How did you break them?

tannin Loc: Western OR

I broke 3 on a 4 day coho trip in Alaska. Always fish with a partner that has backups.
All total maybe 5. we back up with garage sale equipment we find.

Maverick2034 Loc: Salem Oregon

I just started fly fishing, and was worried about breaking my rod tips. The guy at Cabela’s (excellent master fly fisherman) said that most of the ways people break their rods is not letting the fish pull the rod down when they jet upstream, or dive straight down. He said people high stick it and pull straight up and should lower the tip so the strain is on the thicker part of the rod and not just the tip.

Dendo Loc: Napa, CA

Well looks like I have suffered thru 3 rods that met their demise. I started out with a Cabelas 4 wt. in trying to log practice time I would go to a nearby park. Two casts in …….snap. Send it back and it was replaced. Did the same thing with its replacement. A good friend that has served as an instructor as well as a tech advisor to several rod manufacturers mentioned that baking temp and other variables can cause a bad batch. I waited many months to ask for a replacement. I have caught several trout over 5 lbs on it and it still lives. The third was an 8 wt. I was using in lake Powell. A high speed boat roared past throwing a huge wake. We were fishing a short distance from a tall rock face. The initial hit from the wake knocked me off my feet, and the reflection off the rock wall rolled from beam to beam. When I rolled up against the opposite beam, SNAP went the rod stored on that side.

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

Tell us where on the rod the break happened and what you were doing and how were you holding the rod.