Wearing Out Reels? Rods??

[bigbill]

Ok have you ever wore out a reel?

 

Have you ever wore out a rod?

 

Reels,

 

I wore out a cheap spinning reel once when I switched from trout fishing to bass fishing. The bearings and drag was questionable quality wise before I started. I won't mention the well named reel company but they did replace it no charge.

My $12 on clearance shakespear baitcasters are still working today but haven't seen heavy usage.

They were ok to learn with.

So have you ever wore out a spinning reel or a bait caster reel due to normal use?

 

Fishing rods,

 

Can fishing rods lose there action if there we'll used or abused to heavy usage?

 

I had my favorite rod split at the foam handle because of the rod bending more than it could handle. This rod caught my PB of #10. It caught most of my bass to date. This tells me cheaper rods work but have a shorter life under real usage.

 

So have any rod stories?

 

 

[tomustang]

Without preventative maintaineance you could wear anything with moving parts out

[Fishes in trees]

Yes,  I have several rods, that were formerly first string rods, on the bench because of different ailments.  I have an older Bud Erhardt custom cranking rod and those guides weren't impervious to braid.  I have several All Star rods where the reel seat wore down and no longer will lock a reel in.  They are on my list of stuff in my life to get fixed, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I had a couple of Quantum IR4CW bait casting reels, that I used to throw cranks and traps with.  After 5 years or so, they developed annoying buzz sounds when I cast.

I got them rebuilt, but in the time that elapsed when they were sent away I got a couple of much better cranking reels (Curado D's)

 

So anyway, the rebuilt Quantums got repurposed into catfish reels.  They handle 30 lb mono pretty well and they are sturdy.  They haven't been tested by a really big cat, but I'm confident they would hold up.

[Blues19]

I had a baitcasting reel that stopped working completely. The Handle stopped spinning.  Not sure why, but it did right before the warranty was over. I took it back and put more money toward my first Shimano.

[roadwarrior]

I wore out two Abu Garcia Ambassadors my first summer of striper fishing.

That's how I became a Shimano guy. I bought my first CTE200GT in 2002

and it is a better reel today than the first day out of the box. No parts have

ever been replaced, basic maintenance is all.

[Raul]

I´ve never wore out a reel and some, like fine spirits, get better with age.

[.RM.]

I´ve never wore out a reel and some, like fine spirits, get better with age.

X2...

 

I have 2 - 30yr old Abu' that I fish yearly on HEAVY cats.

They don't wear out with proper servicing they get better....

 

AS a rod builder...

The only rods I have ever seen that lost any action where rods that weren't stored or maintained properly..

 

Tight Lines All! 

[Raul]

I believe even with maintenance anything with moving parts can and will wear out.  As far as rods, I'm not sure they actually wear out from normal use probably more so from abuse or damage.

Just my opinion of course.

Ron

 

Sure, even with proper maintenance moving parts will eventually wear out, but as years pass and with proper maintenance those rough edges created by the machine cutting on things like gears will wear out and get "polished", my oldest Curado and those XLT PLUS series Abus got really smooth with the wear, feel great ( they feel like if they had more bearings than they actually have ) and cast beautifully; Abus are from  the mid 80´s and the Curado is from the mid 90´s.

[bassh8er]

Would you believe RW or .RM.?

I know where my money's at.

[RoLo]

I've never "worn out" any reel, but have had many reels with shoddy workmanship,

several with bail problems, gear malfunctions and outright failures.

The biggest offenders over the years have been Quantum, followed more recently by Daiwa.

The only reel brand I even consider anymore is Shimano,

From Symetre to Stella, I've never had a Shimano reel that failed me.

 

As for rods, I don't wear them out, I just pop-out guide inserts and break them in half    

Our vegetable garden sports the most expensive tomato stakes in the county.

 

Roger

[Jeff H]

I wore out a Shimano Spirex 2000, but it was used a lot and abused.  I was actually impressed how long it lasted (13-14 yrs) with minimal maintenance but in the end it was junk and got tossed in the trash.

[Hooligan]

I've worn a dozen reels out, in terms of pieces and parts, broken a few frames.

Rods will wear, to an extent. They have a "useful lifespan" in terms of expected duration. At a certain point they become more likely to fail, tenfold. I've had several rods through the years go over that edge. Most of the time, you will notice it in the finish. You get bubbles and delamination of the exterior, eventually you get the same inside the rods. Generally it's a result of resin distribution, not of the graphite or glass itself.

[BobP]

I've never worn out a rod, but the action on a few have gotten softer as time goes by - which I don't necessarily count as a negative.  Well designed reels get smoother as the gears wear in.  Of course, eventually, the gears will wear to the point that they begin to mismatch and skip from wear and the spool bearings will wear out - both of which can be fixed with new parts at reasonable cost.  I have a few reels that have been used for 30 years and I believe they'll last for a lifetime of fishing.  But new, better reels get introduced over the years and you have to ask yourself a what point, if ever, you want to move up to a reel with better performance and quality.