Breaking Rods, How many per year do you?

[FrankN209]

I've only broken two rods in my life. First time, i caught a small tree behind me on a cast, and 2nd, i high sticked a 6lber. 

[Russ E]

The few I have broken were because of my stupidity. Usually by hanging out the side of the boat at a dock or, being overzealous on freeing a snag.

I have however inadvertently kicked a few overboard, while battling a  fish.

It seems, I lose track of my surroundings when a big fish is on the line.

for this reason I no longer buy expensive equipment.

after kicking a $500.00 Dobyns/Tatula combo overboard, I decided to stick with a little less costly equipment.

I fished for that rod for 2 hours, with no luck.

I don't buy baseline equipment, but most of my combos cost less than $200.00 a piece.

[Tennessee Boy]

I’ve broke 2 rods in 45 years.  Neither of them while fishing.

[JustJames]

My first one was 25 years ago then 2 for the past two years but all were my own fault. 

[Joshua van Wyk]

46 minutes ago, Russ E said:

The few I have broken were because of my stupidity. Usually by hanging out the side of the boat at a dock or, being overzealous on freeing a snag.

I have however inadvertently kicked a few overboard, while battling a  fish.

It seems, I lose track of my surroundings when a big fish is on the line.

for this reason I no longer buy expensive equipment.

after kicking a $500.00 Dobyns/Tatula combo overboard, I decided to stick with a little less costly equipment.

I fished for that rod for 2 hours, with no luck.

I don't buy baseline equipment, but most of my combos cost less than $200.00 a piece.

What is your favorite sub $200 combo?

[Russ E]

4 minutes ago, Joshua van Wyk said:

What is your favorite sub $200 combo?

I will probably get crucified here for saying this, but lately the KastKing Speed Demon Pro reel with a Speed demon pro 7ft 3in. medium action jig/worm rod, has been my favorite.

the same combo with the 7ft 3in medium heavy swimbait rod has also impressed me.

the reel was $89.99 and the rod was $109.99 on amazon.

[islandbass]

I have broken two in my 14 years of fishing. I was running with three rods in my hand, tripped and flew forward like Superman. One of the rods landed just as hard as I did and broke. My fault. That was probably 11 years ago. 

 

The second one happened this season. A cheap, south bend spincasting rod that I slapped a bc reel on. This rod hasn’t hasn’t been used in over 10 years. Wait a minute. I think it was the the Daiwa strike force rod. I guess it doesn’t matter but one of them definitely broke.

 

I decided to take it because it had the right action for small cranks. On the cast, the rod went snap. I said crap. I guess it was my fault despite that it was a light vs a mega cast. Perhaps the blank got damaged enroute to the pond. 

 

[Wacked worm]

What consequences will I face if I just fish the rod that is now 6 inches shorter? I imagine a stiffer tip may cause a few problems?

[burrows]

5 hours ago, Russ E said:

I will probably get crucified here for saying this, but lately the KastKing Speed Demon Pro reel with a Speed demon pro 7ft 3in. medium action jig/worm rod, has been my favorite.

the same combo with the 7ft 3in medium heavy swimbait rod has also impressed me.

the reel was $89.99 and the rod was $109.99 on amazon.

Why would you be “crucified “ for that. 

[Russ E]

22 minutes ago, Burrows said:

Why would you be “crucified “ for that. 

Seems like every time kastking is mentioned, angry posts follow.

 

crucified was probably the wrong term. I just wanted to give @Joshua van Wyk an honest answer without the thread going south.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Russ E

[blckshirt98]

I've broken 3 rods so far -

 

1) Phenix Ultra MBX Classic - Casting from shore and not being aware of the length/swing plane on my cast and hitting the tip of the Phenix I had brought that was resting on a bush.  The Phenix had it's tip sheared right off, the rod making the cast was surprisingly fine.

 

2) Mojo Bass - Car door.  About 5 rods got caught in the car door but through a stroke of luck, only the Mojo Bass snapped (door slowly closed from gravity as I was pulling the stack of rods out, not slammed shut).

 

3) Shimano Cumulus - Testing the rod's flex by pushing the tip down on the carpet.  I see guys at the tackle shop do this all the time with no fear.  I did it to the Cumulus at home and the tip shattered (loudly) into about 5 pieces.

[Bluebasser86]

I've broke 3 this year, all of them my fault. I caught one of my back cast with another rod and the next cast I tried to make with it I had a 2 piece rod, wasn't surprised because it got smacked hard and squarely by 3/4oz of lead right where it broke on the next cast. 

 

The other 2 were guide rods that I didn't notice were sticking out at a funny angle when I backed out of the dock slip and snapped them both off on a dock post at the same time, obviously not the rods fault. 

 

I've only had a couple break that I thought might be defects, this was the last one.

 

[The Bassman]

Broke my first one in recent memory a week ago.  Was lipping a 2 lbr. on a Zodias 6'7" and somehow the slight tension on the rod tip snapped it. Really a bit of a mystery. Bought it on E-Bay so no warranty. It's now a heavy action 6'3". Only one I can remember before that was when I was a kid. Used to tie my rods (2 piece) to my bike and caught one with my leg once.

[burrows]

 

6 hours ago, Russ E said:

Seems like every time kastking is mentioned, angry post fallow 

On the contrary lots of kastking fans on the forums from what I’ve read.

[TOXIC]

2 in 40 years.  Both my fault, both in the bed of my truck.  Oh, wait......3.  I forgot a GLoomis that I used when wading and I hit a tree branch when I set the hook.  As for day to day usage when I was guiding, I had all CastAway rods in my boat and retired some at over 10 years old and they were just as good as the day I got them.  Without a doubt, CastAway makes the toughest rod I have ever used.  Their weights and actions are a little on the heavy side but they are iron sticks.  I've had clients do just about everything you could imagine to them and they just keep working.  Stepped on guides, baits reeled through the tips, smacking the boat with them and on and on.  Not a plug...just the truth.  I am not sponsored by them anymore.  

[NYWayfarer]

It's a given that I break a rod a year. I take care of my stuff and never broke a rod fighting a fish.

 

I am what they call "accident prone" Last year I snapped the tip off a rod in a doorway. This year while walking with a rod I was not paying attention and the tip hit the ground and broke right off.

[new2BC4bass]

.111 if you just figure since I got back into fishing in '09.  .024 if you figure when I first started fishing and subtract the 22 years I didn't fish after moving to this area.  Only broke one rod and that was about 2 years after I got back into fishing.  Fell face first into a pile of rocks.  My favorite rod had 2 pieces (each about 4" long) broke off the tip.  Thankfully I had paid less than half the full $279 retail, but I still about 

[Preytorien]

I've only ever broken one rod, and I think it was a fluke thing. I set the hook on a short striking fish and the tip 4 inches of the rod cracked. Shimano replaced it over the counter, although that policy is no longer in effect. 

 

That's the only one I've replaced. If you're breaking rods that often and don't want to spend the time and money shipping it back and waiting (who would?) I would go with either cheaper/more replaceable rods, or get something brutishly durable, like the Ugly Stik. 

[NathanDLTH]

I’ve broken 1 rod in the last three years of bass fishing. This year and 2017 where the worst in terms of damage and repair work, breaks where 1/4 to 1/3 down the road so they had to go in. First rod was just the tip. 

[Hulkster]

I have never broken one while fishing <touches my wood>

 

but I have broken a Sage fly rod top in a car door. Luckily it has an excellent warranty (new top piece made for $50 US)

[OCdockskipper]

I have broken 2 over the past 5 years, both my fault.  The most recent one was just plain stupidity, I grabbed a Veritas by the tip in order to move it over a few inches in the boat.  Snap.

 

The other one was a comedy of errors.  A couple of bass were pushing some minnows up against a retaining wall.  I turned & quickly fired a cast to try to intercept them.  I was so focused on the fish, I neglected to notice a large tree overhanging the retaining wall.  My popper ended up about 25 feet in the tree.  I couldn't free it, so I moved the boat under the tree to get a different angle.  Getting frustrated, I stupidly gave the rod a hard yank.  Simultaneously, the rod snapped and the branch broke, falling on my head.  I sat there for a minute just laughing like a mental patient.

[WRB]

I have broken 2 rods while fishing over 60 years. The 1st was a TruLine glass rod on a big tuna that broke after about 45 minutes fighting the fish. The second was a early boron rod that snapped in the middle fighting an average size bass, the problem was common with these rods.

No reason to break rods, it’s almost always angler error.

Tom

[YoTone]

like 5 in 4 years.  3 from doing stupid stuff like trying to unsnag a lure or closing a window on it and the others were from fishing abuse like boat flipping big fish in a kayak. Daiwa has been amazing with how they replaced all of them with little or no questions asked. its part of the reason im brand loyal to them to a degree.

[Stephen B]

I've broken 1 rod in the last 10 years. While most breakages are user error, defects do happen which all the large rod manufactures have on occassion.  

[Black Hawk Basser]

I've broken several cheap rods in the back of my truck, through my own ignorance.  I've only broken two rods while fishing.  One was a Cabela's XML Ti that I absolutely loved; I swung a 1 lb bass into the boat and it cracked below the stripper guide.  I would guess it already had a hairline crack beforehand.  The 2nd was a Abu Garcia Veracity.  The top 5" snapped right off while fighting a fish...I still kept using it, and not long after, somehow the stripper guide broke off.   I have since repaired the rod and am waiting to see if something else happens with the remaining guides, as they are extremely thin metal.  Worst investment I've ever made in fishing.