Well, I learned a valuable lesson with braid today

[NavyVet1204]

I broke my brand new $80 basspro bionic rod today. Ain’t had it three weeks...Snapped that sucker right into about three inches above the second guide. Texas rig with a craw and a 1/4oz spot remover jig head got wrapped around about a five inch limb three feet below the surface. 
 

My buddy said “that’s that Superman line for ya, now you know why I use mono” and I had to agree because it was 100% my fault. I should’ve just cut the line but hindsight is always 20/20. After the fishing trip the wife and I went to Walmart and I replaced the rod with a 7’3” MHF Abu Garcia Vendetta. 
 

I’m not bashing braided line at all, but I will try fluro on the next go round in the 12-14lb flavor.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Carry a wood dowel. Wrap braid and pull straight. You’ll straighten hooks. You can break a rod with any line trying to move too much weight. 

[NavyVet1204]

11 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Carry a wood dowel. Wrap braid and pull straight. You’ll straighten hooks. You can break a rod with any line trying to move too much weight. 

Dually noted thank you friend!

5 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

I say this as a huge fan of the older BPS rods before the internet available rods became a thing.  You probably did yourself a favor.  Those Bionic Blades are junk.  Very sub par for an $80 rod.  I used to fish them almost exclusively years back.  I'd rather have a $40 Lightning Rod.    

It was actually a pretty decent rod in my opinion. My first BP rod too. Like I said, it was my fault in how it broke. It’s actually the first rod I’ve broke in over 15 years as well.

[Armtx77]

I dont know, maybe 500 fish caught the last two years on braids and I have yet to break a rod. I broke some jaws and some fish learned to breath people air too, but never broke a rod.

 

Maybe you just had some bad luck.

[Ogandrews]

Been fishing braid exclusively for years now and I’ve never broken a rod trying to free a stuck bait. In my opinion it wasn’t the braid or the fact that you did something wrong, but instead there was a little defect in the rod when you bought it that made it weak right there. I’ve never used one of those but if it is an $80 rod it should never break like that, that means there was something wrong with the rod. Spot removers have pretty weak hooks, that should have bent way before the rod should have broken. Don’t give up on braid, braid to a leader has so many benefits it’s hard to go back once you start using it. Most people still use mono or floro because that is what their used to but braid to a leader is such a good way to fish I really don’t know why more people don’t do it. Every rod I own has been braid to a leader/straight braid for the past 4-5 years and i won’t be changing anytime soon.

[JediAmoeba]

I pretty much exclusively fish braid and have never broken a rod in 25 years while fishing.  I did break one in a car door and I step on one but never broken one while fishing...

[Bluebasser86]

Haven't broke a rod with braid yet. Broken several with mono and fluoro though. Rods will break regardless of line type if you do something dumb with them is what I've found.

[Hammer 4]

If you get snagged, Never pull with the rod. Grab a branch, a small one at that, or wrap a towel or something around your hand, and pull the line in Front of the rod.

[islandbass]

So you broke the rod yanking on it to free a stick jig? 
That’s what I’m interpreting from your writing and if that’s the case, it is not the fault of the braid. The rod could have broken with any other line too but braid’s no stretch trait just made it a little easier to reach the rod’s breaking point to snap like a twig. 
Yeah it’s a tough lesson to learn and now I make it a point to never include the rod in the equation of freeing a snag. Just me, the line and something like a dowel or something other than my bare hands and fingers. Haven’t broken a rod that way since. Now falling down and landing on it or slamming it in the car door, been there, done that. Sorry for the loss. 
 

[NavyVet1204]

6 hours ago, Ogandrews said:

Been fishing braid exclusively for years now and I’ve never broken a rod trying to free a stuck bait. In my opinion it wasn’t the braid or the fact that you did something wrong, but instead there was a little defect in the rod when you bought it that made it weak right there. I’ve never used one of those but if it is an $80 rod it should never break like that, that means there was something wrong with the rod. Spot removers have pretty weak hooks, that should have bent way before the rod should have broken. Don’t give up on braid, braid to a leader has so many benefits it’s hard to go back once you start using it. Most people still use mono or floro because that is what their used to but braid to a leader is such a good way to fish I really don’t know why more people don’t do it. Every rod I own has been braid to a leader/straight braid for the past 4-5 years and i won’t be changing anytime soon.

I put the rod under too much load when I shouldn’t have due to the breaking point or lack there of with the braid. With the amount of pulling, I figure that mono and even fluro would have given in and broke where the braid didn’t. Again, I say it’s my fault because I could’ve cut the line ahead of time and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You are correct on the spot remover hooks being rather weak because I have bent several in similar applications as well. I’m not giving up on braid at all, it was just my Observation that the braid was capable of, and did it’s job well, of what it was designed to do.

5 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

I pretty much exclusively fish braid and have never broken a rod in 25 years while fishing.  I did break one in a car door and I step on one but never broken one while fishing...

I’ve managed so far to avoid the car door routine which I am guilty of in the past.

3 hours ago, islandbass said:

So you broke the rod yanking on it to free a stick jig? 
That’s what I’m interpreting from your writing and if that’s the case, it is not the fault of the braid. The rod could have broken with any other line too but braid’s no stretch trait just made it a little easier to reach the rod’s breaking point to snap like a twig. 
Yeah it’s a tough lesson to learn and now I make it a point to never include the rod in the equation of freeing a snag. Just me, the line and something like a dowel or something other than my bare hands and fingers. Haven’t broken a rod that way since. Now falling down and landing on it or slamming it in the car door, been there, done that. Sorry for the loss. 
 

You are correct sir. Ultimately it was a self correcting issue as far as future snaps go.

[Fishes in trees]

There is a learning curve to figuring out how to get a bait unstuck.  Mind you, I am not recommending that you go get some baits stuck so that you can learn to retrieve them.  Wrapping line around a dowel or something similar is one way.  Getting an extendable pole lure retriever is another.  Once you pole is extended, be aware of your surroundings.  It is pretty easy to get blown around or get caught underneath some branch that is sturdier than it looks and bend or break an. extendable pole.   Still another is getting one of the "hound dog" types of lure retrievers.   There is a time & place for each one, and I carry them all in my book.  Another page in my book is the 5 minute rule, basically if I've labored at getting a lure unstuck for 5 minutes with no results, time to rethink.  More often than not (knot?), I'll wrap line around a dowels and back off with the trolling motor.  That generally resolves the issue and provides the fishing gods with a minor sacrifice.

[Catt]

Absolutely agree with using a wooden dowel, towel, or lure retriever.

 

But let me add one important piece of advice.

 

Push the button on your reel & strip a couple arms length of line removing all pressure off your rod. 

 

The last rod I broke I didn't follow my own advice, after wrapping my line around a wooden dowel & started pulling I was paying attention to my rod tip. As I was pulling on the dowel I was also pulling the rod tip down & snapped it.

[NavyVet1204]

Thanks guys hopefully the next go round will go a lot smoother.

[Grim_Reaver]

Don't give up on braid just yet. Just a learning experience. If you want to break off easily, just tie on a mono leader. Uni to uni or crazy alberto knot are what I usually use. You can find a plethora of videos on tying/fishing braid to leader on youtube.

[OnthePotomac]

It is not complicated.  Braid is in essence micro rope the strength of which depends on the size of the braid, so a hook on braid hooked to an immoveable object with an attempt to retrieve said hook using a rod = a broken rod.

[ChrisD46]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:34 PM, NavyVet1204 said:

I broke my brand new $80 basspro bionic rod today. Ain’t had it three weeks...Snapped that sucker right into about three inches above the second guide. Texas rig with a craw and a 1/4oz spot remover jig head got wrapped around about a five inch limb three feet below the surface. 
 

My buddy said “that’s that Superman line for ya, now you know why I use mono” and I had to agree because it was 100% my fault. I should’ve just cut the line but hindsight is always 20/20. After the fishing trip the wife and I went to Walmart and I replaced the rod with a 7’3” MHF Abu Garcia Vendetta. 
 

I’m not bashing braided line at all, but I will try fluro on the next go round in the 12-14lb flavor.

What did you do with the tree you dredged up ? ... All kidding aside , sorry for your loss ! Lots of things will break a graphite rod : High Sticking , boat flipping a larger bass without using your other hand to support under the rod about half way up  and lastly - the way you broke your rod as braid is unforgiving . 

[NavyVet1204]

9 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

What did you do with the tree you dredged up ? ... All kidding aside , sorry for your loss ! Lots of things will break a graphite rod : High Sticking , boat flipping a larger bass without using your other hand to support under the rod about half way up  and lastly - the way you broke your rod as braid is unforgiving . 

Yes it is unforgiving but I have learned my lesson all the same and will be more considerate next time.

[dodgeguy]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:41 PM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Carry a wood dowel. Wrap braid and pull straight. You’ll straighten hooks. You can break a rod with any line trying to move too much weight. 

What he said. Also get bass pro to replace it if it's less than a year old.

[BurrStone]

I wrap the line around the handle of a boga grip when things get desperate. Its grippy rubber sponge and the line won't slip. Only downside is someday I'm going to end up with a hook in my forehead.