honest conversation here. fishing rod slipping from your hand, midcast.

[Jrob78]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Hasn't happened to me but I remember a BASS tournament several years ago when a fish just straight ripped a rod out of I believe it was Chris Lane's hands during the fight? Seems like it was mid summer and an Alabama river spotted bass that was the culprit. It was pretty wild how fast it happened. 

Haha this is exactly what I thought of too, it was Russ Lane. I want to say it was the end of season AOY tournament they used to do.

[papajoe222]

Been there, done that.  One of my first baitcasters. I was fishing from a tube, went to cast to some emergent weeds about 40yrds. away. The combo actually made it to the weed edge!  I paddled over and searched for an hour, but never found it. Every outing, I'd go back to that spot looking for it.  I did find another combo; a spin caster that looked like it'd been in the water for a few years.

[JustJames]

Happened to me in two occasions. First time, came back from graveyard work, tired and sleepy but still managed to stop at the lake for fishing. After about an hour or so, just a light cast and the setup slipped out of my hand. I watched them slowly sink and thought to myself should I went after it. Finally jumped  down holding the fence and use my feet to kick them up. 
Second time after hooking new bait, my finger got all oily, cast to spot and bass hit the lure and run off right away. I set the hook but the whole spinning slipped out of my oily fingers. I took long seconds to dump everything out of my pants pockets. Jumped in the lake and grabbed the rod, the fish was gone as well as my iPhone XR which was in my back pocket that I forgot about it. I got the phone back after sitting about 12’ at the bottom overnight with underwater drone.

[Troy85]

I've never had it midcast.  I did once have it happen on a hookset.  I was bank fishing at a local park and I went to set the hook and the the rod just flew out of my hands.  I tried to catch it, but it just flopped on the bank.  Several people saw it happen...I just packed up and left and went to a different spot.

[Mobasser]

Thankfully, I've never had this happen.

[the reel ess]

My ex-monster-inlaw "accidentally" threw my Zebco 33 combo about 30' from the dock once. I wasn't totally bummed out by it since it was the cheapest thing I had and really for friends and company to use. But several years later, after the divorce, I caught it with a crankbait and salvaged the rod. The drag was locked on the reel. Now, I have no idea what came of the rod. It was a $20 graphite composite rod I bought at Tad's hardware store near Myrtle Beach when I was about 13. It was the first rod I put  a baitcast reel on. 

 

I have only ever dropped one rod in and that was because I had three on the deck of my kayak at once. I was able to fish it out because it was only about 3' deep there.

[gim]

I've seen it happen once.  I was an intern for the MN DNR one summer back in 2005 and I went on public walleye fishing launches to tag/measure fish regularly.  One time it was a bachelor party.  They had wheeled a keg onto the launch and I knew it was going to be interesting because half the group was already drunk.

 

One of the drunk guys made his first "cast" with a slip bobber/leech setup and he sent the whole setup right into the lake.

 

By the end of that 4 hour trip, they betting guys to eat the various forms of live bait we were using.  Leeches, nightcrawlers, and minnows.  They even tried to get one guy to eat a small perch someone had caught, but the captain intervened on that one fearing he would choke lol.

[TOXIC]

Only once.  Had a guide trip and our policy was that we only cancelled trips at the ramp.  I was sitting at the ramp and there were tornado warnings and it was raining sideways.  Clients pull up and it’s a lady and her father.  She had on peddle pushers and pops had a windbreaker.?. I told them we would reschedule and that they were not prepared for the weather.  If they had been hard core with full rain gear I would have considered it but the wind was whipping and the lake was pretty rough.  Being the half fool I am, I knew the fish would be biting and since I was an hour from home, I decided to launch and fish anyway.  First spot, first cast with a big Hawg Caller buzz bait sitting on a drop, my reel engages mid cast and with the cork handle on my rod thoroughly soaked with water, it flew at high speed right out of my hand.  Drug the area with a stringer for an hour and never found it.  Just an fyi, Winn Grips actually get stickier when wet and I do like them a lot.  

[islandbass]

21 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'd be jumping in .3 seconds right behind that rod ?

 

I take losing tackle like a baby losing a passy 

Ha! Me too but maybe 0.5 seconds. I would make sure at least my phone wasn’t in my pocket and dive in at my rigs point of entry like a dart. 
 

As one with not much skin grip in my hands, I am always mindful of the possibility of an accidental “let go”. It’s one of the reason when I cast I use two hands. It’s not a 100% but it increases my odds of not letting go. 
 

I actually invented what I call a rod leash to eliminate the possibility of losing your rig when casting. I first came up with this when I taught my daughter how to use my curado 200bsf when she was 7. The thought of her letting that go motivated my to devise my rod leash. When my son was little he lost a few of his rods by letting go and thank goodness they were just kiddie rigs but still.
 

Personally, I’ve come close but haven’t completely let go of a rig yet. However, I’ve had the pleasure of the top half of a rod cone off and I had to jump into a freezing cold river to recover it. The lure was snagged and the current was fast so I couldn’t reel in to get it back. The water felt like a million sharp nails piercing me in every inch of my body from the neck down. 
 

Since that day, I will check my 2-piece connection every 10-15 casts. 

[the reel ess]

I have a friend with a mountain house. Years ago I handed him a spinning combo and he immediately cast it in the trees on the other side of the river. Now he fly fishes and has a $400 combo. I have considered asking to cast it and throwing the entire thing across the river. LOL.

[Bankbeater]

Never happened while casting, but a couple of years ago I slipped and fell while walking down a dam.  I lost my rod in the fall, but I when I got back up the rod was under me, and missing some guides.

[geo g]

Oh yah, been there done that!  Basically the same way.  Lucky for me I had a top water tied on, and it was floating with just enough line to reach the top.

[dave]

Three times,  twice as it left my hand,  I drop down on to my knees catching the handle just past elbow deep.  The first time it was cold in February and my hand was cold,  it just opened up and let it go...     We drug rattle traps and within a few minutes,  it was back in the boat.

[Woody B]

On 12/20/2022 at 10:34 AM, TOXIC said:

Winn Grips actually get stickier when wet and I do like them a lot.  

 

That's true, but they're harder to hold onto when it really cold and really dry.(at least with my hands)   I love 'em in the Summer, not so much during the Winter.   

 

A few days ago I saw an add of fakebook for what was basically a self inflatable life jacket for your rods.   It went on the butt, or maybe replace the but.  When underwater part of it would float up to the top with a ribbon still attached to the rod.  I'll have to look though my history and see if I can find the link.  

[Johnbt]

I've never thrown a rod, but I've seen it done a few times. A guy I still fish with and meet for lunch weekly tossed a bass rod in and immediately dove after it. He got it.

____________________

 

The best story.

About 40 years ago a bunch of us were on the Virginia Beach pier fishing off the end for big fish with live spot, etc. You catch small bait using a bottom rig. Then you hook the live bait onto a second medium rig, and clip that onto the anchor line of the heavy third rig that you leave out with a 6- or 8-oz sinker. Anyway, some people just use a 4500-size spinning reel to underhand cast the live spot and don't bother with the trolley line and clip.

 

Imagine the end of the pier shoulder to shoulder on a beautiful day. Everyone working together to minimize tangles, but the fishing was slow.

This old retired guy - younger than I am now - put a spot on his line and used an underhand cast to toss it out quite a ways. Yep, he threw the rod and reel out with it. You could hear the group intake of breath, but nobody laughed. He got this look on his face and we waited for his reaction.

 

Then a woman's calm voice came from the bench behind us. "That's the second time you've done that this weekend."

 

We all cracked up. A supervisor from Newport News Shipbuilding tied on a 3- or 4-ounce Hopkins lure with an oversized treble hook and eventually snagged the line and retrieved the guy's rig.