Found a new way to throw away money and look like an idiot...

[BigAngus752]

I was having a good day.  Very windy so I was easily finding fish.  Lost a couple cranks but that's the cost of fighting the big Stripers.  Sunny! 70 degrees!  I should have known it was just too perfect. 

 

I'm casting my lipless crankbait at a windblown, rocky point like I had 100 times already that day.  I was using my very favorite rod for the lipless, an Okuma TCS.  All was right with the world...and then my reel seat broke...and my Tatula SV hurtled off the rod and into the lake.  Of course it did. 

 

No time to invent new strings of profanity, that would have to wait.  The line snapped when the reel ejected into the drink and the last of it was trailing through the line guides.  I chucked the rod and scrambled for the line while dropping on my belly at the bow.  I started pulling up line, wondering how well I had tied that knot at the spool because, after I got about 50 yards into the line, I knew it was still free spooling. Now was an excellent time for my best George Carlin imitation. I was working in profanity the way Leonardo da Vinci worked in oil paint.  Suddenly the line felt heavier and I slowed down.  The line had tangled on the base and I didn't have to try out the knot strength on the spool.  The SV was back in the boat. 

 

I can't complain too much, I guess.  Broke a favored rod but could have been about $200 worse.  This will be one of the reels I send to @Delaware Valley Tackle this year. 

 

Moral of the story?  I guess it's don't tighten your reel seat down excessively? That's all I can think that would have caused this.  Happy fishing!

[looking45]

Look into the Okuma warranty

[papajoe222]

I had a buddy that is OCD about everything he owns. He takes his reels off the rods at the end of the day and stores them in a padded case. He doesn't put them back on the rods until he's on the water. You know where this is going, right?  Brand new Lew's Speed Spool (Gen 1) went over the side of my boat as he was attempting to seat it on his rod. 40ft. of cold water.

We drove an hour and a half back to his house and he got his diving gear. Drove back to the lake and he searched the area for two hours only stopping to surface and warm up.  Never found it. He also never fished out of my boat again.

[einscodek]

LOL this thread.  I thought I was losing it when my Lunker Punker snapped the line and sailed and swimming out to retrieve it as the wind carried it further away.  People saw it said I was crazy I said its alot of money fools.  Looking back yes looked like an idiot.  Years past.

[Darth-Baiter]

"I was working in profanity the way Leonardo da Vinci worked in oil paint."  

 

Dude;  awesome!.   is this a quote from a Christmas Story?  hahahah. great quote, nevertheless.

 

glad you got your reel back.  still waiting anxiously for word from manufacturer about my own rod problem.  

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

What broke, the hood nut?

[BigAngus752]

2 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

What broke, the hood nut?

 

[Aaron_H]

 

 

Sorry to hear about that, but like you said the silver lining there is that you managed to salvage the reel. I'll echo the sentiment to check with Okuma and see how their warranty process goes. You never know, and it costs nothing to try.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

That is 100% a warranty issue. They should replace that regardless of age, receipts etc. 

[thediscochef]

😳😳

I've lost some gear to the lake, Ray roberts currently my fuego CT combo and a fuego spool somewhere around the pier. I'm sure someone has probably caught the rod by now. The spool I may be able to retrieve later if the water continues to drop, but surely it is toast as it has been there over a year. Same with the combo. I'm glad you got yours back. That was a riveting tale

[Big Hands]

I have had a few reel seats fail on me over the years. In my sample size of one, I find that the proprietary reel seats have been the ones most prone to failure. To be more specific, I can only remember proprietary reel seats being the ones that have failed on me. 

 

If I were to offer an opinion of what I think is the cause, I would say that IMHO, they were poorly designed and not subjected to:

 

rigorous field testing for performance within the design intent before being released to the public

being designed for and then tested with a wide variety of reel feet that they might be used with

 

I often say that fancy, complicated things come with fancy, complicated problems. Proprietary reel seats are not immune to this maxim.

 

I will admit to being drawn to 'fancy' designs that look like they would let my hand/fingers contact the blank (thus potentially increasing my ability to receive feedback through the rod), let the reel sit lower so as to make palming the reel more comfortable, or otherwise be more ergonomically comfortable.

 

Some, I just disposed of, others, I have replaced the seat and butt cork if needed, and one I was able to get the replacement part for, and it broke a second time. I was able to get ahold of the part a final time, and now I always use a tie-wrap or two as additional security to make sure it doesn't fail again. I still use that rod occasionally and it is over 30 years old.

[Woody B]

If you ever end up with a reel overboard, but still have the line in your hand snatch the line really quick for just a split second to create a backlash on the reel.  This will get it back in the boat regardless of how good or bad the line is tied to the spool.   

[BigAngus752]

11 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

That is 100% a warranty issue. They should replace that regardless of age, receipts etc. 

My biggest issue with the Okuma warranty (and many other rod company warranties) is that it's a guessing game.  I am REQUIRED to ship the entire rod to them, it MUST be insured, and ONLY THEN will they tell me if it's covered under warranty.  The entire time I'm wondering if I'm getting a new rod or just spending another wad of money for nothing.  But that's not enough, then I have to pay a $20 replacement fee.  So how much does that all come to in a best case scenario? $70?  More?  I can get that rod on sale right now for $128.  It seems like gambling to me and I hate gambling. 

 

They do have a "send us a section of the rod and fifty bucks and we won't ask questions" replacement plan, but that requires an original receipt and expires after 3 years.  This rod is over 3yrs old.  I have an identical rod that I bought this year and I could use that receipt to falsely make a claim, but I can't be dishonest like that.  I'm mentioning it only to point out the flaws in their warranty program.

[Bankc]

2 hours ago, Woody B said:

If you ever end up with a reel overboard, but still have the line in your hand snatch the line really quick for just a split second to create a backlash on the reel.  This will get it back in the boat regardless of how good or bad the line is tied to the spool.   

That's good information.  But there's no way I'll be able to set the panic aside long enough to recall and put this information to use. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

On 10/25/2023 at 7:00 AM, BigAngus752 said:

My biggest issue with the Okuma warranty (and many other rod company warranties) is that it's a guessing game.  I am REQUIRED to ship the entire rod to them, it MUST be insured, and ONLY THEN will they tell me if it's covered under warranty.  The entire time I'm wondering if I'm getting a new rod or just spending another wad of money for nothing.  But that's not enough, then I have to pay a $20 replacement fee.  So how much does that all come to in a best case scenario? $70?  More?  I can get that rod on sale right now for $128.  It seems like gambling to me and I hate gambling. 

 

They do have a "send us a section of the rod and fifty bucks and we won't ask questions" replacement plan, but that requires an original receipt and expires after 3 years.  This rod is over 3yrs old.  I have an identical rod that I bought this year and I could use that receipt to falsely make a claim, but I can't be dishonest like that.  I'm mentioning it only to point out the flaws in their warranty program.

This is where I draw the line between warranty and replacement program, two different things in my book. I’d be send emails, calling, going up the food chain until the got satisfaction. No ray I’d spend a dime on a failure like that.