Rod Breakage Information You Need To Read. 2024

smalljaw67 reply :

Most of us that have been fishing for a long time have experienced rods breaking, some from actual defects but most from user error and here is one that I think people see but don't realize is wrong but just an hour ago my friend stopped by and what happened is something I think all should know. My friend's birthday just came about and he decided he wanted to try a higher end rod so his wife asked me what would be a good rod and after bouncing around on the internet while discussing price, she decided to get him an I-Rod AIR casting rod because it was something not many around my area have and I told her they have a pretty good reputation. Well just a little over an hour ago my friend stops in and starts ranting about going back to tried and true ugly sticks screaming about how his rod broke and I felt bad but then a mutual friend that was with him had the event recorded on his smart phone so I took a look to see what happened. After watching the 2 minute video I started laughing and he looked ready to kill me as he asked what is so funny and I told him the rod broke because of his stupidity and he didn't understand so I explained it to him. What he did was catch a nice 3lb and change largemouth that he got to the side of the boat and the next thing he does is what caused the break, can you guess what he did??? If you said he used the rod to swing the fish in the boat you would be correct but he didn't just swing it in, he never held the mid section of the rod, he simply kept his hands at the handle and lifted the fish straight out of the water while the butt of the rod was around his waist. For those that see nothing wrong with this I'm going to tell you that while you can swing a fish into the boat, it isn't advisable as the rod blanks really aren't made for that. Yes, there are rods that are heavy powered that can swing car batteries but not anything in a medium power and an iRod MH is only rated to 3/8oz so it is a medium powered stick and he tried to swing a 3lb+ largemouth into the boat with it. The most important thing is that swinging a fish into the boat with any rod really is wrong, I have talked to custom builders as well as the fine folks at St. Croix and they told me that swinging fish of the side of the boat is one of the top 5 reasons for rod breakage and it is why blank designers try to design hoop strength into the rod blank because they know that while it is wrong you are still going to have guys do it, it is part of the sport and while they can make rods capable to do that they end up being heavy and less sensitive so you have to almost compromise strength for weight. I put this up here so the next time you swing even a 2 lb fish in the boat and the rod breaks at the tip, it wasn't the rods fault, it was never meant to do that and by doing it the rod flexed hard at a point in the blank that wasn't meant to be bent too far and it failed.

lmbfisherman reply :

I never swing a fish in, I always, ALWAYS grab the line when I can or lip the fish and bring him in..while keeping tension with my other hand or set the rod down and hold line and fish. I guess he didn't punch you out? lol

Kevin22 reply :

Guess I don't have that problem... been hard to catch even a 2lb fish with this cold front!

new2BC4bass reply :

Good point. Everyone that watches pros on TV often see them left their fish into the boat using the rod. Two things. 1) It is a continuation of having the fish already headed for the boat, and 2) a Heavy power rod in some situations. Third would be they don't have to pay for any rod they break. I've seen them throw the rod away in disgust from losing a fish!

I'm with Kevin. My last fish was an 8-9 inch smallmouth.

new2BC4bass reply :

Also have your friend check with the company. I fell face first into a pile of rocks, and broke two 4 inch pieces off the end of a rod. I explained to Falcon exactly what happened. 100% my fault. $80 got me another $200 rod in replacement. Was a Cara since the Expert was no longer made, but hey, I was happy not to come up with the full price for another rod.

Bankbeater reply :

Dinks I swing into the boat, and anything of any size gets lipped.

A-Jay reply :

Swinging fish over the side and into the boat is a relatively "new" method of landing bass. I say new because bass fishing as a sport, has been around for a long time. Growing up and fishing with my Dad (mid 1960's) we were using the tackle of the times: Fiberglass rods and monofilament line. No one was swinging 3 lb. bass into the boat. First, that tackle made it tough to actually do, and second, it was considered, lazy and disrespectful to the sport. I would have received a quick dummy cuff to the squash if I did it even once. We weren't standing while fishing from a bass boat either. Being seated in a small outboard boat also does not lend itself to the effective bass swing tactic.

I'd not seen an angler swing fish with any regularity (not including panfish) until Fishing tournaments first appeared on TV.

With the advent of graphite rods, a whole assortment of new less stretchy fishing lines and the time constraints of tournament fishing, the use of a landing net went by the way side. So people do what they see on TV. I get it though. I don't like the tangled mess that a bass on a crank bait or jerk bait can make out of a nylon net either but I like a broken rod less.

I will admit it, I've done it. I've also broke a rod doing the "High Stick" land job; A schoolie striped bass off a jetty as I recall. One busted pole was enough for me - I do like the boga grip quite a bit.

A-Jay

Felix77 reply :

I was fortunate to have a custom club manufacturer speak at one of my league meetings. Of course they brought their product but they did a great job of describing the methods to choose a good rod and things we can do to keep from breaking our rods inadvertently.

#1 on the list was to stop swinging in fish. Even if you get away with it a few times after time it will weaken the rod and eventually it could snap on you.

#2 and #3 were common sense as well but worth noting below

#2 too many rods by your feet. Higher percentage chance of stepping on one or tossing one over the side.

#3 Overly aggressive hooksets. A good hookset is fine but some people rip through a fish so hard I'm surprised they dont rip the skeleton right out of the fish. They bend the rod well past 90 degress and that is when the pressure is at it's highest. Not all rods can handle an aggressive hookset. Flipping sticks being the exception and even they don't require an ultra hard hookset.

kickerfish1 reply :

I never swing fish in the boat and cringe at people who use them as levers to do so. Net or lipping the fish is the only way I do it. To watch people use the rod as a means to "levitate" the fish is just asking for trouble.

When we pay as much as we do for rods there is no reason to jeopardize a rod unless you are sponsored and can get them with ease and at little to no cost.

Roll the dice if you must but I believe a good percentage of rod failures can be avoided.

Great post / reminder!

bluezed reply :

Dinks are all I catch anymore so I swing em on in. Half the time I swear they are lighter than my plastic worm so I don't worry about it much. Big guys get lipped or netted.

PABASS reply :

Another thing that weakens rods is scratches around the blank and improper rod care this will cause a rod to break quicker then normal especially with a bass swing. I have done it, but I don't do it with big fish, typically fish under a #. I recently watched a video of guys swinging in 6#+ bass in FL using a flipping stick, crazy, If I had a 6# fish I be yelling for a net lol...

A-Jay reply :

So That's why they call it a Flipp'in Stick . . . .

A-Jay

tomustang reply :

This is the reason why I don't recommend rods to anyone, people tend to blame you if something happened to whatever you said as a choice.

smalljaw67 reply :

You guys know better and that is why I felt it was right to post it and I'm also glad my friend stopped by. He is getting a new rod as it had a lifetime warranty and he explained to them what he did and they still covered it but told him the same thing I did. He called me and said he watched it on T.V. and figured that the more expensive the rod the lighter and stronger it was, up until now he used only ugly sticks. He did say that he could not believe how light the rod was, it took him over a dozen casts before he was able to stop over throwing his target but he didn't know that swinging in a fish would over bend the tip and cause it to break. If he didn't stop by what would have happened is it would end up on a website as a bad review of a rod that broke the first good fish caught on it and it is why, when I see reviews about rods being broke I often wonder if it wasn't someone trying to swing land a fish or if someone didn't high stick a fish, either way it does happen so the next time you feel the need to swing a fish to save 5 extra seconds and the rod suddenly fails, don't go to TW and write a scathing review of the rod because of your own actions. Just to be honest I've swung fish into the boat myself.

lmbfisherman reply :

On 7/31/2013 at 12:06 AM, new2BC4bass said:

Good point. Everyone that watches pros on TV often see them left their fish into the boat using the rod. Two things. 1) It is a continuation of having the fish already headed for the boat, and 2) a Heavy power rod in some situations. Third would be they don't have to pay for any rod they break. I've seen them throw the rod away in disgust from losing a fish!

I'm with Kevin. My last fish was an 8-9 inch smallmouth.

Yeah it has cooled a lot, the weeds aren't matting any of my local waters either..so no frog fishing yet! I'm kind of disappointed, haven't had a frog fish yet. On Sunday I did get 1 2.5 lb bass that broke my "no bass streak" of 1 week. (I caught pike all that time only) Of course I changed it up and went to a different body of water.

Dyerbassman reply :

I have honestly never swung a bass into the boat. Always lip it or belly cradle it. But watching the tournaments on TV, you would think that swinging 'em in is the only way!

flyfisher reply :

I would think that swinging in fish by grabbing the middle of the blank would be even worse as you are creating a fulcrum and concentrating the force of the swing to an even shorter portion of the rod.

I never swing in a fish but that may be because i am in a kayak and even when landing fish while standing, i still sit back down to land them as it prevents them from flopping around and potentially hooking me or hurting themselves in the bottom of the boat.

Kevin22 reply :

I have to admit, for smaller 12" fish I just swing them right up into my hands. Did it 10 times today, have never broken a rod. But a 3lb class fish is so rare for me I would never swing one for fear of losing it.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

The dead lift capacity of rods is surorisingly high IF the rod is kept parallel to the ground which almost no one does as in the example. Never do anything to flex a rod tip past 90* to the butt and the chance of this happening to you is almost zero.

Capt.Bob reply :

On 7/31/2013 at 2:52 AM, smalljaw67 said:
If he didn't stop by what would have happened is it would end up on a website as a bad review of a rod that broke the first good fish caught on it and it is why, when I see reviews about rods being broke I often wonder if it wasn't someone trying to swing land a fish or if someone didn't high stick a fish, either way it does happen so the next time you feel the need to swing a fish to save 5 extra seconds and the rod suddenly fails, don't go to TW and write a scathing review of the rod because of your own actions. Just to be honest I've swung fish into the boat myself.

This is exactly what 90% of all complaints about fishing equipment is all about!!! You nailed it, so many think experience skill and knowledge, come from buying more expensive equipment, or watching more TV!!!! That is the case with many today, and it usually does no good to tell them because they seen IKE, or KV, or who knows who do it, so they tell you your an idiot for telling them something,,,,,,,,,the new millennium!!! what happened to been there done that!! or oh sh!* that was my fault???

derekxec reply :

On 7/31/2013 at 8:58 AM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:
The dead lift capacity of rods is surorisingly high IF the rod is kept parallel to the ground which almost no one does as in the example. Never do anything to flex a rod tip past 90* to the butt and the chance of this happening to you is almost zero.

this is absolutely true...we flip 15+lb snook onto a dock thats 8ft above the water line and have never had a rod snap we point the rod straight down and swing it so the rod is never bent very close to 90 degrees and never passed 90 degrees

also ugly sticks are fiberglass and ive found fiberglass while its not as sensitive and heavier is a lot stronger than graphite...which is probably why you can bend an ugly stick into a circle without it breaking lol

Kevin22 reply :

We flip (hoist really) fish up a 15 foot and a 20 foot wall along the Miss river when walleye fishing. I've seen many 10lb+ sheep being swung over, and I have done it a few times myself. Have yet to see a rod break. Lean over the wall as far as possible, reel down to the fish and then swing her on up over the wall/fence in one quick motion. These are mostly with 6'6-7' ML rods and 6-8# mono.

WRB reply :

Swinging bass in the boat is wrong on several levels, #1 is it can kill the bass you want to C & R, maybe not right away it can take several weeks for the bass to die of injury to it's slim coat from carpet damage.

When the Fenwick rod co started rated rods with power numbers in the 70's the numbers indicated the maximum pounds the rod could lift in dead weight; 3 power = today's medium, 4 = med/hvy, 5 = heavy, 6 = X heavy or flipping.

Dead weight isn't live weight! Live weight varies greatly, the fish can propell itself out of the water if you time the lift correctly, if you don't the weight can increase with the fish shaking in mid air and if you miss swinging the fish into the boat the increases rapidly....lost fish and broken tackle.

I blame B.A.S.S. for promoting swinging bass into the boat with their ban on nets and wanting bass TV coverage to look more macho.

Tom

SirSnookalot reply :

On 7/31/2013 at 10:34 AM, derekxec said:

this is absolutely true...we flip 15+lb snook onto a dock thats 8ft above the water line and have never had a rod snap we point the rod straight down and swing it so the rod is never bent very close to 90 degrees and never passed 90 degrees

also ugly sticks are fiberglass and ive found fiberglass while its not as sensitive and heavier is a lot stronger than graphite...which is probably why you can bend an ugly stick into a circle without it breaking lol

Pretty much right on !

When we are fishing a sea wall or 8' jettie we can lift them from a sea wall or in the case of jettie we don't lift or swing, we "spring" them using a trampolene effect. I probably will not spring or lift with a fish over 8# or so. First of all the technique is important, secondly the rod being used, some of my less beefier rods have more of a spring effect and it makes the task easier, all my rods are graphite. This tatic is more difficult from a boat, you are too close to the water to get a good spring. Species like snook or redfish we just grab the tail and bring them into the boat, they are pretty much spent and are easy to handle. Some of the more robust fish are handled (providing it's C & R, we gaff keepers) by picking them by the leader, the swivel can act as sort of a handle to grab.

jtharris3 reply :

Quote
I blame B.A.S.S. for promoting swinging bass into the boat with their ban on nets and wanting bass TV coverage to look more macho.
Tom

I always thought it was ridiculous they took the nets away!

Sam reply :

I use a net, lip them, and even swing them into the boat.

Depends on their size.

Excellent post and some great information.

Last rod tip I broke was my fault. I forgot the rod was sticking out of the rear window and dumb me rolled up the window. Snap, crackle and pop!

Had to have a new tip put back on the rod and it still works great, just a little shorter.

Smallmouth Hunter reply :

I would never swing anything near 2lbs. I only swing dinks.

Grizzn N Bassin reply :

Yeah I learned my lesson a few years ago having snapped a rod since..

Bassfishing375 reply :

My friend broke his 7'3'' Med Hvy Vendetta swinging a 4 pounder in the boat. He did admit that it was his fault but he said that he will never buy a Vendetta again.

I must admit that I have swing bass in the boat in the past, but nothing over 2.5lbs. After reading this I will keep myself from swinging a fish in regardless of size.

4740

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