[laguna lefty]

this morning while wade fishing in the laguna madre i caught two large redfish and broke two rods. in both cases the male ferrule snapped inside the female while casting. i have never had this happen before and my theory is that when the rod got soaked (since i don't have much of a right hand it is easier to float the rod in the bay than try and hold it while unhooking the fish) the ferrules became moisturized enough to slip and subsequently break. however, this did not happen immediately after the soaking so maybe my theory is incorrect. does anyone else have a better idea? would taping the ferrules have helped? i've been fishing this way for the better part of two years and never had a problem even without taping. if i am going to start taping i will i guess have to adopt a whole new rod transport system. any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[sinktip]

Jack,

Sorry to hear about the two rods. If you do a search in the rod forum on "taping" you will find a plethora of posts on this topic. There are two camps on this; those that tape and those that don't. One school of thought is there are those that tape and have never broken a rod and those that don't tape and will break one soon. In all seriousness, it is not a big time investment and once you get used to it, it becomes second nature.

sinktip

 

[MJC]

Hey Jack...

Bummer! I'm also sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I don't think getting the rod wet was the cause of the ferrule slippage. Steelheaders get their rods wet a lot and I've never heard of that as being considered the cause of ferrules slipping.

I am pretty religious about taping if spey casting. I'm asumming you were overheading so I don't know that taping would be an issue.

There are several good spey rod transport system for autos. I sell a couple that work well. Here is my page:http://www.redshedflyshop.com/RODTRANSPORT.html

 

[roballen]

25 plus years of non taping and never broken a rod because of it... Tape does not mean you will not get a loose ferrule.. you have to 1. put them together properly and 2 check them often... I have seen lots of rods broken because they came loose even though they were taped..

single handed.. spey,, casting rods doesn't matter whether you wax or tape or do nothing you have to check them often.... Yes even the tip of that 15 foot 5 piece spey rod, even when it's 15 degrees out and you have to put your 3500 dollar bogdan in the water to do it...


just out of curiosity though were these the same make and model of rod? did they break in exactly the same place? what does the break look like? clean as if it were cut or frayed like it was crushed?

 

[laguna lefty]

yeah, i'm pretty bummed out too
in answer to your questions
i was overhead casting
these are not the same make of rod but they were both 12 feet in length.
the breaks are pretty jagged but i wouldn't say they look crushed.

 

[roballen]

well a ragged and crushed looking break rules out a manufacturers defect.. thatt's why i was curious if they were the same make and model..

 

[andre]

Rob, I'll give you a lesson on taping when I pick up my rod. Done correctly it will not come loose.

 

[fredaevans]

25 plus years of non taping and never broken a rod because of it... Tape does not mean you will not get a loose ferrule.. you have to 1. put them together properly and 2 check them often... I have seen lots of rods broken because they came loose even though they were taped..

Good point(s). I rarely tape my rods, but I do check the connections frequently as noted by Rob above. What I try to pay attention to is a 'change in the cast;' crisp then (proper term?) 'sloppy.' Dead give-away that something has loosened up on you.

When I do tape is when I know I'll be doing a lot of 'dynamic casts' as (particularly with sinking heads) puts a lot of 'twist' into the rod blank. Differs between rod makers, but some will tighten up (Loomis/Scott) , some (Sage) will loosen up over time.

Mike mentions his site for rod holders; the last one, the double mag. one is the one he sent me. Works WONDERFULLY .... even at 70 mph. :whoa: BUT!! that said!! make darned sure the hood of your car/roof is actually steel, NOT aluminium BEFORE you purchase same.