Why rods break?

[ducksterman]

Just or a little discussion..

I was standing in the middle of the Deschutes on a gravel bar with no back cast obstructions...playing maybe a 13/14 inch fish and the tip breaks.

Is the most likely assumption that I probably bumped that portion of the rod somewhere, sometime in the past?

Let's avoid all the warranty discussion...it's not an issue.
I guess I'm wondering how likely it is for a rod to be just defective with so little stress.

[Normand]

Its very possible without you even knowing it that a fly going by with an errant cast may have hit the tip of the rod. Your assumption would be correct.

A slight ding that does damage to the fiber structure could cause it to break when flexed.

There could also be an internal defect or delamination or bad bonding of the graphite fibers that could only be detected under an xray machine.

I would expect that all rod builders have a quality control department for all rods to be visually inspected and that the defected ones never reach the buying public.

Then theres the folk that are simply brutal when using their fly rods.

just my opinion.

[rawfish]

I am wondering the same thing, tiny drop of flex and my tip breaks!!!
I just assumed it was some abuse I had given the rod over the years which weakened everything...

[mdram]

heard talk on various boards about clousers causing breaks due to repeated tip hits over time.
it seems to happen more with the higher modulous graphite

[Buddy Sanders]

Duckster,

Most likely Normand is correct, the rod was struck with a fly that damaged the rod at the point where it failed.

It's not uncommon for a NEW rod to fail under load from a defect in manufacturing. These show up 'right away', usually under the first stress applied.

I've seen dozens of 'high end' rods and blanks that just 'came apart' at first use. Often under just the 'stress' of stringing the line through the guides.

Quality control is at a pretty high level in this industry. Most of these don't reach the public, but some do slip by.

The first thing most custom rod builders do is 'load' the blank to make sure it's sound BEFORE putting hours of labor into it.

Modern graphite fibers don't 'degrade' over time in any significant way (at least we haven't HAD them long enough for them to do so).

So, if you have been fishing with the rod for more than a few hours, it's not likely that it was a manufacturing defect (not likely, but odd things CAN happen).

In any event, it sucks when a rod breaks for ANY reason. My condolences.

Did you land the fish?

Good Luck!

Buddy

[J Castwell]

Could explain this? "I've seen dozens of 'high end' rods and blanks that just 'came apart' at first use. Often under just the 'stress' of stringing the line through the guides."
I have no idea what you mean?

[Buddy Sanders]

JC,

I did a short stint with Loomis years ago.

One of the things that we did was 'test' rods.

Often other manufacturers' blanks and rods.

Got to break quite a few blanks 'on purpose'.

Sometimes we'd find a flaw in the tip sections that was so fragile, pulling the line through the guides caused it to separate (didn't'break', per se, just came apart). How these got through the assembly process I can't tell you (or maybe it WAS the assembly proces that caused it?-no clue).

In any event, most of these were caught by the process, and didn't get out to the fishing public. Some did, though.

Buddy

[J Castwell]

Sorry to be such a dolt, but was on their Pro-staff too. Coming apart is my question. How does a rod just 'come apart'? Do you mean it crumbles or splinters or what.

[Diane]

I'm like JC.... you say "come apart" and all I can see is the components flying off in all directions. What's come apart?

[overmywaders]

ducksterman,

A lot of old cane rods had one tip short by two or three inches. Car doors don't usually cause this, and unlike glass and other FRP rods, cane tends to be able to survive hook digs with just some TLC. However, most rod tapers for dryfly rods in cane (and I assume this is true of FRP as well) have an abrupt drop about 11" from the tip, with a resultant change in stress and possibility of fracture near the tip. I have seen perfectly good tips break when the angle of the last foot of the rod became too acute, as in leading a fish into the net and leaning back on the rod. Or, (this is an old standby) walking through dense woods, getting the leader caught on something, and taking that final step that pulls it all tight.