Scott S3 tips breakage

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

Has anyone had a problem with Scott S3 tips breaking?

I have never broken a fly rod in my life, yet the tip on my Scott (9’, 6wt) has snapped twice. The first time I had a fly in a tree and when I pulled to break the leader, the line flew back and snapped the tip. I have done this many times with all of my other rods and never had a problem. The second time I was casting and hit the line, not the rod, of the other guy in the boat and the tip snapped. I love the rod, but this is getting ridiculous.

Is this what I should expect from “fast” rods? Thanks for any input.

2

First, I wouldn’t ever recommend, nor do I think a manufacturer would either, using a rod to pull a snag free. First try giving the snag a slight wiggle with the fly line, or pull directly on the line, but don’t use the rod as a lever. It’s very easy to bend the rod in unnatural ways that can weaken the structural integrity of the graphite. This may have resulted in your first tip break.

Also, think about the history of your usage of that rod. Have you ever stuck the blank with any weight or weighted flies while casting, knocked it agains a tree or brush while hiking to or from a fishing spot, landed a fish with the rod tip pointing up and away from the fish, gotten snagged on a tree or bush during the backcast and continued the casting stroke after you felt the snag (very hard not to do in my experience), or had a knot from the line/leader connection get snagged on the tip guide of the rod while you pull on the tippet end. Any thing that could have smacked the blank, or caused a stress point in a specific location can cause a rod to break down the line. A rod is designed to have stress distributed along its length, anytime this stress is concentrated, there is potential for breakage, either now or later.

And, yes, faster rods are a bit more susceptible to these issues, in my opinion. They are generally made from higher modulus graphite, thus making them a bit more brittle and delicate.

3

FF - Thank you for your input. I did pull straight back when caught in the tree. I haven’t had the rod long enough to bang it around. Also, I have beaten some of my other rods and never had a problem. I have an Orvis HLS, circa 1995, which I use for Steelheading. I have banged that poor rod so bad I should be charged with rod abuse and nothing has ever happened to it.

I will never say that it was not operator error, but if I’m that bad, I should have snapped a rod long ago.

4

Hi Raw,

It sounds to me like you’ve just run out of luck performing an iffy fly retrieval maneuver and then you suffered a rod to line casting interface…simply stated, you Clouser-ed the rod with the other guys line.

In the S3 series I have two four weights and a five weight, along with a seven weight, eight weight and a ten weight S3s. I fish a mix of those rods often and have done so since the introduction of the series.
To date I’ve never experienced problems with any of these rods, although I’ve never attempted the fly in the tree removal process you’ve outlined.
On the other hand I did break the tip of a Sage XP by doing something really dumb one day. I’m guessing that something like that could happen to any of my rods, be they fast, moderate or slow actions.

If at some point you become disenchanted with your six weight S3, it might interest you to know that I run a home for misunderstood and wayward Scott rods and Bauer reels.

Best, Dave

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Dave - I might just take you up on that. Would there be an exchange of US currency involved?

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Absolutely, we encourage the previous owners of our rods and reels to contribute to the care and upbringing of their dependants.

So, how large of a donation did you have in mind?

7

As Dave stated, your luck may have simply run out. I have a few rods that have been bushwacked and used hard. They haven’t broke on me, yet. I also have a rod that I try to be a little more careful with, but still use it like it was meant to be used. I broke the tip of this rod once. Sometimes it just takes that one false move in just the right way to cause a breakage. It stinks, but in my opinion is one of the things we have to deal with with todays high performance sticks. I think that some of the lower modulus rods that were and are produced, simply have a tougher skin.

8

I am almost 50 and never broke a rod in my life, UNTIL this year. I had a bugger stuck on a rod a short distance from me but in deeper water than I could reach. As was my spinning rod technique, I bounced the tip a few times to see if it would come free and it snapped. It was a high end, fast graphite rod that retails over $500. I was in shock. I took it back to the truck and grabbed the backup that I had there. I sent it in and the service department was able to fix it for me. My next couple of outtings, I lost more flies than I ever have in a whole season. I pointed the rod directly at the snagged fly and just pulled back breaking it off. I tie my own flies so it gave me another reason to tie. The biggest thing is that I had to retie tippet and select another fly, but it was better than snapping another rod tip.

Even us old guy learn as we go.

Rick

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Dave - I sent you a PM. Let me know what you think.

Guys - Thanks for all of the info. My casting and my klutziness may just not allow me to use a rod that fast. Clay, I beat you by 10 years, just turned 60 at the end of April, and I have only broken one spinning rod (stepped on it) before wrecking the Scott twice. I’ve sent an e-mail to Scott just to see what they say, but I may have to go to another rod and let Dave try to deal with my wayward Scott. Thanks again everyone.

10

Raw, that Scott is a beautiful tool. Just like a chain saw can do a whole bunch of work, it can also cut off your damn leg. Use that Scott like a chain saw. It will do you a great job, BUT you have to use it like it was designed. Scott will probably fix it for you, but you will probably use it differently when you get it back. Then again, you might just be up for a change. Many of us fly fisherman have a ton of different rods. It’s all good.

Rick

11

I had a similar problem with Scott’s, SAS series. I had heard great things about them, so I bought a 9’ 6wt., 2 piece. It worked great…for about two hours and then the tip snapped right off. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t do anything that would have broken it.
I sent it back to Scott and to my shock, all they did was glue the tip top guide, back on to the broken rod section. The guide didn’t even look straight. My nine footer, became an 8’ 11" rod. I sent a nasty letter to Scott rods and got the usual mission statement, response. I haven’t bought any of their rods, since. It’s a shame too, because they are nice.

12

I wasn’t going to chime in on this subject, yet. But what the heck.

My first rod was a Scott SAS 9’ for 5 wt. Got it just five years ago at Trouthunter in Island Park, ID. I fished it a fair amount and considered it a good rod, until I got a Powell 9’ for 5 wt that I liked a lot better.

Last January, I was fishing a small stream with the SAS 905. On a backcast, I caught a branch with the fly, and on the forward cast, the rod broke about 6" from the tip. I figured I had probably hit that spot with a beadhead nymph a time or two, and it just took the force of the forward cast against that snag to finish it off.

In early March, I took the rod up to Trouthunter, with the expectation that they would send it back to Scott for “repair,” as I interpretted the Scott warranty, or replacement, not likely. Trouthunter confirmed that for $25, Scott would either replace the tip section with a freshly built tip section made to match the butt section, which is in just dandy shape, or send along a new rod. They estimated it would take 4-6 weeks, which was fine with me.

At the end of five weeks, I called Trouthunter for status. After five days, they finally got back to me. Since that model was out of production, Scott was not going to interrupt their production to build the new tip section until they got a break. Would be another three weeks before I got the rod back.

Saw the Trouthunter rep at the East Idaho Expo several weeks later and mentioned it to him. It has been four weeks since the expo and I still haven’t heard anything.

I’ve just kind of been waiting to see how Trouthunter and Scott would take care of a customer named Scott who hunts trout with a Scott rod ( among others ). Then I was going to post the results just so folks would have an idea what they might run into buying a Scott product from Trouthunter.

Maybe this should have gone on the Sound Off Forum, but it did seem appropriate to post it here and now.

John

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John, I can’t believe, with all the money we spend on these rods, that this is how they take care of it. Talk about customer service. Jeez.

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The first time I broke it I got the same story about waiting until they had time in between making S4’s to roll me a new tip. Then all they did was shorten the rod, like pspaint’s rod. That’s not the warranty I was expecting. I sent an e-mail to Scott that matches my original posting here and have not heard a thing.

I spoke with my shop about the Orvis warranty. I have a 5wt Clearwater original and they said if it broke (25 yr warranty) I would get a Clearwater II. I have an Orvis HLS 8wt (not made anymore) and they said it would be replaced with a comparable model, like the TLS. Now that’s a warranty.

15

Amen, raw69! Orvis definitely does have excellent warranties and customer service. I’ve never heard a complaint about them. I was talking to a gentleman, last year, and he said he had an old Rocky Mountain series that broke. He sent it back to Orvis and they sent him the same size, in a Superfine series, which was a more expensive rod.
I’ve also heard good things about Sage, Loomis, TFO, etc., Fortunately, I haven’t had to put any of those rods to the test. lol.

16

Have broken two Scott rods (4# A2 & 5# S3) and have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS getting these fixed by the company.

They are not the fastest repair shop in the West, but I have no complaints about their quality of service.

17

Just to update my earlier thread.

Decided to call Trouthunter to see what they could tell me. The fellow I talked to told me that he would call Scott and see what was the status building the new tip section. He told me he would get back to me by tomorrow.

A couple hours later, he called back. He had called Scott, and they informed him that my rod had been returned to Trouthunter. He checked there storage area, and found it. He didn’t seem to know how long it had been there.

Picked the rod up this afternoon. The charges were what I expected, under the Scott warranty. The tip section looks just like new - which it is.

At this point, I don’t know which, if either, is more responsible than the other for the length of time it took to get the rod back to me. The folks at Trouthunter did follow up quickly this time, and Scott did do what it promised under the warranty.

For all practical purposes, I have a new Scott SAS 905 - which is the way it was supposed to turn out. Better late than never.

John

18

I just happened to take off yesterday afternoon to fish with a friend. We stopped by the fly shop to get him a license. As we walked in, one of the guys saw me and asked if I had been contacted. About what I asked. Well, they had just received word that Scott had the box that my rod was in, but there was no rod. I am waiting to hear what UPS will do for me.

So, hopefully I will get my money back and be able to look at some other brands. Has anyone had this happen with UPS, and if so, what was the outcome?

It was a great casting rod, but just too fragile for me. Thanks again everyone for your input.