Hi guys,

Recently, one of my client broke my rod (50lb -80lb) on the first fish (15kg sting ray) ... i suspected that he high stick it... was on the same boat, did not see the event taking place, i felt more pain than him.

Gonna pass him a new one this week ... anyone got experience on how to properly educate an angler on "high stick" and the proper use of rod. Any good article on this subject? Does anyone here document some advise on usage and tag along with the finish rod for delivery to angler? Is it true that pure graphite rods are more prone to breakage on high sticking?

That is quite an achievement to break a rod of that size by high sticking.

It is very common to break a fly rod by high sticking, or an ultra light spin rod.

That is because the graphite cannot handle the load in that direction.

There is no way to educate the angler.

We all get over excited, or just loose concentration at the wrong time. Generally close to the boat as we are trying to net the fish. So we all make the odd mistake.

It is easy to tell a high stick break, so I do not think your warranty covers this type of break.
The hard part being you want to do what is best for your customer and future relations.

Thats your call. But I consider high stick breaks as misuse of the rod. But like you I always replace the rod.

Paul

I fish therefore I am.
www.hookeduprods.com

Paul...

Great post. I have to ask, how do you tell it's a high-stick break? A clean break ? or a like a straw collapsing when bent look? Thanks much


Paul

Hi Paul,

Yes a high stick break looks like a very long ragged break.

Generally lots of fibres showing over a long length of the blank. Several inches at times.


Hope this helps you.

I would like to hear of other opinions on your question .

I can only comment from my own experience.

Cheers
Paul

I fish therefore I am.
www.hookeduprods.com

There was a complete article in RodMaker a few years ago, complete with photos, depicting the proper manner to fight fish with a rod. It also included photos of the wrong ways to do this.

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Which issue was it? I'll add that to my list of back issues I need to pick up.

The pictures in the Rodmaker noted above were excellent educators and it is posted on the walls in my shop. The definition in text is very hard to define but a simple way to describe to others is that the rod should never be bent back on itself. Under no circumstances should any graphite blank be deflected more than 90 degree. As the blank deflects the load is shifted back into the larger diameter of the blank. I ask my customers when the deflection gets around 45 to 50 degrees to simply drop the tip and let the butt section of the blank carry the load. If this was understood and practiced most blank failures would dissapear overnight. When the rod is raised past that point load is on the tip section - when the limits are reached it pops!

Ash,
Have you looked in the back issues section of the RodMaker site for the info? It's in there.

So what is the proper procedure for landing a fish when you're standing knee deep in moving water with a trout on the end of your nine foot fly rod? I've been fly fishing for fifty years and reading this thread leads me to believe that I've been very lucky because I've never broken a rod.

Loo,

The circumstances in which the rod broke had to be reviewed in detail especially when it involved a 50-80 lb rated rod. It had to take some effort to break such a rod. Therefore, you need to describe in detail how the rod broke and maybe, the gurus here can give you some explanation of why it broke. But, even without any detial, I am quite sure that it had to be the fault of the fisherman for the lack of fishing technique or experience.

Anthony Lee

You've either been lucky, or just haven't done anything to break your rod.

You would never retrieve the fish to a distance that is less than the total length of your rod. You turn the rod over, reel on top, and push the rod behind you and at some angle (never hold it straight up where the tip will be bent over at a full 180 degrees). In most cases, this will put the fish at your hand or net without any damage being done to the rod.

What many in this situation do, is reel the fish up too close, point the rod tip skyward (the tip then folds over 180 degrees) and often the rod pops about a foot behind the tip. I had one customer who broke 3 bamboo rods this way and 5 graphites. The latter I had built for him. I finally figured out what he was doing and once we corrected his fish landing technique, he's been "rod break free" for the past 10 years or so.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2007 12:46PM by Tom Kirkman.

Volume 7 #5 is the issue with the proper rod use article in it.

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Tom, the method you describe is the way I was taught and the way I've always done it. Whew, there for awhile I thought I've been living on the hairy edge of disaster all these years! Thanks for the info!

George

RBI has a very good article on how to maintain a fishing rod in good condition. Maybe, as an extension to this, RBI can include the correct fishing technigue of fighting and landing a fish ." High sticking " is a natural phenomenom and it takes a lot of enducation to correct this. As a rod builder, my key responsibulity is to ensure that the new owner of my custom rod is fully aware of how to use and maintain it. This little investment in time between both builder and owner of the new custom rod can and will ensure less breakage..

Anthony Lee

I did all I could to deplete Tom's stock of back issues of this issue. I bought several and they are some of the first ones that disappear. The fish landing picture shows exactly what Tom is describing. Couple this with high reaching to boat or land fish and I honestly think it is responsible for a very high percentage of broken rods.

This paragraph is on the transfer document that goes with each of my rods.

Never High stick: Anglers know that keeping your rod tip high maintains pressure on the fish, but in the excitement of the fight many anglers become overzealous when it comes to bringing that fish in. The term "high stick" refers to over angling the rod, which in turn creates too much pressure on the rod tip, and can result in a snapped rod. When the fish is close to the boat try not to lift your rod any higher then 60 degrees. keeping the rod taught, but not over arched, will be sufficient for maintaining pressure on the fish, and reducing stress on the tip of your high quality fishing rod.

Gon Fishn

I think many fishermen are clueless about "high-sticking". I know that the term confused me when I first joined this board - but I knew it was bad. They probably did it with their glass or composite rods for years and when a hi-modulus graphite breaks they blame the rod or the builder.

Maybe we need a public domain version of the info in Rodmaker.

Tom, would you object to someone taking similar pictures and writing similar text - as long as it is not an outright copy? Maybe this is something that RBI could offer??? Maybe Rodmaker could print and sell just that article? I'd pay for it! I'd buy a bunch and include one with each rod I build. RBI has something similar, but the pictures & info in Rodmaker are very good. I'm sure many are tempted to just copy it. (I won't!)

Paul...

Thanks much sir for the prompt reply and you reinforced what I had been thinking over the years.

George:

I fish a 15 foot rod standing in knee deep water for about 100 days a year. The same applies to me and to the rod, but a little more forgivness in a 15 footer.

Goood luck!
Paul

Paul...

Thanks much sir for the prompt reply and you reinforced what I had been thinking over the years.

George:

I fish a 15 foot rod standing in knee deep water for about 100 days a year. The same applies to me and to the rod, but a little more forgivness in a 15 footer.

Goood luck!
Paul

Chuck,

That article is already available in the back issue for just $6.95. It wouldn't be worth my time to prepare a stand alone version and considering everything involved I'd end up having to charge more for it by itself than I do for the back issue.


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Rod builders should take a few minutes with each new customer and explain why good rod use is important - it not only helps protect the rod, it maximizes the pressure you put on a fish. Funny thing, but high sticking actually puts less pressure on a fish than doing things the right way. And... it puts the rod under greater strain.


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Tom,
Yes, I have that issue. The subject keeps coming up. Just thinking with my keyboard....

You make an interesting point - there is definately less pressure doing it the wrong way. Educating people on that alone would be huge!