ALEX , sent you a email

Steve,
I have not built any spiral wrapped rods but I do get quite a few rods back each year that are broken but as I said I do not think that I have ever gotten one back that was broken because the guides were conventionally wrapped instead of spiral wrapped. In fact, I am not positive about this but I do not think that I have ever gotten a rod back that I thought was broken due to torque.
By the way, hundreds or even thousands of hook sets will not by itself nessarily increase rod breakage. At least not most graphite rods. Carbon fiber does not fatique, at least not in our life times, and the fiberglass scrim in most rods is not load bearing and is not under the high stress during a hook set that would result in fatigue.

Heavy pound test braid, that is more than the rod is rated for, along with drags that get cranked all the way down and over-powering hook-sets, seem to be one of the main cause of breakage that I find with a large majority of bass fisherman these days. As a custom rod builder, you have to warn the fisherman, that if he chooses to fish this way, you cannot build rods for him. I don't care whose brand of blanks you use, they cannot withstand these type of situations that bass fisherman are using the rods. Bottom Line!!

Bob McKamey -- Custom Tackle Supply

Bob,
I completely agree. The vast majority of rods get broken for two main reasons that have nothing to do with guide location. They are broken due to impact or being over stressed. The over stressing is often the result of "high sticking" but can also be due, as you point out, to the rod being over lined with a braided line. The braided line at any pound test makes the problem of over stressing the rod a bigger problem because they have virtually no stretch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2008 11:15PM by Emory Harry.

IGFA tested 10# braided line and found that almost all the popular lines broke between 23-26# whether wet or dry. Think about it ... this is well over the line rating of most freshwater/inshore spinning and casting rods - only the most durable can handle those numbers.

Now here is the REAL rub ... these guys don't use 10# test. I am LUCKY to get them to back down to 30-40# braid, most use 50-65# braid. I school them on keeping the drag loose AND having a knife near in the event that the reel locks down, etc. Instead they reach into the pocket for a pair of pliers and lock the drag at full force intentionally.

Let's face it ... braided line is a warranty nightmare. Most factories have been tightening their replacement policies. Thankfully, over the counter exchange is almost gone. Now if we could just rid ourselves of the "no fault" warranties still out there - the world would be a better place.

I had a wreck last week and tore up my truck. When I went to the dealer who buys rods from me I told him I wanted a new replacement - he just laughed. He did not laugh yesterday when he came in with a three year old popping rod and asked for a new one. I repaid the favor and laughed at him - he left in a huff and I hope never to return.

All this being said, if you feel comfortable pitching with a 7’6” rod the IFS904 is a very tough blank. I use 50lb braid on mine for deep Carolina Rigging, I don’t use a “cross their eyes” hookset, but sometimes it takes a significant yank to get the weight through the rocks. A few months ago we were fishing a tournament and after I made a cast my partner caught a fish. I sat my rod down to net the fish, when I picked it back up I noticed the line was wrapped around the second guide from the tip. At exactly the same time my partner kicks the trolling motor to high bypass and my 1oz tungsten weight wedges into the rocks. When the guide popped off it sounded like a .22 going off. The rod was fine, I wrapped a new guide on and still use it today.