Well Saturday I snapped my Carolina rig rod about 3" back from the tip and about 18" further back from that break. Made a sweeping hook set and it just blew up which really surprised me as the main line was 17#, wtih a 12# flouro leader and I would have thought the line might break before the rod did. Loved the rod till then, cast great, seemed to be sensitive enough for the task and if I must say it was a great paint job, finish, orange wraps, blue zirc guides.... Go Gators! Then the team just had to loose and that was just the end of a tough day.

Well I don't want to blow up another Carolina rig rod, so in the past the recommendations were for the Castaway BB1 and Batson IMB944. I am just not sure I want a 7'10" rod as I doubt it will fit in my rod locker. My CB90MH definitely doesn't fit but I love the rod so I wouldn't rule out the IMB944.

I don't know what the rod that broke was as it was one of the bargain rods I bought for myself at ICRBE and had no identifying labels. In comparing the blank that broke to a purchased CRig rod I didn't like that well, the old blank just seemed to be an acceptible 7'6" blank after load testing, and had a faster action.

So I guess what I would like is, to get some feed back on the above recommendations or on a blank that has enough tip to cast really well but with perhaps a bit more flex so I don't break another rod.

Just wish there was a way to salvage grips and reel seats....

The BB1 is my fovorite Carolina Rig blank, and I fish a Carollina Rig a lot. On the broken rod were you using long leaders so that the weight was bouncing against the blank in the area that broke while in transport. that is a potential problem with all Carolina Rig rods, you have a heavy weight made from hard materials like tungsten bouncing against the blank all the time. Of course it could have had a dfect, those close out blanks at the show are such a good deal that even if a few end up being rejects you still come out ahead.

You can get the reel seat off, but probably not the grips. You need to submerge the end of the rod in boiling water to loosen up the epoxy. I use a turky fryer, since the pot is deep enough to submerge even a long handle Carolina Rig or flipping rod.

The castaway BB1 can be cut down. Just because it comes in a certain length does not mean it wont work well at 7ft or even 6 ft 9.
Talk to them at swampland. I tested one with just CP on the guide wraps this Sunday and dead lifted a few decent sized long nosed gar from below Arkabutla. It was cut way down to below 7 ft.
Depending on how you originally mounted the grips and reel seat boiling water could help get them off.

Mike's right. I see it on a lot of my buddys' rods. None of them want to spend the time to tie on a CRig, so they leave the heavy weight tied on. You can always see how long the leader is by looking close at the blank. The weight can damage the blank severely. I think this is an overlooked subject. When you store the rod in the locker and trailer your boat the weight ends up beating your blank. Bill Stevens had a post regarding this subject. He had a video camera in the rod locker, if I'm not mistaken. The impact from the sinker was extremely distructive. Also, an issue of RodMaker that explained different examples of rod breaks discusses this issue as well. Quality control in manufacturing is very high, even for the import rods. My personal opinion is that well over 90% of rod failure is due to abuse causing micro fractures, then a good fish or a long cast happen to finish the break. I always cut off my lures before storage. I don't add hook keepers because of this problem. I do get impatient having to tie on first thing in the morning, but my rods are not damaged.

Also, I am very partial to the Castaway BB1. My son and I fished them all summer at Pickwick and I've made a couple for friends. The BB1 is sensitive and durable. I can easily feel the difference between gravel on a road bed to a shellbed to a fish picking up a 10" Crig. I also really like to add a weighted butt cap since all 7'6" heavy rods can get tip heavy. Bill Stevens and Steve Gardner proved to me how important it is to keep a long, heavy rod tip neutral. I think it helps with sensitivity, but it also reduces fatigue during a long day. My other personal preferences, since I'm too deep to back out now, are Fuji K series micro guides spiral wrapped.

I think i used up more than my typical 2 cents.

Charles,
Don't worry about it, just fix it.
It is a trivial task to repair such a break. Just use an outside repair sleeve of fiberglass and depending on the tip diamter, a fiberglass sleeve on the inside, or if the blank is too small use a piece of appropriate sized paino wire.

Don't trim either end of the break. Just fit the break back together like an interlocking puzzle with the inside sleeve, the outside sleeve and blank iteself all glued up with 5 minute epoxy at the same time. Do a 1/4 inch overwrap and thread coating on each end of the outside splice and you will be good to go. There will be next to no change in the action of the rod.

Don't scrap or destroy the rod. Just repair it and continue to use it.

You should be able to do the complete repair on the rod in about 15 minutes - assuming that you have the correct size inner and outer sleeve for the repair. Note, that I said to use a fiberglass sleeve. The reason that you want to use a thin wall fiberglass sleeve is that the fiberglass will be more flexible than a graphite sleeve and will have less negative effect on the rods action.


Take care
Roger

Charle; A break like you describe is caused by a blank being overloaded or does not have enough material in the blank to meet the design criteria. Since you didn't have a lable on it, how did you decide what weight line to use on it? Most manufacturers will do a lot of testing to be sure they are putting out a product that meets the expected usage but they get fooled on occasion by the way their product is used by the angler. One of the biggest abuses is to put a high strength braid on a light blank because you can get it on the reel. The blank was never designed for the load the braid will handel and the angler sets drag pressures to the line rating instead of the blank design. Keep in mind that Braid, if that is what you are using does not stretch so the momentary load you put on the line and the blank can be considerable on a hard hook set.

Charles the failure you describe with multiple fracture points is a classic caused probably by instaneous stress overload. The first failure occurs and then the recovery of the blank causes the second break.

Noise can be quite loud -

No bass fisherman nor custom builders who deal in this type of rod would attempt to repair this rod - a replacement is in order.

Bill,
Virtually any rod can be repaired.
You just have to make the decision as to whether it makes economis and artistic sense for you or your builder to repair it or have it repaired.

The repair could mean that you cut 3 feet off of the rod, and put a new three foot tip section on the rod. It could mean that you cut off the blank at the handle and simply only use the handle section on a new rod.

Or it could mean that you simply cut off the guides and tip and only use the salvaged components from the original rod.

Just do the thing that makes sense to you as a builder and or fisherman.

Roger

If the "sweeping hook set" caused the tip to fold over beyond 90 degrees, you may well have had an overload failure in that area. There is also the possibility that a no-name rod with no label was not first quality or a blem of some type (I don't know that it was, just mentioning the possibility since you can't identify it). And it's always possible that there was a bruise or nick in the tip area that would almost certainly have failed under any sudden or heavy load.

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i too recommend to BB1 for your application. I agree with Mr. Stevens about replacing a rod. One thing he did not mention that could have an effect on that rod, but I am sure he would agree. I would recommend using purple and gold thread this time. lol

JT: The "chaos" caused by the "Mad Hatter's Sideline Coaching" is similar to some responses that appear on this forum. In this case, I doubt that the colors of the Old War School would be of any benefit.

There have been several really good responses to the breaking of a Carolina Rig Rod on this thread. The response that Mike Harris provided concerning impact damage has already caused two production rod companys serious problems with warranty. If Jim Upton's premise is correct the Rodmaker magazine article has pictures that will identify the nature of the break.

One thing that has not been posted concerns the fluoro leader - it should have broken before the blank is the common reasoning first -

Charles : What was the reasoning behind using 17# main and 14# fluoro leader? Was this correct in your post? Many will use different line type and ratings with a larger spread for Carolina Rigs - what line type was the main line? Could you have had the braid equivalent to 17# mono - that woud be 65# braid.

Here is another line of thought - were you fishing close and down or furthur out - what if the "sinker" became lodged or snagged - fisherman goes into hook set mode - if he was good he made a long sweep set haul expecting to take up line slack, set the hook and turn the fish - things can get quite dicey at that point - excitement and strength in some cases will apply more load than a blank can stand - if you sere fishing close and down the sweep can put you in the high stick area quickly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2010 09:20AM by Bill Stevens.

The line make would be of interest to me.
Recently i had a discussion over line strength with a person who claimed he was using #12 line. I doubted it and we tested it with a spring scale and it broke at 21#. yet it was sold as 12# GAMA copolymer. On a steady pull i have tested 15# power pro spectra and it broke at around the 35# mark.
So if it was a 17# braid and 12# gama leader you could have been looking at a real world setup well in excess of 20# . Throw in some high sticking on the hookset and the rest is history.

Lou,

"Test" indicates that a line breaks at or above the rated number. So a line that breaks at 20 pounds of pull can be sold as 12 lb test. It could not, however, be sold as 12 lb class. The "Class" designation indicates the line breaks at or below the rated number.

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You wouldn't fix a hammer that broke.

The rod is a tool. Get a new one.

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Alex,
Of course if the handle of a hammer broke, you could easily put a new handle on the hammer. Really exactly the same thing that happend with this rod.

Any that is made can be fixed. It is just a matter of degrees and to what effort a person want to go to to fix the item.

If you want a rod that looks perfect with no faults, then of course get a new rod. But for lots of users and for other reasons, it really does make sense to repair an object and use it for a very long time than to purchase or to make a new object.

I have repaired many rods over the years for a multitude of reasons. One of the biggest reasons that folks ask for a rod repair is because of a unique property that a particular blank exhibits. i.e. a particular blank does something for the fisherman that they haven't been able to find in any other blank. Hence the request to have the rod repaired.

Roger

To all that replied, thanks so much.

I was able to remove the reel seat using the method described, thanks.

The line was Suffix Elite 17# mono, and Seguar Invizx 12#, and without a label and being a bargain rod I made the judgement call on could the rod be used.

And to everyone who commented regarding the weight being left on the rod, thank you, as it certainly might have contributed to the failure and I will try to make sure it doesn't contribute in the future.

And Bill, line was pretty far out, and while possible brush may have attributed to the failure on the set, it certainly wasn't detected before the set, or reeling in the broken parts. But how many times have we all done that pitching and flipping a jig without failures.

And John I will wrap it in purple and gold only if you send me two sets of carbon fiber handles for use making split grips on spinnig rods.

And finally, well since no new recommendations for blanks were volunteered, it looks like I will order a BB1 and maybe some purple thread if I see handles in the mail soon.

Tom, yes most folks are not aware of that difference between line class and line test,sadly true in many big box tackle stores where my conversation and testing took place.

I should have assumed that you already knew the difference. But as you say, most fishermen don't.

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Handle didn't break. Tip broke. That's the same as the head or claw breaking. You wouldn't fix that - you'd get a new one.

Have you tried measuring the performance of a blank to assess the impact of a repair? Both before and after?

My hunch is the blank will not measure the same. If you are adding weight, which you are with two sleeves, epoxy, thread, finish, etc - you are altering the performance of the blank - especially at the tip.

I haven't had an instance where I had the original rod measured and could then measure after a break and repair to get a fair measurement,

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Charles, come see me at the ICRBE.