I have built many rods for walleye, musky, panfish, and general fisherman. Last year I started to build for several weekend bass tournament guys.

I knew they were harder on gear than average, but I am really surprised at what they do! Every time I talk to one of them there is another tip broke off, guide broke off, ring popped out, etc.!!

I have respectfully chewed them out for some of the their practices, and it does not seem to sink in. They think it's really OK to swing 3# bass in the boat with the rod and are really surprised that the top 18" of the rod snaps off. When they get a $3.00 jig snagged they crank the rod tip down to it and poke it with the rod, using their $250 rod like a lure retriever.

Is this stuff really that common?

Would like to hear any feedback - Thanks, Marc

Yes, it's very common. They're emulating what they see on the weekend morning fishing shows.

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That is exactly what I expeerience an the rods I have built for tournament anglers. I really try not to target them, but still have to do it .

Ron Weber

Yes. Nice (multiple repeat) repair business for me

Just be sure not to offer any "lifetime" guarantees!

George Forster
Fort Collins, CO

Yep that's pretty much how I treat my rods. I'm not emulating anything and I highly doubt most others do either. If you fish tournaments getting fish in the boat is the name of the game. Yes I know better than to gouge a jig out if rocks but I do it anyway and I'm pretty good at it. I think Steve Gardener mentioned that he did this too. I've yet to see it on tv though. Also if your bass blank can't lift three pounds then it will snap like a Chinese made twig on every hook set. It's not that they do it it's how. If 18" of that rod broke then either it was already damaged there or they were holding it there.

A bass rod is expected to put up with a lot. They get used more, they are handled differently when they aren't being used and basically they are rode hard and put up wet. There are definitely guys that are absolutely carelessly abusing their equipment. I have a friend I've vowed I'll never build him a rod again lol. I'm certain I'd have the same trouble from him if he was just trout fishing though. The bottom line is if they break a rod charge them to fix it especially a repeat offender.

I don't have a problem charging them for repairs - it just boggles my mind how they treat stuff, and then look surprised that it get's broke.

Lifting 3 pounds and high sticking 3 pounds result in widely different loads on different portions of the same blank.

Many fishermen, bass fishermen in particular, fail to use their equipment properly. But you have to remember that for many if not most tournament fishermen, this isn't about fishing - it's about competition. Therefore taking a chance that a rod might get broken while ripping a fish across the water and swinging him in the boat versus possibly losing a fish that could result in winning a large sum or money/prizes isn't a difficult decision to make.

The only downside is that many guys believe that rods are supposed to be unbreakable and any rod that breaks, for whatever reason, must have been defective. Just protect yourself in that regard.

.............

Yes again!! and again.

I build for a few friends that fish for $$. They are exactly as described above. I put 10 micros on a rod for them knowing full well when I get the rod back it will have 5 + - left on it!! They will fish the rod with missing guides (ripped/sheared off) until it gets to the point where its not fishable any more. 2-5 missing guides is "ok" to still use....believe it or not.

DR

Duane,
Perhaps you should try something new then.
Just put 3 micros on the rod so that there are fewer to get ripped off. If they can fish with three micros, maybe they really don't need the other guides on the rod.
You would be able to bu ild the rods much quicker with only three guides on the rod.

Roger

Love it Roger!!! The micros should be Recoils too so they don't snap off, and the blanks should be Ugly Stick's or solid glass.

I build for some tournament musky guys, and when they get snagged the lure they stand to loose probably cost $15 to $20+++, and the rods are much stronger than bass rods, and they still know better than to use the rod for a lure retriever.

I am just surprised none of the bigger companies have tried to educate this part of the market, as it must account for a lot of warranty claims.

Marc Morrone Wrote:
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> I am just surprised none of the bigger companies
> have tried to educate this part of the market, as
> it must account for a lot of warranty claims.


Why would I do that if I make $ off the replacements? Build replacement into the price of the original. No problem is most custom builders can't afford to spread that replace % into their rods because they don't sell enough. If I know 15% are coming back, breaking that cost out over 25 rods is way more than 10,000.

I build exclusively for this group (and tournament redfish guys). I find redfish guides are easier in one aspect... they don't have rod lockers. That's the cause of most of the guide issues. They are a very profitable group, but you have to sell to them the correct way in order to maintain a profit margin.

I agree with Bittick - I treat my stuff the same way.

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Bass rods = Broken rods ... pure fact of life.

I started building bass rods for myself, that morphed into building them for others, which morphed into inshore rods, which morphed into tarpon rods. Each time it was to reduce breakage which increases customer satisfaction and increases profitability.

If you are going to stay in the bass market, get a tough skin and some tough policies and adhere to them. The breakage is never ending and replacements are part of the game.

Alex Dziengielewski Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Marc Morrone Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I am just surprised none of the bigger
> companies
> > have tried to educate this part of the market,
> as
> > it must account for a lot of warranty claims.
>
>
> Why would I do that if I make $ off the
> replacements? Build replacement into the price of
> the original. No problem is most custom builders
> can't afford to spread that replace % into their
> rods because they don't sell enough. If I know 15%
> are coming back, breaking that cost out over 25
> rods is way more than 10,000.
>
> I build exclusively for this group (and tournament
> redfish guys). I find redfish guides are easier in
> one aspect... they don't have rod lockers. That's
> the cause of most of the guide issues. They are a
> very profitable group, but you have to sell to
> them the correct way in order to maintain a profit
> margin.
>
> I agree with Bittick - I treat my stuff the same
> way.


The problem I have found most common with the Redfish guys are in the past many of them has had their rods built for them at cost and offer free advertisement. and that Don't put any change in the pocket . Them Southern LA guys can go through some rods.

Gulf Shores AL

Tom Wicker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The problem I have found most common with the
> Redfish guys are in the past many of them has had
> their rods built for them at cost and offer free
> advertisement. and that Don't put any change in
> the pocket . Them Southern LA guys can go through
> some rods.

"Staffers" are no different than any other advertisement. $500 in rods with the right guy can equal far more than $500 in print ads. Not all staffers are created equal.

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No bass guy will admit to being hard on gear either, and are quick to point the finger at another bass fisher as being "worse" than he is with treatment of gear......

20 rods all laid out on the deck are just prone to being stepped on and abused.

Andrew,
Out of curiosity, since I am not a bass fisherman - of the 20 rods that are all laid out on a bass boat deck, how many of those rods actually get used in a 4 hour stretch of fishing?
I read and hear of all of the reasons why folks fish like that, but on an actual day, do more then 3 or 4 of those 20 actually get picked up and used?

Roger

I usually carry 6 or 8 just for a recreational Saturday morning. Yes, they all get used.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

Most tournament days run sunrise to 3:00. That's at least 8 hours, not 4.

A lot of the time you may have 3 or more rods tied up with the same exact bait. Example: schooling fish on swimbaits - they get torn up quickly and you don't have time to rebait and stay on the school at times. Rebait comes later when the bite dies off.

Or you could have three swimbaits on... plus a couple cranks, a SB, a rig, a drop shot... all for back up when the bite dies down...

Or you could find a fast buzzbait bite and need a floating worm right there to follow up a missed hit...

You rig all these up before you get on the water - so you have 15+ rods ready to go for your day's plan - because swapping lures wastes time on tournament day.

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Thanks for the updates fellows:
Roger