So, I built a 9' 5wt Sage X for a client, he loves how it casts etc (He nick named it "the Cannon"). This spring we was attempting to dislodge a stuck fly, and the rod broke at the female ferrule in the 3rd section (from the tip). Granted it is hard to tell how much load he put on it. So I send it to Far Bank for repair. While it is gone, I loan him my personal rod, Sage X 9' 5wt. While attempting to land a 16-18 inch brown trout, on 4x tippet, this rod fails at the female ferrule, in the 2nd section. GRRR
So beyond being a bit embarrassed, and disappointed it cause him to loose a fish, I wonder have I oversold the Sage X as being an amazing rod?
So, does anyone have some experience with this happening?
Am I making an error in my build?
Should I be adding ferrule wraps further up the blank?
Oh, I have asked Sage repair the same questions, no response as of yet.
Any advice would be appreciated!
jerry

GTeach him to learn how to fish would be my first thoughts. That rod is not a winch

Ron Weber

It's not the stuck fly or the size of the fish - you're dealing with somebody that breaks rods. Had you fished your personal rod much? Did it ever break on you when you were attempting to land a 16 to 18 inch trout?

High-sticking, grasping the rod above the handle, etc., are rod killers. I've seen a lot of rods broken by guys trying to dislodge a fly. The other trouble spot is when guys try to land a fish and don't leave enough line out. I've seen tip sections bent over 180 degrees which they are not designed to do.

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

See it all the time, blow up a $8-900 rod to save a $1 fly, or $4 leader. We have no idea how you built those rods, or even where they failed on the ferrule, most failures start at the ferrule's end. All I can tell you is I start my wraps 1mm or closer to the ferrule end and I use a bit more tension on ferrules than I do the wraps. I haven't been a fan of the Sage One, or X and my friends, for the most part, have moved on from Sage also, so I haven't fished them much to know about their durability.

It is interesting, there was a video running while the last failure happened. It is really grainy, but I don't see any thing unusual. As he reached for his net, the fish made a run and it failed. 4x tippet, I would have thought it would have broken first.
I didn't take a picture of the breaks, but just above the point where the male end of the ferrule stops inside the female.
I've fished my rod MAYBE 14 days on the river. Certainly less than 100 fish. I did catch a 24" rainbow with it during the spring run off, and pushed it pretty hard to keep the fish out of the fast water. I am curious if I damaged it then, and it failed later.
Thank you all for the input!
jerry

PS I have build 2 rods on CTS Affinity M blanks, and have been impressed with them when casting. Neither has been fished yet. (300 miles to the river Grrrrr again) I plan to build a personal rod on the CTS Affinity X, and see how it compares to the Sage X



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2022 11:48AM by Jerry Bullok.

Hi Jerry,
CTS female ferrules are very strong. DSo nor have to be reinforced with wraps. But a male ferrule - on any rid - can break when not seated all the way.
Check your ferrules during the day while fishing.
Herb

Herb Ladenheim Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Jerry,
> CTS female ferrules are very strong. DSo nor have
> to be reinforced with wraps. But a male ferrule -
> on any rid - can break when not seated all the
> way.
> Check your ferrules during the day while fishing.
> Herb

Thank you Herb, I had wondered how snuggly he was seating the ferrules, but will follow up and see if a loose fit is the issue.
jerry

I can vouch for CTS ferruling , never had a failure despite hard usage and I don't wrap the ferrules on CTS blanks.

Stephen Pratt convinced me when I questioned him about what CTS literature said in noting, (No need to wrap ferrules) he said you can wrap them if you wish but it won't make any difference you will just be adding unnecessary weight . I would say out of all the blank manufacturers I'm familiar with CTS offers the most precision ferrule engineering in the business .

There are two causes of rod breakage: manufacturing error and user error. I would guess the latter is responsible for 96% + of all rod breakage.

If you mean 3rd section as in the section 1-up from the butt section it is possible that he reached forward on the rod above the grip and pulled from there. This puts strain further up the rod where it is not supposed to be. I have watched many fly rods break when the fisherman grabbed the rod above the grip and pulled from there. The higher up the rod you reach the less power it has and will break sooner than it would if you pull from the grip area.

In my opinion both of those Sage models are FRAGILE ! In order to obtain the casting performance they have lessoned the durability. However incorrect use of a rod is the biggest cause of failure, which may be the cases here..

Aren,t sage. Blanks imported..