Fly Rod pieces coming apart
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Do any of you have this problem when fishing streamers? While I was fishing last night with my Winston BIIx 9’6″ 6wt my rod sections came undone twice! The last time the section closest to my butt section came off right as I made a cast and I heard that God awful cracking noice. Scared the crap out of me and I thought for sure the rod was broken. It did not break completely, but there is a small crack in the ferrule end. Do you think I should be concerned about this and send it in for repair or keep fishing it until it breaks completely. I ask this question only because I am heading to the Big Horn in three weeks and I don’t want to be with out this rod.
Any thoughts?
Quote from Marc Bale vp Sage
“Put it together like you don’t want it to come apart”.
I use a quarter twist and a good nudge at the same time. Spey fishermen use a wrap of electrical tape but there’s far greater forces at work at the top end of a double hander. Never had that problem with dhander either, I just put them together well.
Morsie
I live on northern Puget Sound and my friends and I fish a lot for steelhead and salmon. Been doing this for over 25 years. We cast a lot of very heavy lines and flys and do this with everything from 6 wt. SH rods to 15′ 10/11 Spey rods. I fished the Grand Ronde last fall and mostly used a 6 wt. and dredged with weighted flies & added weight. What I am getting at is that if one’s rod breaks simply from casting, it is, in my opinion, defective. Never in the past 25 years to my knowledge have any of our rods broken just by casting–no matter what–except for 3 that I know of that were found to be definitely defective. 2 of these were the tips on Sage LL 389’s (the original ones) that were built on “second” blanks. Both seemed to be missing hoop wraps. (didn’t involve the ferrules, though) I have one, love it and have had no problems–ditto my friends #3. The other was an 8′ 7wt. Montague Bamboo. Because of the constrictive ferrules they used they are all defective from the get.
As for the subject of loose ferrules–I’ve had some problems with this from time to time and these were all due to one of three problems. On a couple of rather cheap graphite rods the fit isn’t very good and I have to check them often. Still, even though I’ve had them fly off, I’ve never had one break. The second problem occurs in rods that have been very heavily used to the point that the ferrules have worn badly over years of use. These were due for retirement anyway. The third reason is the obvious one of operater error. Still, none of these problems have resulted in a broken rod. I’ve had a very interesting lesson in ferrule construction. Some years back, when the dollar and the pound were in a more advantageous configuration, I purchased a Daiwa, Osprey, 15,’ 10/11 wt. spey rod designed by Noburu (?) before he went out on his own, and built in Scotland by Scots. I won’t tell you the price. I hate to see grownups cry. ::) The ferrules on this rod have, by a long shot, the longest area of contact between male and female sections and the shallowest, tightest fitting ferrule taper I have ever encountered on a rod. I never worry about taping it or about the sections coming apart. It’s an example that I believe the other rod manufacturers should take a hard look at.
My advice is send the inexcuseably defective rod (considering their price) back and express your displeasure!!! [smiley=thumbdown.gif]
Good Luck,
MarcI had always been told to insert the rod into the ferrule while twisting 1/4 turn. That was until I cracked the ferrules on a relatively new Orvis Zero-G 9wt when two of the sections separated. At Orvis they replaced it no questions asked, but they nicely explained to me that with that rod I shouldn’t be twisting it. Instead, they recommended pushing it straight in with a slight side to side wiggle to get the graphite fibers to seat firmly against one another.
This was news to me, but I’ve followed their advice and had no problems since. Your results may vary, so the safest thing may be to ask the manufacturer or retailer what they suggest. Then if the ferrules separate, you at least know you’re doing it “correctly.”
MM
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