Inspired by Gierach & Westburg
- Thread starter Rye_Tyler
- Start date
Bambooflyguy
Legend
Bummer….but it can be fixed!
How did that happen? That is a serious break.
I thought he was played out and went to net him, he made a big powerful lunge and crack and snap. Bummer, I was trying to be cognizant with my angles and how I fought them, so I wouldn’t over stress the rod.
I’ve used the 8642 on half pound steelhead successfully, so I wasn’t too worried about fishing it in the float tube.
I’ve used the 8642 on half pound steelhead successfully, so I wasn’t too worried about fishing it in the float tube.
That's a shame, I'd expect the break would have been closer to the tip rather than near the ferrule. I'm wondering if there might have been a weak spot where the section snapped.
Mike
Mike
I was wondering if you'd put the rod into the dreaded j-curve but it sounds like that wasn't the case. There's an art to playing a big fish on bamboo. Here bamboo master @Greg Armstrong shows how to shortline a sizeable coastal cutt on bamboo...
Here I'm looking nervously at the tip of my 8'6" phillipson while playing a cutthroat of 4-5 pounds. I should be nervous. I've prob got the rod elevated too high...
But it held together. I too was fishing an old Pflueger that day...
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That Greg guy needs a longer handle net!
Bambooflyguy
Legend
Although there’s a “dead spot” flex at the ferrules…..bamboo isn’t as strong as metal…..
True, but that lower part of the rod's tip section should be more than strong enough to control the trout. I think Mike is right about there being a weak spot there. Rye, are there bamboo nodes at the location of the break? Many rod makers place three nodes at a station, and I learned from Dawn Holbrook to place only two nodes at a given station. There's still the same number of nodes in total, but the staggering never has more than two (sections opposite one another) at a given point in a rod section.
Bambooflyguy
Legend
One piece scarfed Hotrodz eliminates that problem…..just sayin
To my eye the break looks suspect as a weak point. in the close up image you posted. After heat treating the bamboo will break with many fine splinters and yours looks like a pretty clean break without the splinters. Doesn't change the fact other than to ease you mind about the cause. I'm voting a rod failure and not a angler error. I'm sure Dennis will get you back on the water with your 8642.
Mike
Mike
I started out with the two-by-two placement, but I have moved to the three-by-three placement in recent years. Dawn is a great rod maker, and I am sure his reasoning is solid. But to be honest I have not had a rod fail at a node with either method. I think IF there is a failure at a node it might be related to an excess of straightening and heat work. If a node is giving me too much trouble I just toss the strip and start with a better candidate. To save a dollar is not worth the headache or risk in compromising a completed rod. But that is just my opinion and what I have found to work for me YMMV.
Good choice sending the rod to Dennis for a new tip section. I would have him make 2 sections. Some years ago, he made a new tip section for me.The upside is, I was going to send a rod to Dennis Stone to change out the reel seat and I procrastinated last week. Now he gets two.
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Dave, This is the angle I was working at.
Probably dropped my elbow when I went to net him.