Them's the Breaks: Flyrod Disaster Stories

This week, Florida fly fishermen are talking about unusual ways to break flyrods. Everyone knows about the usual stuff... breaking rods in car doors, snapping tips on ceiling fans, high-sticking while fighting fish. For a good no-no instructional, see the Sage site.

Here are some snappy examples from FS Members, posted on the General Fly Fishing Forum:

"Fighting a striped bass on my 8 wt while standing on my 10 wt. on deck of boat."

"Had an air compresser fall on one, snapped like a twig."

"I've broken rods out of spite!"

"Back when I used to wade at night I had a big ray swim up behind me in the summer. It looked like a comet coming at me due to the phosphorescence in the water. I turned around and slapped the water with the rod and snapped the tip off."

I'm always collecting stories on the subject, having long ago earned my PhD in rodsnapping. I also enjoy picking up "bits and pieces" in the field. Among recent tales I've heard in the field comes from David Olsen, at The Fly Shop of Miami . Guys like David can tell all kinds of wild stories.

"Years ago, I had a guy come into the shop with the tip section of a 4-piece flyrod; all broken into 6 pieces. 'How'd ya do that?' I asked. 'I didn't,' the man answered. 'The maid did it with a vacuum cleaner. I had my rod in the corner of the office, where she's not supposed to go. Well, the vacuum picked up the leader and sucked the tip section right up.' You wouldn't believe it, but years later, I had another guy come into the shop, again with a broken tip section from a 4-piece rod. I told him right away, 'Vaccuum cleaner, huh?' He said, 'How'd you know that?'"

Add your story to the Fly Fishing Forum here. Let's just hope the industry warranty folks aren't watching our comments!