Bass shattered my rod, but I’d do it again
May 12th 2008adminFishing & Lake Burton & N. Georgia
I should have known it was going to be one of those days. Tough conditions on Lake Burton, combined with poor preparation on my part lended the expected result, but not in the way I should have imagined. It’s mother’s day, 2008, and strong cold front has dumped over 1.5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. 
The wind was stiff, about 15 miles an hour out of the Northwest with heavy cloud cover and air temperatures dipping to an unseasonably chilly 50 degrees.
Knowing that the majority of my lake time would be dedicated to mom, and not fishing, I only brought one rod and a couple of bait options. We slipped out at 8:30, and started drift fishing along the North shore of Murray Cove near the South end of the lake. I tied on a six inch Zoom trick worm (watermelon seed color) with a 1/0 worm hook and 3/8 oz. split shot running about 16″ up the six pound flourescent blue line. A slow jigging presentation paid off almost immediately, with this guy on board in just a couple minutes.
After releasing this fat little fish, we were drifting within range of the first of three points before entering the main body of the lake. Heavily covered with downed trees, I put the worm on the leeward side of the point and immediately felt something pounce. Hook set, fish turned me, and as I lifted to rod up high to pull him out of the cover - BAM! - rod pieces were flying all over the place. Not only that, but the preceediong explosion made short work of my line and a lucky day for this particular bass.
To say I was bummed, is a pretty fair understatement. With no other rod up there, and the fish biting, I had nothing to do but head home and reflect on my fortune and disfortune on an ugly May morning. My question, now, is this:
Do I:
- A.) Trash the rod maker publically on this blog (it was only two months old, and under it’s recomended line class)
- B.) Write an open letter regarding the rod, and see what kind of remediation may be available.
- or C.) Skip it, go buy another rod, and spend that time on the water instead of making a big stink?
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kristine shreve on 12 May 2008 at 9:42 am #
That’s a bummer that your rod broke. I don’t know that I would “trash” the manufacturer of the rod, but it wouldn’t be out of line to let your readers know what happened, and that they might want to be careful using these rods in the future.
I’d also write a letter to the company telling them what happened and seeing what they do about it. There is a possibility you just got a lemon rod. If the company replaces it, that would probably make a difference in what you write about what happened.
David Wilson on 12 May 2008 at 10:44 am #
I’d write the manufacturer for sure. They need to know their product failed in its intended use or other people will also lose fish. Might be a bad run. Might be flawed materials. They need to know and you are doing them and the rest of fisherfolk a service.
Then… see how they react. If they are customer service oriented, they will make it right. If they do, praise them. If they don’t, bury them.
Tom Sorenson on 12 May 2008 at 5:17 pm #
I’d do as others have said - contact the manufacturer first - see what they can do for you.
In regards to the fishing - just goes to show it pays to give the fish a try no matter how the weather may seem to be unfavorable for hot fishing. It sounds like you were well on your way to a great day on the lake - too bad for the rod busting. I’m interested to hear about a rematch - I’m sure you’re planning one already!
Blessed on 14 May 2008 at 12:15 pm #
I’d contact the manufacturer and see how they react, if they react poorly trash them on the blog, if not - praise them for their customer service.
Matt on 15 May 2008 at 9:40 pm #
I’d forget about that rod and the manufacturer and get yourself a custom-rod made. I know a couple different guys who make them and can put you in touch if you’re interested. I started using hand-crafted rods about a year ago and now couldn’t imagine going back to unreliable, store-bought rods.
admin on 16 May 2008 at 11:13 am #
OK, the verdict is in. I’ll write a letter to the rod maker, and post the response, good or bad here. Matt, I’ve always wanted to go the custom rod route - a good friend out of Destin, FL uses nothing but customs. Problem is, I usually have 3-4 rods with me (not this time
) and they get sort of expensive. So until OutdoorsBlogger becomes a cash cow - I’m probably stuck with rods in the $40-75 range.
Community Wednesday 5/14/08 | The Complete Hunting Reference on 19 May 2008 at 9:16 pm #
[...] Would You Do? Wade at The Great Outsmores had a fishing rod snap on him this past weekend. He?s written a post asking what he should do. Should he slam the manufacturer on his blog? Should he write a letter to [...]
bass northwest on 31 May 2008 at 7:03 am #
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Gene on 25 Jun 2008 at 4:59 pm #
I would let it go and get another rod. Then go fishing better prepared and lose all the stress.
Gene from http://www.canvaspress.com