# Question for rod builders



## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Do fishing rods wear out?

I have several rods with wraps that need some maintenance or eyes that need replaced. These require time and money and if rods become old and brittle or may break from lots of use/abuse it may not be worth the effort.

I have replaced tips and eyes and rewrapped some rods with simple tools I made myself. I rarely repair rods so investment in professional equipment is not a goal. I simply take my time and get results I desire.

I just wonder if the rod blank itself might fail at some time.


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## bowhunter29 (Dec 13, 2008)

Katfish,

To answer your question, you're not going to wear your rod blank out. 

Replace the guides and rewrap it, it'll be good to go for a long time. I would definitely not recommend replacing the inserts in the guides, you can't even buy the ceramic replacements unless you have a special contact in the industry. You may save a couple of bucks (if you can find something that fits) but it won't be worth the trouble.

jeremy


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

I think it depends on the blank of the rod....I have had new rods break on me and have some really old rods that just keep on going...this fall I helped rebuild a rod I picked up on craigs list(wanted the reel more then the rod for the money)....but after seeing and hearing, then using the rod was the good buy more then the reel, what a treasure it is and old to boot....put the hurting on some good salt water fish....teamed it up with a penn 706 greenie and I have a new favorite rod and reel now

.


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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

bowhunter 29 gave some very sound advice.

I will add that rods do wear out, but it takes so many load cycles that the rod will take many years, or even several lifetimes to wear out with proper use. You would be much more likely to experience wear issues with older lower modulus rod blanks such as wood or metal. A modern graphite rod blank will almost certainly outlast the angler.

Rods fail for two reasons, factory defects and abuse. Granted there are many modes of failure, but at the root, these are the issues. A factory defect will show itself in the first few load cycles the vast majority of the time. Abuse failures can range from damage occurring during shipping, overload failures, high sticking, being dinged by a lure or object in the boat, crush failures (car doors, rod lockers), and assembly issues. Assembly issues can include burs on the guide feet that eventually cut into the blanks fibers, guides wrapped too tightly, nicks and cuts on the blank during construction, etc.

If you have a rod you like, it's likely worth restoring, if it can't be readily replaced at a lower cost.

Rewrapping guides is just part of the maintenance of a rod. While modern rod finishes can last much longer than the varnishes used in the past, they are still not immune to UV degradation and other issues from heavy use. Guide inserts may become damaged over the use to being impacted by objects, or occasionally a poorly mounted ring from the manufacturer.

Joe


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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

ironman172,

Very nice job on the rework! The came out great!

Joe


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## Fishman43078 (Apr 16, 2013)

montagc said:


> On the eyelets, is the frame ruined, or just the internal ring broken? If the latter, the cheapest repair I've found is replacing the ceramic eyelet only. I've done just the ceramic without a plastic ring, and it is time consuming, involving flames and heat sinks. The easiest way is to get a cheapo or broken rod that has eyes with plastic inserts the size you need. Pop out the ceramic, then the plastic, and reinsert into the rod you are repairing. a little clear nail polish or superglue and away ya go.
> 
> These rods wouldn't happen to be Catmaxxes, would they?


Funny you should mention Catmaxx rods, I need to replace a couple already on some catmaxx. Rods are great but eyes have a little stress. Anybody know who makes the blanks? I have a catmaxx 7'9" live bait rod that I would love to try and make. It has a really fats tip that is great for circle hooks.

Chad

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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

The Catmaxx blanks are made especially for Bass Pro Shops. I doubt they would be willing to sell you blank. Based on your description though, a blank from the RCLB series from Batson might be a great place to look for something similar and readily available to build.

Joe


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Have you guys seen the fish he pulls in. I sure the breakdown process is accelerated. 

Speaking of catmaxx, I'm in the same boat. I have 2 just sitting there almost new with busted eyes. Love the rods but the inserts are trash. Any recommendations for new guides (type, where to buy them). Not sure if I will do them all at once or as needed. I don't really care if they match I just want to be able to use the rods. Just planning on wrapping and giving it the 5min appoxy treatment. I know they wont last forever that way but its cheap easy and a lot better that the rod collecting dust.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

The metal on the frames are bent on a few of them which is what caused the problem in the first place. So new inserts are not an option. 

I just don't want to replace with bad guides that are going to put me back in the same place.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

I want to..... but we'll see how the three broken ones turn out first. Then I'll decide if I want to do them all at once or as they break.


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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

rustyfish,

I wouldn't recommend using 5 min adhesive epoxy. Should you need to remove those guides later, it becomes a much tougher task. The epoxies used for guide wraps are not adhesive epoxies.

When you order your guides ask the supplier about the water based one part finish options. I have a couple options on hand, both from Roddancer, a water based varnish and Threadmaster One. Either will work well for you. They take a few coats to build up the depth of an epoxy finish, or you can get by with a coat or two if you are shooting for keeping weight down or a quick repair. A coat of either of these is dry to the touch and fishable in about an hour, unlike the finish epoxies that take 8 hours or more to dry and several days to fully cure.

A one or two ounce bottle of those one part finishes has enough to do the guides on several rods and costs a few dollars.

If you put up a picture of the guides, I can point you to a couple options for replacement guides. I would recommend an aluminum oxide insert in steel frames for this task. They are some of the lower priced guides, but the guides readily available to rod builders are made with much stricter tolerances than the guides used by mass producers trying to reach a certain price point.

If the broken guides came out without the frame being deformed too much, measure the inside diameter of the frame in mm, and this will give you the guide size you need to order. Replacements can be ordered by finding a similar style frame, since you can't and in this case don't want an exact match to the original.

Joe


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## Fishman43078 (Apr 16, 2013)

grub_man said:


> The Catmaxx blanks are made especially for Bass Pro Shops. I doubt they would be willing to sell you blank. Based on your description though, a blank from the RCLB series from Batson might be a great place to look for something similar and readily available to build.
> 
> Joe


I saw online that Pacific bay makes them but there is nothing even remotely similar. The rod I have (actually have 3 catmaxx rods is a 7'9" inch "live bait" rod. I also have a couple tangling with catfish rods but can't beat the catmaxx live bait for circle hooks.

Thanks though. Will check out Batson. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## grub_man (Feb 28, 2005)

Chad,

What are the line/lure weights for that 7'9" rod? The reason I steered you toward the RCLB line is that they are designed as saltwater live bait rods. They have a very fast action and combine a fiberglass tip with a graphite butt section to make a rod with a limber tip that doesn't respond too quickly, yet uses the graphite in the butt to have fish fighting power without making the blank excessively heavy or excessively large in diameter.

It may not be an exact match, but very well could be in the ball park.

Where are you located? If you can get that rod in the hands of a rod builder, some measurements relative to the action and power could be taken to get an idea of which blanks could come close.

Joe


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