avoid breaking fishing rod

A friend came up to me the other day and said ” Hey, you know those fishing rod holders you make? I need to see about getting one of those. We were heading up to the early opener last weekend and my wife shut the truck door on my new rod.” He paused and laughed, in a manner only recognized by a fellow fisher who has seen this sort of heartbreak before.  

I feel for you and I completely understand, I have had my fair share of “Rodbreak” in my life.

This story begins, by finding my first fishing rod. I found it abandoned, stripped of its reel and leaning up against the base of a pine tree. As a young boy it was one of the things I treasured beyond all else. This 5′ 6″ ultra light was my first true fishing rod and I caught some of the biggest trout of my life with it.

So how did it end up in such a disgraceful condition? Enter the modern vehicle, with all of its advanced sensors/ features it still has this uncanny habit of breaking our prized fishing rods. Come within a few feet of your vehicle and it is almost as if a door or tailgate lash out at your gear in relentless attempt to ruin your day. 

Not you? Well how about the time you left your rod laying across the top of your car and drove off without noticing it slide into the middle of the 15 miles of dirt road it took to get to your fishing spot? We all like to think this type of thing will never happen to us. But it does and nothing ruins a trip faster than the soul crunching reminder that you leaned your rod up against the bumper, and found it has somehow worked its way into the hinge mechanism moments before you close the tailgate.  

How about the old trick of placing the rod beside the front passenger seat and angling the tip towards the back of the car? I am sorry to say it is only a matter of time before you break a rod tip. 

Ok, I’m convinced, but is there any way of avoiding the Rodbreak? Sure you could never leave the house, therefore avoiding the rod crushing monster parked in your driveway. But it can be difficult to get much fishing done with this method. So here are a few steps to avoid the perils of Rodbreak.    

(1) Always disassemble your rod and put it in a case if you have one.

(2) If you are placing it in the back of a pickup truck lay it down flat, on something soft.

(3) (Shameless Plug) Check out all of our Rod Holding Solutions and sign up for Fishing Friday so you can keep up on all of our new rod holder models coming soon (including solutions for cars, suv’s and crossovers).   

As always,

Go Fishing Often!

-Brian