Can anyone guess what happens to a rod when about a 42 - 44 inch musky hits your bait right at the boat, and then proceeds to dive under it?

If you guessed that my rod broke, then you guessed correctly. Half of my flipping/pitching rod that I built on an Immortal IMMC72MH blank is now in about 6' of water on the bottom of Lake Milton, in Ohio

I was pitching docks while pre fishing for an up coming tournament this Saturday. I had just made a pitch to a dock and was reeling my bait in quickly when the fish hit just as I was getting ready to pull the bait out of the water. The fish dove under the boat pinning my rod against the rub rail of the boat. Next came a loud bang and I was left holding a little more than half a rod. It snapped cleanly, midway between the first and second running guides closest to the reduction train.

As I've fished the rod a little more than a year, and it breaking under the circumstances that it did, I won't be filing a warranty claim. I just wouldn't feel right about it. I mean it wasn't a manufacturing defect, it was an about 8' of line out when a 20 lb + fish hits you at the boat, and decides to get out of the sun by diving under your boat, kind of thing.

Man I'm bummed. :(

Oh well ..... at least I won't have to strip the rod down to change the reel seat this winter. I'll just put an MVT seat on it when I build another one.

A shame, but a great story to tell for years to come.

..............

Do you think a Composite blank of the same flex and lure weight would have worked better - Yes been a little heaver - Yet maybe not have broken ???? And maybe you would have gotten that fish ??
I know that is a great blank I have read plenty on them here LIGHT WEIGHT - yet could not handle going under the boat

Just a thought

Bill - willierods.com

Thanks Tom.

And yeah Bill, maybe a composite blank wouldn't have broke, but it wouldn't have worked better. I built on that blank because I wanted a light, very sensitive, and powerful rod. And that is exactly what I had, and is exactly why I'll be building another rod on the same blank.

As for the blank not handling the fish going under the boat, I'd be very surprised if any high modulus rod blank could handle what happened today. It wasn't the blanks fault, it was the circumstances.

Sorry to hear you broke your build David. That's rough.

I'm an Ohio muskie guy, there are some tanks in Milton. I know this all happened ridiculously fast but if you ever get into that situation again try and engage the free spool. We even have to do it occassionally on boat side strikes with rods that are built to handle those fish.

I hope your next build turns out better then the last.

You have to admit, it's a pretty darn good adrenaline rush though isn't it!

Hi Anthony. I appreciate your words of condolence. And you're absolutely right about how fast it happened. I've probably caught better than 20 muskies while fishing for bass, with the majority of them coming from West Branch.

More than a couple of them have hit right at the boat. But none of them were as hot as this fish was. I can't be sure because those couple of seconds were pretty hectic, but I think she may have actually hit the bottom of the boat as she was going under it. The dang thing was like a bullet.

You're also right about the adrenaline rush. Possibly the biggest adrenaline rush I've ever had while fishing is when a 50+ inch fish followed my spinnerbait back to the boat while fishing West Branch. Talk about a tank !!!

Oh, and based on my side scanning of the route 76 bridge pilings yesterday, two of the Milton tanks you mention were sitting about a foot off the bottom in 16' of water. One on each side of one of the northern set of pilings. 9th or 10th set from the east side.

Earlier this month a fisherman in New York State's 70-acre Lake Como hooked and landed a 51" tiger muskie on #4 test line. I don't know what kind of rod he was using.

Just curious David were you able to land the muskie?

David,

If you liked the previous generation, wait till you get your hands on the new USA models. I have two in the house right now and am very excited about them. I liked the prior generation but was not crazy about their weight. The boys at Batson really nailed it this time with this generation. To date these are the nicest blanks that I have seen them come out with.


Tom

Pete ..... no, when the rod broke, the line broke along with it. The bad thing about the line breaking and not being able to land the fish, is the fact that there is now a fish swimming around with a 4/0 Owner hook buried in its jaw. And it's trailing about 8 - 10' of 20# test Tatsu fluorocarbon line. Now that is a serious bummer.

Thomas, I absolutely love the Immortal blanks I've built on thus far. I was under the impression that the Immortal wasn't one of the blanks they were going to be manufacturing in the US though?

The new blanks Rainshadow came out with have me very excited. And now after reading what you're saying, I'm even more stoked about the new blanks.

Now that the Eternity series isn't blue anymore, I'll definitely be building on one of those in the not to distant future. And I see one of The Judge crankbait blanks in my future as well.

sounds like you had the drag set to tight.

David, I was incorrect, I was talking about the Eternity blanks that I have not the Immortal's. Sorry about the confusion, but if you can give an Eternity a try I think that you will really be pleased.

Tom

Randolph ... for that fish under the particular set of circumstances, I most certainly did. Otherwise, not at all.

Thomas ..... I will definitely be building on an Eternity ETES610MXF before this time next year. I can't wait !!!

Betting that 'ski freed itself from the mess it was in David!

I sure hope so Pete .... I don't like breaking any fish off for the very reasons listed above.

sorry to hear about the rod but did you have your drag set. I seen that happen more than once to people and it was because the drag was to tight.Well good luck on your next build and you get another chance at that musky,because i know they are alot of fun when you hook one.My biggest one to date was 50+ in.

Thanks for the consoling words Leonard. They are appreciated.

And yes I had my drag set .... as tight as it would go. LOL I'm a bass fisherman that was fishing docks and other assorted shoreline cover. I use a powerful rod and heavy line with the drag locked down tight. If I get a big fish back up under a dock, or in thick cover, I don't want the drag to slip even a fraction of an inch.

I want to move the fish on the hook set, and get it coming my way as quickly as possible. For me the time to back off the drag if needed, is once I get the fish clear of cover. The problem with the other day was .... I had no time.

And I'd like to get that fish on again and land it this time for the simple reason of ...... if it still has my hook in its mouth, I'd love to get it out. Otherwise, I'm not interested in hooking or catching another musky. Yeah they're fun to catch. But for me, the novelty wore off some time ago.

Thanks again for the response.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2016 02:42PM by David Baylor.

David your hook has probably fallen out already if it was hooked in the jaw area and not deep hooked. We cut hooks all of the time if a fish rolls in the net or is hooked where it is easier to cut then remove. In order to get the fish back in the water faster. Someone did a study a while back about the time it took muskie to shake a hook or lure and it really wasn't long. The ones that remained rusted and fell out without any damage being done.