This is a SCIII X-fast 6'9" rod that I built 5-ish years ago. I was threading new line on it this morning and found this splinter, I have no idea how long it's been there. It is right at the peak bending point about 14-16" down from the tip. I treat my rods like glass and wonder why this occurred? I firmly believe that a vast majority of rod breaks are user error, but I do wonder if this is a manufacturer defect, there is a very slight bulging at that point. It starts about 1/8" below a guide wrap and is about 2" long. Starts from nothing and progressively goes deeper. I am guessing there is no way to actually repair it, so I just super glued it back down. I'm sure it will just break eventually. I'm really just curious as to why it happened?

Pics-

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Maybe from pulling on a snagged lure with braided line?

I repaired a splinter on an old glass ice fishing rod using thread finish a few years ago and that has held so far with limited use.

You probably want to add a thread wrap or so to hold the splintered part in place.

Dan

Something would have had to slice into the blank at that point to start it. The fibers run tip to butt, they do not stop/start at various points along the blank's length.

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Can you recall hitting it, perhaps with a flying lure when it cam loose from a snag? Or inadvertently whacking it on a boat gunnel? Or high-sticking a hot fish? All of the above have successfully generated a splintered blank for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2017 03:43PM by Philip Engle.

Given the company in question, I would send it to them and get an opinion, sounds like a very unusual situation. I'm sure they won't steer you wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2017 01:15PM by Lynn Behler.

I can say in all honesty that I don't recall any specific point where it would have been damaged. I know that nothing ever hit it and as I've had that happen before, I believe that type of hit causes a fracture and a fairly clean break. There really is no visible damage to the blank itself as far as a cut or ding or anything. This splinter starts out towards the tip as fine as frog hair and progressively gets larger and deeper going down towards the butt.

Referring kinda to what Tom is saying, it does seem like this started where some fibers may end towards the tip.

Once the pesky leaves start coming down, I'll be chasing the most delicious of all feathered creatures, the ruffed grouse. Conveniently the motel I stay at while doing so is literally next door to St Croix. I'll bring it to them, although my super glue fix actually made ithe damage invisible. That however may change in a couple hours on a Winnebago walleye.

Thanks for the replies!

i,m not naming names but i had an extra fast rod like that..i ran hard pulling spinbaits and crankbaits on it..since it was a casting rod it had the guides on top which greatly torqued the tip of the rod which being so thin twisted a whole lot..years later i noticed it splintering also but i was not too surpised because of the twist in he tip under load..the rod was not designed for such loads i figured..if i had used a spiral wrap guide set up, i would still have the rod.

Good point. There is at least some possible connection to severe rod twist and such splintering. It shouldn't happen as most rods are designed to withstand a certain amount of torsional twist, but if everything is not as it should be you couldn't rule this out as a possible cause.

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Twisting seems entirely possible. This is a spinning rod but that section is thin and where most of the bend is. I'd venture to guess that it's from casting cranks.

Scott,
I have seen a lot of x-fast rods, begin to fail and to finally fail at the action transition from the fast to the extra fast tip. This point causes a lot of force in this particular part of this style rods.

I don't find it unusual at all for a rod of this action to begin to give up with a lot of use and a lot of fish caught.

Good luck

I agree with you, and would certainly check with St Croix. It could very well be a defect and covered by their warranty. A rod should not splinter like that under normal fishing.use and maybe even under abnormal use. I use a lot of extra fast rods and have never seen such splintering. Show them the rod to see what they think. The worst they can say is no.
Norm

Well, I didn't break it this weekend but it was creaking every time I cast. Caught a bunch of nice walleyes too.

Scott,
Time to pick up a new blank, components and a bit of time and build a new rod.

Retire the old one - hang it on the wall and enjoy its past memories.

Good luck

yes..it sounds like you got a good 5 years out of it..

Scott,
You might compare your rod to your own back.

When you are young, you and your back can do anything.

But after 70 years of bending and lifting and toting, the back does not work as well. In some cases, the back doesn't work at all.

The same thing can be said of anything that is made or built. Great when new - but as the item ages, it does not function as well as it did when new.

Nothing to worry about, If you don't like something that is well aged, simply replace it and move on. Aging is changing. Just part of the big life circle of nature.

Be safe

I beg to differ on retiring the rod! It obviously has mojo if he is nailing the walleye with it. I'd keep it going until it finally snaps on a massive walleye! THEN retire it.

To quote Teddy Roosevelt: “Let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.”

i don,t think Teddy R. would have knowingly used a defective rifle on any of his big game hunting escursions. lol.

How are you staring the rod?

Is it possible the blank could have been nicked in a rod locker?

Know the blank well, probably the best overall blank made.

Good Luck, Doug

Ps. I am sure St. Croix will help.

See you on the water, Doug
Captain Paddlefoot

Re: Retiring rods. I have twin SCII's that I built around 1990. My brother would only fish when I was on fish good somewhere. He wasn't one to go on a seeking mission. When he did fish with me, he always used a specific one of those 2 rods. Next month will be 15 years since he died at 26. I was going to cut that rod and place it with him. Instead I chose to hang on to it and remember him when I used it. It has been in dire need to be rewrapped for well over a decade but I want it just the way it is. One guide is loose and needs to be shoved back into place frequently and the bottom ring of cork got chewed on by a critter at some point. It has been reduced to catching catfish from my pier but I just can't retire it.

Back to the rod of topic.... I have found this rod to be quite good for casting small cranks (#5 flickers or shad raps mostly). I tend to fish as stealthily as possible and use long casts to reach. Admittedly, I whip them hard on a cast and I can totally see where twisting on the first motion forward can and likely does occur. Not sure how extreme of a twist happens but considering this rod has made many 1000's of casts, it does not surprise me if this splintering occurred from it. I may repurpose it to jig fishing where I'm not launching cranks at Mach 3, but it won't get retired in one piece. Lol

As far as storing or other damage occurring prior, I keep them sleeved in a nylon slip unless I'm using it. My custom rods lay on a carpeted ledge in my boat where they are protected. I can say with 100% confidence that there was no external damage on this rod, not even a scratch, and yes,I would notice. I'm exceptionally careful with my custom rods, which is why I was curious about this damage as I've never seen anything like it before. If I knew or discovered there was prior damage, I woulda known it was my fault and been ok with it. This issue puzzled me.

Thanks for all the replies!

I would like to say that by mentioning that this is a St Croix was only meant to tell what it is and get feedback. I think St Croix rods are of exceptional quality and certainly don't mean anything negatively towards them in any way.

hi Scott..my experience at repairs is very limited but maybe a small glass sleeve or a thread wrap soaked with perma gloss, not epoxy(too heavy) would contain the splintering..good luck.