have had several customer come in with their high end spey/switch rods and they all snapped the tip sections off any where from 6 -16 inches mind you that these are all the longer versions 11'-6" -14 ' in 4 -6 wt they all claimed they were jut doing simple loop casts from talking to them it strikes me as they don't know the proper technique for that style of cast
I tried to explain that they have to feed some line from the rod to take the kinetic force from the tip taking some of the force weight off the tip section . yes they do use the fg knot
with out being able to see what they are doing I am guessing that is the problem.
Come on you Fly guys how about some suggestions I can pass along to them these rods are not my builds.
Thank You for your time and experience.

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Without seeing how they broke the rods it is hard to assess the issue. In my experience the customers description of how and when it broke can be very unreliable. Breaking a tip casting with a Spey rod is hard to do as the casting motion is very smooth if done correctly. You might find out if they are using lines overmatched to the rods. A jerky cast with a too heavy line can be the problem.

As mentioned below, a more likely cause is high sticking! With long rods like Spey and Switch it is easy to high stick them when trying to get a hooked fish close enough to net or handle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2018 04:37PM by Phil Erickson.

They may be breaking/damaging them while landing fish. If they raise the rod straight up to land the fish, they're high sticking and probably not the least bit aware they're doing it.

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I agree with Tom, I see it with all the long rods, no matter the style or technique, float, spey, etc.

That was also my thought, high sticking. I think that might be the most common way people break a rod beyond accidental or stupidity. With long rods a lot of people will put the rod straight up when landing a fish. The rods all break in tip section from 6” to 2’ from the tip. I see a lot of this down here with people using long crappie rods, and these are not giant fish!
Norm

I don't have a warranty program, so my customers are usually quite honest when they hand me a broken rod. It's never on a fish. It's always from an impact, slip and fall or a car door.

Anglers may have improperly cast weighted flies with lead or brass eyes. Spey-cast flies travel at high speeds, and even a slight "tic" against the blank can produce a broken blank later on.

well it got in to the 30's today so I got these 2 guys down to the water to see exactly what they were doing to snap of their tips on their spey rods 1 has ruined 2 Helos rods and the other a sage because they watched some one on tv fishing somewhere for trout and got the bright idea to copy their equipment never having used a shorter fly rod before to so after seeing what they were doing class began using my personal St croix 9 ft 6 wt and they did catch on quick but looked funny as all get out 2 guys almost hugging each other so they could get the proper way to start a cast and continue to pay out line got then up to 40--50 ft with a bug eye nymph .
High sticking yes working it like a bull whip yes just 2 of the reasons that they snapped off the tips now they are in the process of working with the warranty process just glad they were not my rods and factory rods .
both are excellent at walleye fishing with spinning equipment but wanted to get in to fly fishing for the tributary trout here on the west shore of lake Michigan both have money to burn so I am thinking if the get no relief from the Mfg they will be at my door again looking for these rods they have purchased several rods from me for other types of fishing & styles this was something they didn't think i would be able to build for them.
St. Peter protect them and teach them!

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.