Rod Breakage due to 'material fatigue' — Update

by Pete

Thanks to everybody for their help and advice regarding the rod break incident featuring my tried and trusted Shimotsuke Kiyotake 240.

I'm still waiting for a new Shimo 240 to be delivered but I picked up the old rod again this evening to see which sections I could keep as replacement parts in case of another breakage incident (the original break occurred in the third from bottom section, just above the joint with the second from bottom section).

The tip sections still feel fine, but as soon as I examined the lower two sections it became obvious how degraded section number two was just above the joint with section number one. It felt distinctly 'pulpy' and with only minor force exerted began to splinter. I then looked at the place where the rod snapped on the river two weeks ago and the material there was similarly degraded.

Conclusion: wear and tear does affect these rods. I'm meticulous about drying out all my rods between use, so I don't think water ingress is an contributing factor here.

As previously stated, I'm a great fan of the Shimotsuke Kiyotake rods and have absolutely no complaints about how the 240 has performed for me. It probably wasn't designed to catch 14" brownies and grayling but it can, and has...

Pete.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.