A little rod repair action

[BWR1953]

Went out to the garage this afternoon planning on sharpening hooks and doing some general tackle preparation for a fishing trip this evening.

And found a problem.

I've had this 6' 6" MH Shakespeare Ugly Stik for well over 30 years. Caught a bazillion fish with it over the years. And missed even more!

The large rod guide was kaflooey. I guess it was banged around in the truck bed one too many times.

So to fix the thing I had to scrounge around and find my replacement rod guides. I knew I had some from a prior repair on that same rod 15 years ago.

Broken!



Went to the store and bought some 5-minute epoxy (my old friend!) and a spool of all purpose black thread. Ground off the old rod guide and tack glued the new guide in place.



Wrapped the guide legs with the thread and glued it all together. About 1/2 way through I realized that I could have used some marine grade shrink tubing to give it an even cleaner look. Ah well, maybe next time. :facepalm:



A thunderstorm rolled through while we were working but we're still hoping we can get out this evening.

 

[dingbat]

The kind of stuff that makes me cringe thinking one day it might come into the shop for repair.....lol

Do yourself a favor and buy a small bottle of 1 part rod finish for your next repair.

Rod finish seals the thread and stays flexible. Doesn’t get brittle, crack and allow moisture to get under the threads to rust the guide.

 

[BWR1953]

The kind of stuff that makes me cringe thinking one day it might come into the shop for repair.....lol

Do yourself a favor and buy a small bottle of 1 part rod finish for your next repair.

Rod finish seals the thread and stays flexible. Doesn’t get brittle, crack and allow moisture to get under the threads to rust the guide.

Meh. If I only have to repair a rod every 15 years... and the repair continues to work all that time and more, then that's fine with me. Five minute epoxy seals and stays flexible too. And why would anyone take a $40 rod in for repair at some custom shop and be charged a lot for some guy to look down his nose at them? :lol:

I bet you'd really cringe if you saw what I had to do in order to get my broken Daiwa pack rod working after a buddy broke it some 22 years ago. I've had that pack rod set for 35 years and it still keeps on cranking!

 

[dingbat]

Meh. If I only have to repair a rod every 15 years... and the repair continues to work all that time and more, then that's fine with me. Five minute epoxy seals and stays flexible too. And why would anyone take a $40 rod in for repair at some custom shop and be charged a lot for some guy to look down his nose at them? :lol:

Guessing I repaired somewhere between 125-150 of your “$40 rods” last year. Didn’t look down my nose at a single person. My most profitable business by far.

I make good money and the customer is happy to get his rod fixed for a lot less than buying new. A win, win for both parties.

 

[BWR1953]

Heyyy... isn't that special. Good for you. :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

The point of this thread is that it's possible to have a quick and inexpensive repair which will cost only a few pennies, which can be done in the field and which will last for decades without going to a "professional."

It's funny. Last evening my family and I went fishing to a local lake which has a small metal public dock. Had a nice time. Several other folks were there fishing as well. All strangers, we talked about bass, bluegill, catfish, sunsets and so on.

Mostly we talked about alligators. How many there were, their sizes, their direction of travel while we watched and their close proximity to the dock! :lol:

Not once during the 90 minutes that I was sitting there did anyone look at my repaired rod and say "Oh... my... gawwwdd..., you didn't have that repaired by a professional!" They never even looked at my rod. That would've been a bit to personal! ound:

 

[82rude]

I totally get it.I have 2 rods and reels I use for pike,bass,and wallys and I wouldn't trade those cheapos for any rod and reel combo .One is abu-garcia specialist and the other is a Berkley Cheerywood with a pfluger president special edition reel. I have one uglystix right now and would like to maybe get the gx2 lite.

 

[BWR1953]

I totally get it.I have 2 rods and reels I use for pike,bass,and wallys and I wouldn't trade those cheapos for any rod and reel combo .One is abu-garcia specialist and the other is a Berkley Cheerywood with a pfluger president special edition reel. I have one uglystix right now and would like to maybe get the gx2 lite.

Yeah, I used to have an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur XLT 2- speed baitcasting reel. A great reel. I lost it somewhere along the way years ago when I was moving fairly often. Dangit. :grumpy:

I remember back when I originally bought my Ugly Stik and it came with a lifetime guarantee. Then it changed to 15 years. Then it got even shorter; down to 7 years nowadays. But I am planning on buying a new 7' 2" rod to add to my Ugly collection. :nod:

 

[fishrdan]

when I originally bought my Ugly Stik and it came with a lifetime guarantee.

Remember the Ugly Stik commercials back in the 70's or 80's, where a guy bends the rod tip to the butt, to show how strong/flexible the rod is?....

I was in a WM with my buddy and telling him about it, he didn't believe me, so I grabbed an Ugly Stick and bent it's tip to the butt, and ***SNAP!!!*** I gently placed the rod parts back on the rack and told him it must be a defective rod :becky: I didn't try to prove the commercial with a second rod

 

[BWR1953]

Remember the Ugly Stik commercials back in the 70's or 80's, where a guy bends the rod tip to the butt, to show how strong/flexible the rod is?....

I was in a WM with my buddy and telling him about it, he didn't believe me, so I grabbed an Ugly Stick and bent it's tip to the butt, and ***SNAP!!!*** I gently placed the rod parts back on the rack and told him it must be a defective rod :becky: I didn't try to prove the commercial with a second rod

Hahahahaha! Yeahhh... :lol: