What happens when your rod is broken

      It happens to the best of fishers. No matter how careful you try to be - sooner or later your fly rod gets damaged or broken. An eyelet might pop - or a tip gets snapped off - or the cork handles breaks.

     Nice fly rods are expensive, so buying a new one may not be an option. Often times a rod is never as good as new after a repair. So damaging your favorite rod can be a real set-back.

     But there is good news. I recently lost two rods back-to-back in different accidents. My Loomis rod was shut in a car door - snapping it in three places. My St. Croix rod was rolled up in a window - snapping off the very end of the tip.

        Both of these companies are wonderful to work with. I went on-line to the St. Criox site where I found a complete repair report. I filled it out and pressed "send". Just to make sure everything was going to go the way I expected, I called the office in Wisconsin. They assured me that everything was going to be fine. I fill out the model and serial number of my rod. For 30 bucks they send me a brand new top section of rod. No repair. No mailing my old one in. They process my order with 24 hours - and ship the replacement right from the factory. Just think - a 300 dollar rod - repaired - no questions asked - for 30 bucks. And no worries for me. I don't have to package and ship the old one. I don't have to worry that the repair is not as good as the original condition. I get a brand new tip.

     Next - I placed a similar call to Loomis.  All Loomis rods have a lifetime warranty. I thought they would send me a new tip as well. Instead - they send me an entirely new rod - the whole thing - brand new - for 50 bucks. All things considered, I thought it was a great deal.

     I checked the web, and Orvis and Sage offer similar warranties. In fact Orvis claims to have been the first to offer this kind of coverage.

     The good news - if you spend 200, 300 even 12 hundred dollars for a nice rod, you can rest assured you will be in good hands and back on the water soon when you buy from one of these fine suppliers.