I Really Love Mustad's New Hybrid Rods Until I Laid My Rods Down:(

This morning i had a puddle of salt water that was soaked-up by a box of ramen noodles. I had left my 3 Hybrid Rods by Mustad Rodworks Laying flat on the floor in the corner while i did a count of how many Medium rated rods i had. Then i noticed the damaged rod butt so i took them all outside to study. All the rods in question were Mustad's Hybrid Rods. I've been using these a lot because they're light weight with decent backbone.

It didn't take long to realize that my favorite new Rodwork Rods had a possible design defect. I recently got 2 more of these from Matt Swainbank, the Oregon National Sales Director for Mustad USA for a total of 3 Hybrids. One at 10'6" & 2 at 9'9". My analysis of what i found could be wrong but with all 3 rods leaching salt water all over & one rod butt about to "burst through" from badly saturated cork (never ever heard of that) it seems i may be correct.

This line was first released in Europe & i'm guessing no issues? I haven't seen or heard of any US anglers using these so not sure if this is a known issue. Has anyone else encountered similar issues?

If you already own one of these rods, like i do, this is how you should tackle this-
1) After rinsing your rod store it upside down overnight. The trapped water will drain out.
2) The butt cap is just cork. Drill a hole in the middle & leave it on newspaper overnight.

3) Replace the cork cap w/a rubber one & again drill a tiny hole in it.

Simple fixes but Mustad didn't want to answer any of my emails regarding this. They sold units to US based stores during this time period as well. They are nice rods so it's up to you if you want to either invest in one or if you already own one employ one of my "quick fixes". Up to you which one. It's still a good & useable fishing rod.

Be interested in what Mustad has to say.