I need to fish bass tournaments! If you can afford to buy 12 G-Loomis rods from the winnings --NICE! We won the TSA state tournament last yr and my part of the winnings would ALMOST buy 1 Loomis--still a blast though wouldnt have traded it for anything....well maybe a new boat and 10G's

Wow ... I've never broken a rod while fishing in 33+ years.

I've broken them in many interesting ways ... car doors, dock pilings, garage door, run over accidentally in the driveway, stepped on, caught in bicycle spokes & snapped, car windows, truck tailgates, garage door, caught in anchor, kitchen door, closet door, garage door, wrapped into propeller, front door, low bridge, back door, garage door, tree branches, sliding glass door and other bad things including the garage door, but never actually in the course of fishing.

It's especially bad when they get caught in the garage door.

I am with Pie in all my years of fishing all of my breaks came to bruised rods and car doors. About 6 months ago I broke a Daiwa rod but I am sure it was bruised.

Those hook setting scenes crack me up when they say man this one is a big fish and they reel in a 3 pound fish on 80lb braid.

Poor drag and line selection if you ask me.

From what I've seen, the guys that break rods on hooksets are (1) Using heavy braid line (2) have the drag screwed down all the way (3) say "That's how the pros do it." Simple problem to fix,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Use the drag system on your reel & take care of your equipment. You will probably land more fish instead of breaking your rod, pulling the hook out or catching fish lips.

Mrbassin got it right from what Ive seen. The problems I've seen and had with braid popping is from drags locked down--I would suspect rod breaking might be the same.

Mr. Bassin is "Correctamundo" Jules Winnfield voice...

I have broke 3 this year, 2 kistler's and a allstar rod, I have a pretty hard hook set, you can actually hear the line whistle when I set the hook. The kistler's broke because I think there was something wrong with them to begin with and the loomis broke because I caught a very large dockfish. I dont think it has anything to do with being macho, I have tried a weaker hook set and in my experience seem to lose more fish, then stay with what I know. I like to think I take very good care of my equipment, 90% of the time, i put the reels inside of the protective covers so it they wont take a beating, I have lined the first 6 to 8 inches of my rod tubes with a small thin foam pad to keep them from banging around to bad.

If the reel drag is locked all the way and your using braided your going to snap something with a hard hookset. You don't have to set hard with braided line.

Man this does suprise me with the Loomis'. I thought they were pretty much indestuctable- I've got 2 7'6 loomis rods that have been through all kinds of wear and tear without any problems. I have a friend that will remain nameless that left one of his in a rocketlaunch on his t-top and slapped it against a bridge without a problem. The warranty with loomis is really good and I am glad cause if one of mine ever does break I will be sad---until I get a new one at least.

Fishing straight down in the center of those cedar trees at Squaw creek, and using braided line to horse the fish out of the tree. You have got to react fast and with a very hard hookset to get those hogs out. I've broken a couple rods down there on tournament days. Cast-away rods always replaced them no charge, no ? asked.
Mule

Allstars are the worst. I give the hookset a go when wormin, only broke allstars, twice. Never own another. I think its not so much necessary with the hooks & line we have now a days. But I still try to cross their eyes.

I viewed a fishing show on one of the outdoor channels and they were using jigging spoons for bass, I got a kick out of them swinging for the fences.

I can almost guarantee these rods that pop on the hook set have either been damaged unknowingly or have an internal defect in the graphite. My dad used to wrap rods when I was a kid. He'd order 10 or 20 blanks and I still remember him inspecting each one for little burls in the glass. He'd end up sending back 4 or 5 every time. I have taken old rods of mine, tied them to something solid, and let them have it, just to see what it would take to snap them. I have put the reels back on them and put them back into rotation. You can break them, but it takes a lot more effort than a hard hook set.

Once I set the hook so hard I broke 3 rods at once.

Should of took in consideration that you still have to keep your balance.

I have only had two rods break on me. One was when I was a kid & I don't know what kind it was. The other was last year & it was a Browning Crappie Rod.