# Going in to bat



## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

10 days ago, I used my new Berkley Drop-shot graphite rod for the first time, with prompt success[.
Sadly it was also short-lived as the original thread on a previous post reveals.

quote="Drewboy"]
"The Whiting I got on SP worms was one of many good hits I got, and with the focus on bagging good fish, I was optimistic that the dark cloud coming our way was just a wet one.(no lightning) 
I actually had the whiting in my hand with hook well down it's throat, when the deluge came.
Somewhat distracted by the fish, I pulled it closer to me to access the swallowed hook and "SNAP". There goes my new graphite rod. Not happy Jan.
I looked around.
The sea was fizzing with heavy wind-less rain, and through the drips coming off my cap, a whiting in one hand , and a busted Berkley Dropshot in the other."

I do a fair bit of buying at Got One (in Stepney, Adelaide) and the guys there are always helpful on tips and suggestions re tackle and technique,
The following Monday,I took the broken rod back to Got One where I'd bought it, to see what they could do about it.
They recommended I visit a rod repair expert. "Not repairable" he said.
"Why don't you try claiming for a warrantee replacement" was his follow-up.
So I went back to Got One, and with cap in hand, asked them to try that with the Berkley agent.

Today I went in to see how good Berkley were about the whole thing.
Out came Mozzie, the store owner who said that I was a very lucky bloke, and that often these things are rejected. However, my circumstance was one they had empathy with and so they supplied me with a replacement rod.
I was very elated.

It's good when the store you are a regular at, is visible in the support they give you when they go into bat for you.
Thanks Mozie and Damen and thank-you especially to John at SA Fishing Tackle Agency.


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## L3GACY (Sep 2, 2007)

Saweet. Now stop high sticking! :lol:


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## fishnfreak (Jun 22, 2007)

it can take a bit of getting used to, using graphite rods, i have been very lucky :lol:

Its good to have a tackle shop fight to get returns for their loyal customers


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## Slim (Mar 4, 2008)

I agree, it is nice to get a few little discounts here and there off them as well. Makes you feel good that as you are helping them they are helping you.


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## redman (Jun 5, 2008)

THats the beuty of Loomis Rods, if you break em $150 gets you a brand spanking new one


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

redman said:


> THats the beuty of Loomis Rods, if you break em $150 gets you a brand spanking new one


And it would want to.. $150 is way more than most of us would pay on a NEW rod, let alone to get a replacement on a broken one.

I took a Shimano Xcel Weapon rod back into my local tackleshop yesterday - with a busted reel seat (rod has only been used a couple of times). Waiting to see how the Shimano rep deals with my claim. Hopefully I'll have the same result as you did Drewboy


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## Rstanek (Nov 5, 2007)

redman said:


> THats the beuty of Loomis Rods, if you break em $150 gets you a brand spanking new one


Nitro do it for $60 per section, no questions asked.

The same thing happened to me with a brand spanking fly rod a few months ago. First outing, and an over-zealous foward cast coupled with a brass-eyed clouser meant my three piece rod became a 4 piece  . All better now though, I ended up getting it replaced with a newer, better rod for free!

Rowan.


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Those graphite rods seem to break just looking at them. Had my glass rods for years and they are still going strong. They are lighter but why exactly are we spending the money on them again? I don't notice any performance or catch rate difference between my graphite rod and my glass rods. I cant help but think we just being sucked into another gimmick (e.g. the latest pair of must have Italian shoes)


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## blaggon (Jan 14, 2008)

as legacy said, its known as high sticking !
often happens when a fish is at boat/yakside and suddenly takes a dive underneath the hull = :shock: 
i also use loomis rods & while very dear they are just brilliant to use and are a quality product that should last longer than i do :shock: , its also nice to know if the worst happens then it will be replaced for a few $
nice to see that Berkley decided to replace the rod. good outcome


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

I think from a yak theres quite often a chance of high sticking it - I know because Ive done it plenty of times. Theres also the chance of the fish darting right under the boat etc or as in this case just bending the tip closer to unhook a fish and crack there you go. I know some of you have heard this many times before but I cannot complain about the 3 Nitros i own.... Ive yet to break one but have messed up high sticking through one of the above reasons. So pretty happy aswell to pay the $60 to replace if I damage it - in any way !!!! Glad to hear you got a replacement though - the dropshots are a good rod at a great price... ;-)


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## AndyC (Feb 29, 2008)

Hi All,

I am always a little bemused whenever these questions of warranty claims come up.

If I pay money for a product, then I reckon I have a right to expect my purchase to be fit for whatever purpose it is designed and I expect it to be without manufacturing and material faults. If that item proves to be deficient in doing what it was designed to do, or because of some flaw in the manufacturing process, it fails, then I think the supplier has an obligation to make good the loss.

On the other hand, if I somehow mistreat the item, neglect it or suffer some accident in the course of using it (resulting in its being damaged) then I can't see any moral grounds for expecting the supplier or the manufacturer to carry the can for my 'loss'.

Why any manufacturer would overprice their products and then entertain absurd warranty obligations, has always been a mystery to me. If they can 'afford' to replace rods for free, no questions asked, then obviously their wares have to be overpriced to begin with. I like the idea of a supplier charging a reasonable cost for replacements.

I have heard of people breaking a perfectly good Sage over their knee, just to get a shiny new one. If this constitutes moral or decent conduct, then I have obvioulsy missed some critically important point along life's road. Just seems like dishonesty to me but its the inevitable outcome of such a stupid warranty arrangement.

Cheers All,

AndyC


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

kraley said:


> rawprawn said:
> 
> 
> > the latest pair of must have Italian shoes)
> ...


I was wondering when that would surface :lol:


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

gra said:


> rawprawn said:
> 
> 
> > I can't imagine trying to fish small plastics or small hardbodies on a glass rod of any sort. Maybe if I wasn't casting over and over a heavier rod would be fine, so bait fishing on glass is no problem.
> ...


Until recently glass is all I have ever used and most of my fishing is done flicking small HBs. I have never come home with a tired or sore arm from a days casting with a small glass rod. Until the introduction of these new materials I would imagine we all used glass rods for casting lures. Are we getting weaker or are we finding poor excuses for the new pair of shoes? ;-)

I also have a composite Shimono backbone. It's a great rod.


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## blaggon (Jan 14, 2008)

personally i get far more enjoyment from using a high modulus graphite rod,
i also own quite an array of older style rods.. ugly stiks etc. and they have done a lot of work over the years but after using one of my custom built or loomis rods etc then i go and pick up one of the glass rods it just feels all wrong  and while i can cast plenty good enough with a glass rod, the graphite rods make it so much easier with less effort required and to me they just feel right.
its not to say that i would catch more fish with a graphite rod but i do get more enjoyment from using them.
maybe its a bit like the golfers, you can still play with an old steel club but it is less effort and so much nicer with a lighter more responsive club..
then again maybe im gettin to be just too fussy in my old age :lol:


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

I just don't trust myself yet. I know I'm going to high stick in the thrill of battle. I don't want my first snapper to be in the net with my broken Nitro rod tip. So I'm being the rational engineering type for now, and sticking with composites. Light carbon rods with light but solid glass tips are my weapon of choice until I get much more use to handling fish in and around the yak. I have a Berkley Cherrywood 7' 2-4kg flick stick at the moment, which seems perfect, for less than $40. I may try to get a 4-6kg equivalent for Snapper. The trick is to NOT try a full carbon fibre rod so I have nothing to compare it to 8) .


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## flamingeden (May 23, 2008)

Ado i'm with you on that one.
personally i have broken two graphite rods within 3 fishing sessons.
used to fish alot from the rocks for breams and man where i fish it's rocky. i broke one while slipping and falling on the rod and the other one is from nasty movement in the care when it got stuck in some crack. both rod cost me 80 bucks, it hurt :?

since then i stuck my self with ugly sticks and i abuse them like nuts ( e.g. using the rod to pull snags just to see when my line will break or the rod will break ( line 4.5kg rod recommendation 2-4kg) and the the uglies hold up, thats why i love em and have over 10 different uglies. lol family all use uglies..

one thing i fine about the warrenty is that, the tackle store owner told me that breaking of the tip or the solid glass part at the tip (those with uglies will understand what i mean) is not part of the warrenty. i find that extreamly odd and if the fish happen to dart under your dingy or yak and breaks the tip its also not covered. at this point he said they would most likely wont replace my rod (bought it 1 week ago) but i told them to send it anyways and supprisingly i got a new one,so i guess thats a happy ending.

back to the graphite, i just start on sp and hb and one thing i notice immediately is that the uglies dont cast as long a distant as graphite, it maybe due to uglies flexible tips or just me and my crappy casting  but from using my previous graphite i do cast much further and with less effort and the weight is seriously noticeble.

so for me i think i'll go with cheap graphite rods since i know i'll prbably break em faster then i can wear em out. kmart has them tsumani graphite sticks in 1.8m, 2m and 2.1m for $59, wait for the the 25% sale and its $50 bucks so i was thinking about that, and ebay has the pelargic graphite for dirt cheap :twisted: less then $20 bucks i think with $6 delivery but the actually store that stocks them sells them for $130 less 40-50% discount at the moment so its around $70 with free shipping in Australia. i find that really odd. what do you guys think?

thats my lil brain cell

sonny


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Ado said:


> I just don't trust myself yet. I know I'm going to high stick in the thrill of battle. I don't want my first snapper to be in the net with my broken Nitro rod tip.


While this is true of many graphite rods, you have picked on the one brand that appears almost bulletproof in this regard. While I try not to tempt fate (ie a soft wrist whenever a fish is close), my nitro has responded well whenever a king has plunged. And I've not seen a snapper take off like a king close to the yak. One of the benefits of stumping up the extra dollars for these rods. Wish I could have said the same for the redington rod I had


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Ive got to agree with Peril - many a time have I high sticked the Nitros with no dramas - its not wise to - but i think they are bloody tough so I wouldnt be precious with them - use them as a hardy weapon of choice and haul some ass out of the deep !!!!


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## Joffa (Nov 8, 2007)

Im a huge fan of Nitro's! I have four of them now and cant fault them despite doing stupid things to them in the yak! (I am in no way affliated with Nitro rods!). They are a little more expensive than the local gear, but much less than the G Loomis et al! And there warranty policy is great! Check em out!


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Hi all
Most of my rods are Silstar, and I must admit, I have never had any problems whatsoever with them. I also have a G Loomis which is around 6ft and that is also a fantastic rod. I just found that with the Silstars, the rod tip is very forgiving and that's what you need when a fish is close to the kayak. I believe that rods in the 5'6" category are probably ideal for our purposes, as they are less prone to be bent into a dangerous angle. I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on a rod, when there are some fantastic rods out there that will do the same job, and if they break...oh well...just get another one :twisted: 
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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