Senator 10/0 vs. MONSTER RAY!!!!!! Beast of the Bay!

[Chris Gatorfan]

Well my friend Brad bought a Pristine 10/0 yesterday afternoon and we took her out to pop her cherry. Boy did we ever and then some.

We were all setup with bait tin the water by 8pm and the weight was on. Around 1am his line went slack 3 or 4 times so I told him to crank like crazy and what ever is doing it will be hooked up. Well he cranked in around 75 yards or so then hit a brick wall. No movement at all. Finall it broke of the bottom and started working us down the beach. In all after 3 bottom grabs we had been worked 150 yards down the beach. I had decided to put my gloves on to help him retrive line with a double hand pull and him cranking down. after about 100 or so yards I felt the line tense up in my hands, i let go and about 5 seconds later all we heard was ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZoom of the drag being ripped and whats this the handle flys out of Brads hand going in reverse. Oh know I thought the dog just broke. well I grab the line again to help for real this time and after 3 more runs the hook finally pulls free. I brought the real home to try and do a quick fix so we could get back on the water tonight but no way is that happening now. After Breaking her down everything was in perfect condition internally except for this. The Bridge shaft was busted clean into....WOW the forces of all muscle vs. Steel. Here are some pics.

Alan I think this deserves Pic of the month, just from General Purposes.

[Alto Mare]

Wow! amazing that it would snap as it did. From the looks of the drag stack in the back, I'm guessing that was your problem, those are the older thick washers. I bet most are glued to the metal washers and that's not good.

[ChileRelleno]

Dang'it Boy! Thats a powerful fish, sticky drag or no.
So it snapped the post where the pin was, and the anti-reverse failed?
Thats a knuckle buster.

Both my 9/0s came to me with the old asbestos(?) drags, and both had a couple fused to the drag washers.
First things to be checked & replaced.

Chris, can you try to get a better pic?
More direct light and using a Macro setting should yield good results.
Let us see the fracture.

[Shark Hunter]

Dang it! Chris!
What am I suppose to use for bait now!

[Chris Gatorfan]

I don't Know Daron, But I hope that we can get another go at it, Because I would Love to see just how big it was.

I was about 75-80 yards out when the hook Finally pulled. And oh yeah looking at the post i wrote, I forgort to say something.

WE HOOKED IT AT CHICKEN BONE BEACH - SOUND SIDE!!!!!!

[floating doc]

I don't Know Daron, But I hope that we can get another go at it, Because I would Love to see just how big it was.

I was about 75-80 yards out when the hook Finally pulled. And oh yeah looking at the post i wrote, I forgort to say something.

WE HOOKED IT AT CHICKEN BONE BEACH - SOUND SIDE!!!!!!

Wouldn't you know. If it had been hooked on Daron's big guns last week I would expect another ending!

[Alto Mare]

Still didn't get the full story of what happened , are those the parts you're showing on the bench the ones that came out of that reel? If so, that reel appears not to have been serviced prior to fishing it.

[floating doc]

It's good if the outside of the reel looks good, but you won't know what is going on inside until you get in there.

[Alto Mare]

If I was going for a trophy fish, I would make sure to get in there and give it a tune up, no matter how the reel looks on the outside. I would have loved to see what was it that won the tug a war, maybe next time.

[foakes]

Appears to be a combination of things all contributing to a "perfect storm" with the added factor of a large ray or shark on the other end.

One Theory:

Not serviced

Possible single dog failure due to soft brass sleeve, gummed up bridge, weak dog spring, fused together old school drag stack.

When the dog failed for whatever reason -- it likely caused the sleeve to spin backwards at high speed and possibly in a bent under pressure condition -- thus allowing the sleeve pin to act like a high speed saw to shear off the sleeve shaft. 

Lack of lubrication -- drag stack fused -- brass components distort enough to allow failure of dog.

Sometimes, there will even be a little rust on the part of the sleeve shaft where the keeper pin rests -- particularly on a reel that looks really good on the exterior -- but hasn't been serviced regularly after use in the salt.

Anyway, a good case for stainless components, greased CF drags with SS discs, and double SS dogging with good springs.

Probably 9 times out of 10 -- this reel would still perform OK -- except for the monster on the other end.

Sort of like buying a used car -- no matter what the previous owner or dealer sez -- get the vehicle completely checked out and serviced before you start to drive it -- particularly addressing the items a dealer or previous owner might not look at.  Only way to be sure.

Sure be nice to know if there is a Monster ray out there and how big it is...glad no one got hurt with a handle spinning backwards at high speed.

Best,

Fred

[Chris Gatorfan]

The reel was serviced when Brad got it. Nothing had been polished up but there was fresh grease and oil all in the right spots, not a lick of corrossion anywhere inside or out. The drags were all loose - not glued. The only thing i found odd about it other then the shaft was the inside of the main gear seemed to have tons of like baked on grease buildup like you see on the outside of cast iron pans. I think that may have been the culprit. Not allowing the drag to spin freely under pressure..

[Shark Hunter]

New Seven or 9 Carbon Fiber stack, SS Sleeve and double dogs, with a Keta Krank and that Big Ray would have felt The Ice!

[Chris Gatorfan]

Fred, to be the dog and spring are still in good shape. I even pulled my 12/0 apart to match up everything. Now the part you said about the pin acting like a saw is what i believe happens because once i got the pin free today and Pope's out the tip of the shaft therewas metal shaving everywhere.  I now think i solved what happened. I think because of all the pressure Brad was putting on the beast it caused the do frame to flex enough that the dog could not catch and that's when the big run came the busted the shaft.

And John the brake was very clean. I will save it and show you when you come over to fish next time.

[Alto Mare]

I don't believe the flexing would have caused the dog not to catch, I'm thinking the sleeve post above the pin gave up due to welded drags from heat buildup. I do believe that the sleeve lifted itself over the dog.
Having the drags tight all the way, without the sleeve pin the sleeve would easily work itself out. It is a good idea to toss the old drags during service and do as Shark Hunter mentioned above, you will need to wait for the cranks from Lee though, I believe he grabbed them all and it might be a while for us to get some .
As Fred mentioned above, I'm glad no one got hurt, you could have been headed to the ER.

[CapeFish]

What breaking strain line were you using?