Fishing Gear Fails

[jgp12000]

Do you have a fishing story where your reel or rod failed while fishing?

Please share what gear broke & fish species/size was involved.If
human error was a factor add that too,maybe we can all learn what not to do

I hope to hear some tall fish tales!

[Brewcrafter]

I see this thread quickly outgrowing Benni's "Luck" thread.   
Best one I have demonstrates how tough our reels actually are.  Bone stock 113H, 1970's model, original brake lining type drags.  Hooked a 7' Mako on the troll, but he came unpinned and then my Rapala ended up buried in the dorsal fin.  Proceeded to get my #### handed to me.  Severely.  Did get the fish to the boat.  Afterwards (when upgrading the to a modern drag) you could see clear definition on the brass sleeve where it was hot and got "blued" when the drags got smoked. - john

[quang tran]

Early day when I start in fishing , I make lots of mistake . One of the worst on Mitchell reel is not lock the spool in complete to shaft so when fish bite spool turn free and fell in water

[oc1]

I had the same thing happen with my Mitchell 300 QT.  But there wasn't really a fish involved.  I was leaning over the rail of a pier trying to get a spadefish bait right up against the piling and the spool just fell into the water.

I tend to tear up more equipment on snags than fish.

[Gfish]

Early Spring 1989. Klamath Lake. My first baitcaster, a Shimano Bantam Black Mag. Was trying to figure-out how to cast it using a 3/8ths oz sliding sinker and a nightcrawler. I remember thinking "man this sucks, is this what guys call a backlash?, why do people like baitcasters?" Eventually I got it out there. Put the rig down but sticking-up in the rocks to use the outdoor bathroom. Yeah, a big trout bites, the rig falls over, I start cranking but the fish is keeps going with no pressure on it,...? What's wrong?
Turns-out the drag star hit a rock and bent inward. So every time I turned the handle, the star would loosen-up by smacking the side-plate. I lost the fish. Then my cast control cap fell off and into the water, gone!
 Put the Bantam away and went back to using a spinner.

[jgp12000]

Once me & my pal were fishing at his pond & had caught a basket full of bream & bass. He was in charge of the tying the  basket to the boat... got ready to leave,no basket The fish probably died    

[JasonGotaProblem]

Years ago I talked my wife into rearranging plans because weather was truly excellent for fishing that day and I wanted to get out. Well, I stopped for bait 45 minutes away from home on the way to a fishing spot almost an hour away. It was then that I discovered that I had left my wallet at home and didn't have any extra cash in the car. And because I was planning on fishing all live bait that day, I didn't have lures with me. Complete loss of a fishing day.

Once I drove all the way down to Sebastian inlet only to discover that I had left my tackle box at home, and the only tackle shop near by was closed. I had hooks, but the current was ripping and I had no lead. 

One time I put a new "experimental" aftermarket anti reverse ratchet and dogs in my 8500SS, and didn't realize how big an issue it was that the metal thickness was just a week tad thinner than stock. So when the shark hit with my rod in the holder and drag maybe a bit too tight, he pulled the AR out of alignment and the handle would barely turn. Thankfully he spit the hook pretty early, because I had to bring in well over 100yd by hand.

I'm sure I'll remember more.

[Bill B]

While getting my gear ready for a trip I was setting the drag on a Senator 112H.  With the reel clamped in a reel seat mounted on the bench vise, I gave the line a firm pull with the drag scale.  I heard/felt something give???  Reeled in the slack and the gears felt crunchy. Did it a couple more times with the same crunchy gears.  Tore it apart and saw the brass gears were shredded.  I was only pulling maybe 10# of drag.  It was a fairly new reel with not a lot of use.  I dug through the parts stash found a good set of steel gears and the reel made the trip.  Bill

[jgp12000]

I have also forgotten my tackle box,the bass were nailing it almost every cast. Me & cuz only had the 2 plastic worms that were tied on.Since then I have a telescopic rod combo & small plano in both vehicles.
I have a new cheapo reel in my truck still in the blister pack for emergencies  

[Midway Tommy]

About the only fishing mishap I ever had was on a fly-in on the northern Manitoba/Saskatchewan border. It was such a unique & special trip I decided to have fresh line put on my Cardinal 4 & 6 (no backing) by a tackle shop. First evening my dad & I head out with our guide for Lake Trout. I put a black & white Daredevil on my Cardinal 6, went to cast it out and the DA at the tackle shop spooled the line on bassakwards. I had to let all my line out and then reel it all in again before I could start fishing. He did the same thing to the Cardinal 4 so I had to fix that one, too, when we got back to camp. Seems pretty miniscule 40 years later but it sure seemed like a big dang deal back then.   

Went to MN (11hr drive) with a couple of guys with my dad's boat & motor (no trailer) in the back of my pickup. When we got to the boat ramp to unload the boat I backed down the ramp, jumped in the back to slide the boat out & into the lake. When it fell off the tail gate I lost my grip and it headed out into the lake. The wind was blowing out at a pretty good clip, it was mid Oct and the water was way too cold to swim and the lake was 4 miles across. I was pretty nervous about losing my dad's boat and motor and telling him what had happened. Fortunately there was cabin with a boat close by and the owner was home. He let us oar his boat out to rescue ours before it got too far out into the lake.      The rest of the trip went fine after that little fiasco.   

[akroper]

The most complete fail I've ever experienced was when I was seven years old.  My dad was career military and had been assigned to report to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage in December of 1958.  For an early Christmas present, my grandpa gave me my very own spinning rod and reel. I don't remember the brand of rod, but the reel was a J.C. Higgins.
I used that combo through the summer of 1959 on the local rainbows and dollies, and it went with me when Dad took me and my brother to Quartz Creek to do battle with the silver salmon which ran big and strong in the creek.  It was Labor Day weekend, and already cold enough that we had to periodically break ice out of the rod guides. 
Dad piggy backed me and my brother across the creek to a sandbar.  I eventually hooked up with a very large male silver.  I remember Dad holding me by my belt to keep me out of the creek.  At some point, I was no longer able to gain line on the fish, and Dad retrieved it hand over hand and brought it to the net. 
It was HUGE, and had completely stripped the gears in the reel.  When we opened up the reel, the main gear showed no sign of teeth.  The outer rim of the gear was sort of scalloped.
I wish I knew exactly what model rod and reel it was.  I'd replicate it as a first birthday gift for my 6 month old great grandson.  I can't wait to get him on the water and on some fish. 

[slosh]

I have so many, but I'll start with this one.
I was younger and even dumber than I am now. I had an 8ft sit on top kayak I regularly took beyond the breakers on the NC coast. On this trip the goal was to go out, catch a bluefish on a plug, then free line it for a king.
I had a brand new Abu 5500c5 mag x with abec 7 bearings, and of course I had it filled to the gills with 20lb power pro. It was on a 7ft bass rod. Had my gotcha plug on there with 2 ft of 30 lb fluoro leader. I had just passed the breakers when, no lie, I saw a tripletail resting on the surface. Went to cast to it but a big swell pushed me away, and it was gone. I paddled out a little longer, we'll beyond the length of the pier down the beach, and went to do a super ultra power cast and managed to slap a wave right by the kayak on the backswing. Worst birds nest I have ever seen. I tried to get it free, periodically stopping to right the kayak in the roughish water. Eventually I started getting seasick and had to paddle back in. Had to use my good friend Dexter Russell to get the reel functional again, except now I could dump the spool on a long cast.

No fish caught that trip.

[cbar45]

I was working the shore break in an area known for large bluefin trevally. Lure was a jumbo black-n-silver Yozuri Crystal Minnow being tossed by a brand new Fin-Nor Offshore 4500.

Took a massive strike, one of those where it seems the fish just keeps on rowing through the gears. Drag is singing and the next thing I know I'm being pulled into the rocks, bashing my knuckles as the reel locks up and snaps the 65lb braid.

Turns out the drag knob had bottomed out, spinning with the spool and tightening up as line was released. Fixed it by raising the drag stack using a keyed washer from a Penn 710-Z.

[oc1]

It's not every day you get to teach Fin Nor a thing or two about reel design.