Fishing Rod Maintenance and Safety – Top Ten Tips

• Do not exceed the recommend line rating or drag rating for your rod.
• Never ‘High Stick’ your rod – Over bending your rod when fighting or landing a fish is commonly referred to high sticking. Always maintain a maximum load angle of 45 – 60 degrees when fighting a fish and these parameters should never be exceeded.
• If your lure or rig becomes snagged always keep the rod pointed towards the snag and walk backwards keeping tension on the line. More than likely you will lose your tackle, but you cannot break your rod with this procedure.
• Like a diamond, carbon fibre rods are incredibly strong but can be brittle – Be careful not to drop or hit them on hard surfaces. It may also seem a bit obvious, but many expensive rods have been damaged by ceiling fans and car doors.
• Fishing rods are designed to evenly distribute the stress over the entire rod blank – Never place your hand high above the reel seat to assist the rod, as this will increase stress and cause the rod to break. Always maintain a maximum load angle of 45 – 60 degrees and never high stick it.
• Graphite carbon rods are excellent conductors of electricity – Never use a carbon fibre fishing rod during an electrical storm or near power lines.
• After using your fishing rod in a saltwater environment, always wash your rod well with fresh clean water as soon as you can and pay attention to the guide rings and reel seat. You can use apply light reel grease on the guide metal – but use it sparingly.
• Use caution when transporting your rod and always disassemble it and place the rod in the rod case during transport.
• Use caution when winding your line in and never pull the swivel through the guide tip as this will damage the guide ring.
• Check all guide rings for hair line cracks or chips – replace immediately if damaged