Modern fishing rods are made with an ultra-lightweight and flexible material such as graphite, fiberglass, and iridium.
While the characteristics of these materials allow an angler to catch bigger fish with minimal effort, they make the rod vulnerable to cracks and scratches.
How to Repair a Fishing Rod – The Basics
This post is intended to teach you how to repair a fishing rod at home.
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Things You Need to Repair a Broken Fishing Rod
- Rod Tip Repair Kit
- Plier
- Lighter
- High-Performance Glue
- Wood Filler
- Polymer Wrap Tape
- Heat Shrink Tubing
- Heat Gun
- Chisel
- Desk
How to Repair Broken Fishing Rod Tip
It is not uncommon for anglers to break the guide tip of their fishing rod due to snapping the handle too hard. Fishers do not like to let a game fish get away from the hook.
Retrieval of a game fish with a low power fishing line can be quite a challenging task. Such scenarios often lead to a broken tip. If you have a perfectly intact fishing rod with a broken tip, follow the instructions given below.
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How to Repair a Fishing Rod Step 1:
Before you take your first step in fixing a broken guide tip of a fishing rod, have all the equipment mentioned above ready. Place the fishing rod on a flat surface like a desk or a table.
Step 2:
Begin heating the tip with a lighter. Heat for about 10-15 seconds and then pull out the broken tip with a plier. Let the rod cool down.
Step 3:
Next, you need to replace the broken guide tip with a new tip from the rod tip repair kit. Most kits come with 3-4 guide tips with different sizes to choose from. Pick the right size and place it on the tip of the rod to see if it fits alright.
Step 4:
Next, take off the new guide tip and apply some glue on the tip of the rod. Insert the new guide tip back into the tip of the rod. To solidify the bond, you can apply some heat with the lighter.
How to Repair a Fishing Rod Step 5:
Let the rod tip cool down for a few hours. Later you can take the rod out in the water and use it as usual. Lastly, if the guide tip is misaligned with other guides, you can always apply some heat with the lighter and reset it.
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How to Repair Broken Fishing Rod Handle
There are several ways to repair a broken fishing rod handle. Assuming you have a cork rod handle, I recommend going for a wood filler as it would permanently fix the rod handle. Below I have discussed other more straightforward ways to fix the fishing rod handle.
How to Repair a Fishing Rod Method 1:
A wood filler is a block of cork wood that needs to be cut and chiseled to give the shape of your fishing rod handle.
Needless to say, you will need decent carpentry skills to pull this off. Once you shape up the wood filler, remove the broken rod handle and replace it with the new one. Use a high-performance glue to affix it to the graphite rod.
Method 2:
If you don’t have the required carpentry skills or are not interested in putting in the time, you can replace the broken rod handle with a polymer wrap tape. First, remove the broken rod with a plier.
Take the polymer wrap tape and begin winding it over the vacant space below the reel. The polymer wrap tape should last for a few months. And then you might need to repair it again. This method is quick and easy but is not foolproof.
How to Repair a Fishing Rod Method 3:
If you are looking for a method of fixing a broken fishing rod handle that is even simpler than the one discussed above, get a couple of heat shrink tubes and a heat gun.
Pick the right-size of a heat shrink tube, slide it over the broken handle, and heat up the surface with a heat gun. For more comfort and assurance, you can use multiple layers of heat shrink tubes.
How to Repair a Fishing Rod Summary
The guide tip and the handle are separate components of a fishing rod. Replacing them won’t affect the performance of a fishing rod. However, if the rod gets snapped in two pieces, you might need to compromise on the weight. A slice can add excess weight.
If the slice happens to be in the core of the rod, there is a good chance that the rod will break again. In this case, I would suggest gifting the fixed-up rod to a newbie angler and purchasing a new one for yourself.
If you’ve liked this guide, then you may also like to read our guide on stringing a fishing rod.