Broken rods :-/

[Desertangler]

To ease into the UL world I bought a couple of rods from Ali express. I got a 6’ 6” Kuying Teton light, which I intended to be my bigger river/bigger fish rod. I’ve been killing all winter catching stocker rainbows in the irrigation drains in town. I got a 5’ Kastking Zephyr to get a little more fun out of the fight on the 10 to 12 inch trout in town.

Fast forward to last weekend. I took all three of my sons fishing, two teens and a toddler. The older boys were having a good time fishing my rods, and the toddler wanted me to skip rocks for him. Well...one of the boys didn’t set the brake on the stroller, which ended up rolling down the hill and into the teenagers. Breaking both rods in the process.

On the upside, the older boys finally got hooked on fishing and are bugging me to get them waders so we can fish the San Juan for 20” trout. I consider a $150 in broken rods a small price to pay.

Now I’m back to the drawing board of figuring out which rods to buy to replace the broken ones. I think I may stick with AliExpress rod for a small rod, but invest a little more in the bigger stick. Thinking about a Major Craft Finetail in the 7 to 8 ft range.

Here’s a pic of the little guy who is so proud of his first fish.

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[slipperybob]

Nice awesome for the little guy.

Broken rods are just components for ice fishing rods.

[hoohoorjoo]

Welcome aboard! You do realize that in 10 years, you wouldn't take $150 thousand for those broken rods, right?

[Desertangler]

I wish I had video of the stroller rolling into the teenagers. It was hilarious. Teenage boys are dumb as rocks, but fun to be around.

[Knotty]

Great story. Having been a teenage boy (oh so many years ago) I can confirm the dumb as rocks statement.

Perhaps a Major Craft for yourself and some Ugly Stiks for the teens. Personally I’d go shorter than 7’ for bank fishing unless you don’t have a lot of dense brush like I do here in the east.

[Desertangler]

The larger rod is for rivers like the San Juan and Conejos where it’s wide open and holds big fish. On an impulse I bought a Tsurinoya Ajing Elf light, 8’. I want to be sure I like the style before I drop more money on a high end rod. Going to out an Daiwa BG 2000 on it. Can’t wait for it to get here and fish the Juan.

[Knotty]

The larger rod is for rivers like the San Juan and Conejos where it’s wide open and holds big fish. On an impulse I bought a Tsurinoya Ajing Elf light, 8’. I want to be sure I like the style before I drop more money on a high end rod. Going to out an Daiwa BG 2000 on it. Can’t wait for it to get here and fish the Juan.

Long rod definitely makes sense for your environment. Being able to try a type of rod affordably before committing to a higher end version is a great benefit of the CDM. I doubt I’d own some of the name brand rods I have if I hadn’t been able to test cheaper options first. The Tsurinoya Elf has always intrigued me but already have a enough ajing rods. Hopefully you’ll give us a report after you’ve fished it a bit.

[Desertangler]

This ul fishing trout magnets is effective! Caught two nice fish on the Kastking with the broken tip. By any account this is an epic day on the ditches in town.

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[ultralight]

NICE! Bring back memories with my boys. Great stuff!

Regarding broken rods, I've had rods where the tip broke and I cut off the blank until the first guide and like how it fish even better....