Broke a G Loomis Rod

I had a sad day on the water a few weeks ago and broke a NRX 853c at the first stripper guide on a small bass with a light hookset...I did manage to handline in the fish. The rod was 1 year old and lives in a rod sleeve when not in use. I had caught some nice fish on the rod this year and was surprised my light hookset would cause the break. I must have nicked it at some point, but it has been a fantastic rod for light texas rigs and dropshots. Breaking it has shaken my confidence significantly. I love the sensitivity of the rod, but I don't want to be dealing with broken rods very often and I don't feel like it has been abused for its short life.


I printed off the warranty form and sent the rod into G Gloomis and they have had it for about 2 weeks. I confirmed it arrived, and sent two emails to them. The first one was to the fly fishing department, so I sent another to cont US. I have not heard from them, so I gave them a call today and the wait time was 10min. I'm assuming they are swamped dealing with Covid, higher than usual fishing this summer, and inventory issues. I have never broken a rod, and wanted to hear if anyone has any experience with them this summer. I probably should have sent it via expeditor program, but it is already there. Here is the most recent thread I found when I searched from April and opinions seem to be all over the board. http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=1052254


I know a more sensitive blank is prone to breaking, but has this been an issue for anyone else? I'm trying to decide if I continue with the NRX, or look at another rod series for bottom contact baits. I love the NRX sensitivity, fast action, and light weight. I'm not a huge fan of the recoil guides with braid to leader, and I do prefer the GLX reel seat over the NRXs, but otherwise it is spot on for me.

I'll wait and see how Loomis handles this, but I may be looking elsewhere. My confidence is shaken. Thank You for any and all advice.

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Sorry to hear you had a failure. I know his rods are expensive so it’s a big deal to break one. Welcome to BBC, by the way. It’s a great place for fisherman, boaters, outdoorsmen of all types. Let me say, I’ve broken my fair share of rods over the years and still figure out new and creative ways to break the dang things and it’s no fun whenever it happens.
Story first just to let you know how how fragile these highly sensitive sticks can be. So I built this stick and let my buddy fish with it out of the back of my boat. He’s a beginner and gets hung a bunch. We were jig fishing and he pulls his hung jig loose and it comes back and hits the rod. I thought nothing of it but the next hang, he pulls on jig and breaks the rod. Da**it!!!! I had no idea why that rod broke until I read the following article. It’s from Gary Loomis and the mans prolly seen more broke rods than anyone around. Enlightening for a layman, for sure.

https://northforkcomposites.com/wp-c...ak_Article.pdf

Loomis rods are very durable. Rarely hear of any breaking

The only rod I have ever broke while using it was a Loomis. I've always used St. Croix rods but had to give the Loomis a try. I'll stick with St. Croix.

I have owned loomis rods for 35 or so years. never broken a rod and I own about 10 nrx rods now. only issue I ever had was the reel seat on one of the original nrx rods and they replaced that rod no questions.

I broke a 843c Conquest this summer, smacked it against a tree setting the hook way too hard. Bent 3 of the guidelines pretty badly. After 2 months of fishing her (was my main stick), she blew up. Called Shimano, got the xpeditor service. Called on a Sunday, $150 later and literally Monday afternoon the next day I had a new 843c Conquest. Only thing that was weird to me was that my replacement stick had a hybrid Conquest + NRX real seat. And the tip top is slightly crooked. But hey, it isn't a Loomis if the guidelines are all PERFECTLY aligned.

I'd also like to point out to people that Loomis recently changed their warranty. If you look at their main website right now, you will see a "REGISTER YOUR ROD" page. They are now including unique serial numbers and also a manufacture date with each rod. What I found very weird was that he xpeditor service was always marketed as a ONCE PER ROD'S LIFETIME service. They never followed this rule from my experiences as well as other anglers. And why would they? How would they know since our rods never had a serial number unique to each rod? Now that's changed.

HOWEVER, with this change, if you ctrl+f up and down the new xpeditor service program page, there is NO MENTION of the once per rod rule anymore. I think that's gone. I'm also assuming our rods without the new serial numbers will be grandfathered in and we'll have to register our replacements when we get the new ones if we do ever break our original non-serial number rods. No big deal. Though they did increase the xpeditor prices, for instance Conquest is now $175, up from $150.

But yeah, Loomis are really good with customer service. I had a 842s Conquest with a real seat that was becoming loose, was making creaking and cracking sounds when you torque the handle just a little. Sent the rod to Loomis, 2 weeks later I had a brand new one.

Makes sense that they would put serial numbers on rods now. I have broken an 873, it was my fault - used the Expeditor service and had no issues.

I’ve broken 2 NRX Rods as I like to step on them. Both replaced with expeditor service. Easy peasy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Landar

Loomis rods are very durable. Rarely hear of any breaking

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I've broke a few! Only one that wasn't my fault though! A new NRX I got on the Expedite program last summer. Right out of the tube, first hookset on a 12 incher and it was done! I believe they are by far the most durable of the high end rods. I'm pretty rough with mine, and failures are minimal.

I have read multiple threads on bbc where rod builders will say that it is some type of damage that causes the vast majority of broken rods (including the one posted above by man himself). The issue for me is, when does the damage take place? It could be when the rod is shipped to the retailer, at the store itself or, of course, by the fisherman himself.

My experience is that Loomis just has the best warranty coverage. I have never had an issue getting a replacement from them. That being said, they are more expensive than equivalent rods to cover that warranty cost. Megabass, on the other end, has the worst warranty of any of the top tier brands but their prices are lower IMO to reflect. Of course, Murhpy's law has prevailed for me and I have had the most MB rods break of any that I own!

xpeditor service is the way to go ....

and welcome to the board...

Great news: Shimano came through.
I got an automated email saying they are replacing the rod under warranty and have shipped out a new 853 at no charge. I'm thrilled about this, and hope that I don't have to deal with broken rods from hooksets again. I wish I would have got someone on the phone or a reply to me emails, but in the end, they are taking care of it.

Thanks Everyone!