Never lost a rod, but was out fishing one day and saw a kid across the pond bobber fishing.  He left his rod on the bank with the bobber in the water.  Sure enough saw that thing start moving and straight into the water before he could get back to it.  He of course was pretty dejected.  Ran off home after that hanging his head.  So I keep fishing and about twenty minutes later I move around to the side he was fishing and start casting under a tree in the same corner.  I notice there is a bobber that keeps going up and down under the surface and moving around.  So I cast out and snag the line and pull it in.  On one end is about a 7 lb catfish that breaks the line when I pull it out of the water, and on the other end was the kid's fishing pole with a broken tip.  At least I was able to recover it for him.  Did commit my Iphone to Davy Jones Locker.....that was more expensive than any of my current rigs. 

I had it happen over the 4th of July weekend.  I was at my wife's sisters house that has a small pond behind it that is full of catfish, a couple big carp, and some decent bass.  I was fishing with my wife and 2 year old daughter for catfish with some nightcrawlers with a bobber.  We bought one of the little Barbie fishing poles for my daughter but she decided she had enough fishing for the time and went inside.  So I continued to fish with my wife, with her using her pole and me using my daughter's small pole.  My wife had caught a smaller catfish and was having trouble getting the hook out, and I was down the bank a bit from her.  So I tossed my line out and put the rod on the ground.  The last thing I thought of before I headed over to my wife was to prop the rod up behind a log I was sitting on in case a fish were to bite while I was away helping my wife, but I just left it on the bank for some reason.  Went to help my wife and on the way back to my pole I noticed my bobber was under so I ran over to get the pole, and, well, it was gone too.  I'm guessing that once the fish spits the hook or it rusts away the bobber will pop back up.  The pond is about 12' deep and I was fishing about 10' from the bank so  eventually we should see it and possibly retrieve it although it won't be in any sort of usable shape by then unfortunately.

Lost a Curado on a BPS Extreme rod before. Was driving down the lake about 70 mph. Hit a big wake. The rod strap velcro was no good and didn't hold, and the rod blew into the lake in about 40 feet of water. Sad, sad day. I was only about 17-18 at the time, so that was a very expensive setup for me at the time.

 

On another note, earlier this year, I was throwing crankbaits in front of the dam at a local lake. I managed to hook someone's rod and reel it in. Got kind of excited whenever I was reeling in and saw it was a rod. After pulling it out of the water, I realized it was a cheap Wal-Mart setup with a broken tip and the reel was pretty rusty. 

One time before I owned boats I took a girl fishing. I just bought a new reel for the rod like fifteen mins prior. I baited, casted out and turned around to help her. There went the rod, still had the receipt in my pocket.

 

Dropped a very expensive fly rod in a creek when I took a spill, got it back a week later broken, manufacturer replaced it.

Thats a pretty badass story. I have never been around white bass those fish are something else!!

 

Lost a setup a few years back in about 10 foot of water. Was able to fish it out. Luckily it somehow landed tip sticking straight up and I could just barely see the tip about 5 foot down. Have had many close calls. Luckily they dont sink that fast.

I have had a few instances.

 

Last year lost a Stradic ci4 2500 on a Pinnacle Perfecta Rod when I didn't strap it down good in a buddies boat.  Got to the lake and it wasn't there.  After fishing, drove the whole 1hr 45min home slowly looking roadside.  Somebody got a nice combo.

 

Couple years ago, I knocked a buddies Abu combo off the coleman 2 man.  Replaced it, and then a year later the pond levy broke.  We went out and retrieved it.  Rod was shot and so was the reel.  He sent it in to Abu to see about cleaning and repair, and for $20 they replaced it.  He ended up with a better rod and 2 reels.

 

Jeff

Have had to wade in after a rod taken by a wisker fish, glad that my blank was blue and had a swimbait rod in the car to snag the line.  Only thing I could see was the handle of my spinning rod.  Got it back and cleaned it up. Also had a bass rod slip out of my hands fishing in the ocean off a boat. Went to make an underhand cast and the rod slipped out of my hand.  Oops, picked up a different rod and just kept fishing although everyone that new me thought I was about to blow up and loose it.

Never lost one myself, but I did once kick my buddies Loomis/Daiwa combo off the front deck into the lake. Couldn't retrieve it - a costly mistake for me  I have pulled a couple combos from off the lake bottom over the years, but none have been anything worthwhile.

 

-T9

I was fishing for carp one time with my brother and dad (at a family friends cabin) and it was slow so we decided to do some pan fishing to pass some time and left the carp pole sitting on the dock (this was our first mistake). The the pole started to move so my dad stepped on it and the line immediately snapped. He decided to rig it back up and throw it back out set it down again and keep pan fishing (second mistake). A little later my mom called to see how it was going and my dad started to talk about what had happened earlier with the pole when suddenly the pole flew into the water like a bullet. It was my dads natural reaction to go after the pole and with his phone between his ear and shoulder and his panfish pole in hand. His phone and sunglasses flew in the water and he managed to save the sunglasses but the phone sunk to the bottom. We went on fishing and almost landed a nice carp(we would've had it but we didn't have a net and we tried to grab the line to get it in)

A couple weeks later we went back to do the same thing with more knowledge and we didn't set the poles down on the dock when fishing. We were doing alright but then my brother had to go to the bathroom. The friends cabin was locked and we just had permission to fish off his dock. Luckily the neighbor was out and we could use his and he starts telling this story of how he was on his dock when this boat went by and hooked something. They though it was something big and when they got it up to the boat it was a pole. The neighbor told them if they wanted it they could have it but they said no and gave it to the neighbor. It turns out that it was our pole that flew into the water. I think it is cool that they happened to catch it when the neighbor was outside because if he wasn't outside than they probably would've kept the pole and we would never have got the pole back. That is my story of a lost rod. We never recovered the cell phone though.

My dad lost a Shimano Calcutta last year in Lake Norman

 Was dough bait fishing for trout with my sons and the guy next to us has one of his rods jerked in the lake.  A while later my 10 year old gets a bite and reels in this guy's setup with the fish still on it.  Without saying "thank you" the fella takes the fish and says "well, that's my limit" and walks to his car.  Amazing!

Yep, lost two rods when I hit the wake of a big boat crossing in front of me. It was back when the hot rods of the day were Browning boron rods. Two combos in 100' of water at the bottom of Lake Powell.

That was a lot of money to me back then.

I am lucky, have not lost one yet.  Did have one stolen when I was a kid.  Left it leaning against the tree at the base of our dock one night, gone in the morning. Was my first baitcasting rig.

I had it happen over the 4th of July weekend. I was at my wife's sisters house that has a small pond behind it that is full of catfish, a couple big carp, and some decent bass. I was fishing with my wife and 2 year old daughter for catfish with some nightcrawlers with a bobber. We bought one of the little Barbie fishing poles for my daughter but she decided she had enough fishing for the time and went inside. So I continued to fish with my wife, with her using her pole and me using my daughter's small pole. My wife had caught a smaller catfish and was having trouble getting the hook out, and I was down the bank a bit from her. So I tossed my line out and put the rod on the ground. The last thing I thought of before I headed over to my wife was to prop the rod up behind a log I was sitting on in case a fish were to bite while I was away helping my wife, but I just left it on the bank for some reason. Went to help my wife and on the way back to my pole I noticed my bobber was under so I ran over to get the pole, and, well, it was gone too. I'm guessing that once the fish spits the hook or it rusts away the bobber will pop back up. The pond is about 12' deep and I was fishing about 10' from the bank so eventually we should see it and possibly retrieve it although it won't be in any sort of usable shape by then unfortunately.

I actually got my daughter's rod back tonight. I was dragging a jig near where it went in and up popped the bobber. Pulled the line in and out came the rod. It was all covered in slime and was pretty nasty. It cleaned up well though and still reels like it never happened. The LED lights in the handle don't light up anymore when you push the button though.

 Was dough bait fishing for trout with my sons and the guy next to us has one of his rods jerked in the lake.  A while later my 10 year old gets a bite and reels in this guy's setup with the fish still on it.  Without saying "thank you" the fella takes the fish and says "well, that's my limit" and walks to his car.  Amazing!

That's terrible, especially considering it was a child who caught their rig. Could've been one of those really cool moments if the guy had been the slightest bit thankful. I'm guessing your 10 year old handled it more maturely than the other guy did.

Had a Zebco 33 jerked into the lake by a carp. They were eating mulberries dropping into the lake so I put a couple on a small baitholder hook and flipped it out. Turned around to take a leak, heard a clunk, turned around to see the rod airborne. Wasn't worth enough to even try to recover it.

 

I've knocked a couple overboard but always been able to retrieve them.

Last summer a bass took my trick worm and I set the hook, this was a big fish and my canoe swung around, I was standing and lost my balance, the next thing I know my rod and reel are flying from my grip and over the side of the canoe. This is not a pond you want to be in the water, so I spent the next ten minutes trying to dredge it up with my anchor to no success. Terrible day, terrible story to tell, and I'll never know how big that fish was

Almost lost my St Croix LTB lew's combo earlier this year in a tournament. I was pitching a jig along a wall on the infamous Lake One fish Anna and as I was swinging the jig like I always do my rod flies out of my hand in 20 foot of water. I hit the deck as fast as humanly possible and by shoving my arm up to my shoulder into the water was able to grab the butt of the rod. Talk about relief lol   turns out I had not pushed the button to free the spool lol talk about feeling stupid   I did end up winning the tourney with ONE 5 pound largemouth. I guess the lake lives up to its name lol

 

         tight lines 

 

               Andrew

I lost a Pflueger combo over the side. I was in my yak pulling my older boy (21 yrs old) back to shore, he was in a float tube. I caught the end of his rod with the paddle and it was gone. The boy wasn't paying attention at all because he was cold so when I yelled at him to grab it, he just looked at me like, 'grab what?" Same day I dropped my Oakleys in the water. Then we went to another spot and the boy lost his other road fishing from a pier. It was early in the year and the water wasn't very warm so he didn't want to jump in. Well, his younger brother (19 yrs old) had seen enough and he jumped in and dove down 10 feet and got the rod and reel after 2 attempts. 

Left a small rod with a small shad in a makeshift rod holder on a dock and next thing I know the rod is missing!!

I lost a st croix premier in a move...no clue where it went

I still say my wife sold it lol

Somewhat shockingly, no I haven't lost a rod to the water depths.  Car keys, yes...as well as cameras, shoes (!), cigars, and of course plenty of terminal tackle.

The rods I did lose over the years were stolen from my garage....what kind of angler steals other angler's rods??  Oh well, there are knuckleheads in any sport/hobby I suppose.

Don't want to talk about it.  

Don't want to talk about it.  

 

I didn't think you'd be discussing that one . . . .

 

A-Jay

Almost had a catfish pull a rod into the lake one time.  I did a dumb thing and just laid the rod on the bank, but I got to it before it went in the water.