Hello

 

Has anyone ever noticed a brand new rod changing feeling after fishing, and catching some fish on it.

I guess it could be called "breaking in". Would the carbon loosen up a little after repeatedly bending while casting, and reeling in fish?

After fishing my new Zodias 2020 rod three times, and catching about 40 fish, I noticed it loading up a little more easily than when I first started using it.

I have been fishing the exact same shaky head rig on it the whole time. I have never noticed this with any other new rod. Could the "X" wrap have something to do with it? Maybe I'm crazy.

 

Thx

Nope. Such a thing does not exist. A rod is either FINE or BROKE.

(Not impossible to have a Crack - which will quickly lead to BROKE).

 

The fisherman can "break-into" the rod though!

 

 

Karl

A rod should not "break in". It's not a pair of shoes or a football.

I would hope the carbon doesn't break in like a leather glove would. Sure would be tough on arrow companies.

2 hours ago, waymont said:

Maybe I'm crazy.

Never experienced a "break in" event with any rod.

 

It soon will be a moderate action. Try to catch less fish on it.

You're probably just getting used to it. Rods that I considered stiff before moving on to better stuff feel like noodles now.

10 hours ago, The Bassman said:

You're probably just getting used to it. Rods that I considered stiff before moving on to better stuff feel like noodles now.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. It definitely has a different feel than all my other rods. I have mostly G Loomis rods, with two Daiwa, and one St Croix. Now one Shimano.

It's a moving part that subjected to stress.  Like pretty much all parts that move, bend, and deform, I'm sure there's some kind of break-in.  I mean, a rod can warp, can't it?  If nothing else, that proves that it can change without being destroyed.  And there have been many studies done to measure the fatigue resistance of graphite materials, though I don't know of any done specifically on fishing rods nor the exact kinds of graphite used in them.  But the general picture they paint is that graphite materials can change over time.  

 

That being said, graphite is known to be fairly resistant to fatigue failure when compared to similar materials.  So I would expect any "break-in" to be extremely minimal.  Perhaps even below what you'd be able to detect without specialized equipment.  The more logical answer here is you getting used to it.  The more you use it, the more you'll learn about how to use it, and the more subconscious your efforts to correct for it become.  

 

Or it could actually be breaking-in, and you're just sensitive enough to these subtle changes to detect them whereas most people cannot.  

 

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised either way.  

The rod isn't broken in, you are.

2 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I would hope the carbon doesn't break in like a leather glove would. Sure would be tough on arrow companies.

There’s an old adage about carbon arrows: “they’re broke or straight”.  That’s not always 100% true. They can take a set. I would imagine a rod can as well. 

Never heard of that or have my rods feel differently in hand and many of them I’ve had for over 10 years.  It could be more about you becoming accustomed to the rod’s traits that you might have yet been keen on yet. 

They don't change action or power.  If they take a set it's because they were not stored properly.

First fish I land a frog on it I call it "broken in"

I have experienced this with all of my rods.  Seems like they become just a tad bit limber than brand new.  I like the way a broken in rod feels.  It just bends differnt that brand new and seems like the cork gets dirty and the  “feel gets better”.  It is a beautiful thing 

If you purchase 2 rods exactly the same rods, put away one rod and use the other for 10 years will they both feel the same? Of course not the used rod will change. Thousands of casts and flexing impacts the rods structure elements.

Tom

the problem is you are catching way too many fish on it. 

 

save some for the rest of us

 

Can't say I have ever hears that term for a fishing rod before, a least is the 20 years I have been bass fishing.

Fiberglass will break in for sure and this seems especially noticeable with fly rods. 

 

Can't say I've felt break in on graphite rods ... 

20 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I would hope the carbon doesn't break in like a leather glove would. Sure would be tough on arrow companies.

In all fairness, composite bats break in. You can have your composite bats "rolled" to break it in faster, in some leagues it's not allowed. 

3 minutes ago, FrankN209 said:

In all fairness, composite bats break in. You can have your composite bats "rolled" to break it in faster, in some leagues it's not allowed. 

That is a process that intentionally manipulates the material, I would hope catching a few fish wouldn't have an adverse affect on the material.

1 minute ago, jbsoonerfan said:

That is a process that intentionally manipulates the material, I would hope catching a few fish wouldn't have an adverse affect on the material.

But still, even if it wasn't rolled, the bat still breaks in.  A fish bending a rod manipulates the rod also and fighting bigger fish even more so. I'm not saying a composite rod needs or even breaks in, just throwing out some thoughts. 

9 minutes ago, FrankN209 said:

But still, even if it wasn't rolled, the bat still breaks in.  A fish bending a rod manipulates the rod also and fighting bigger fish even more so. I'm not saying a composite rod needs or even breaks in, just throwing out some thoughts. 

I hear you, I wouldn't think it would do so that fast though.

   If this rod has a coating like Flex-coat, I would think the coating may loosen up. That's about all, though, and I'm not sure that the coating loosening up is even detectable.    jj

15 hours ago, WRB said:

If you purchase 2 rods exactly the same rods, put away one rod and use the other for 10 years will they both feel the same? Of course not the used rod will change. Thousands of casts and flexing impacts the rods structure elements.

Tom

Exactly! A rod over time will not be the same