Getting A Stuck Fishing Rod Apart

I was getting my fishing gear sorted and ready for the trip to Sedgefield when I came upon a BIG problem. Cynthia has a lovely 2 piece Shimano Exage rod, perfect for her to use as it is a light but extremely powerful 11ft rod. A few of the Struisbaai crackers know by now that once hooked they will simply not get away but will be steered away from rocks and reefs and safely landed. This versatile rod has also accounted for plenty of shad, galjoen, a few smooth hounds, spotted gully sharks and bronzies.

This rod absolutely has to go with on the trip, but the rod refused to be taken apart. The two sections were stuck, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get it to budge. I called Cyn over to help with no luck. I called my son to help but after a few minutes I realized he was going to break the rod in two so we decided to go to plan B.

Plan B became Plan C, D, E and F with the use of water, Q20, soap, liquid soap, dishwashing liquid and even gloves to assist in the grip, but the results stayed the same. A telephone call to friends and family still left us in the same situation - a stuck rod. Even my patience started to wear thin at this point and I was already eying another rod as a possible replacement, but Cyn refused to give up.

"When in doubt - use Google" she said and off she was to her computer, typing her search query and then starting to analyze the results. It is amazing what information pops up - most of them already tried by us - and a few new ones that included having 4 people pulling on the sections, heating the rod, cooling the rod, gently tapping the rod, vigorously shaking the rod etc etc etc. Some of the ideas seemed plausible, some downright stupid.

At this point I could see myself carting the rod to a few experts here in Struisbaai the next morning, and with better things to do this late at night than struggling with a stubborn rod, I started to get impatient. Luckily a telephone call from my buddy saved the day. I had to leave and go and fetch my sinkers I needed to fish the Garden Route from him at the harbour.

As I walked back into the house 30 minutes later I saw an interesting sight. The stubborn rod was lying on the table with packets of frozen peas, carrots and chips packed around the joint. I was quickly told by my smiling wife to leave it for another 10 minutes. According to her she found the solution. An article by NeilG (one of our members) gave her a plausible solution and she was adamant to try it.

Once I removed the frozen veggies I immediately saw the simplicity and brilliance of this plan. As we used to say in the days of war - "The army is held together by masking tape" - and here I saw some Bic pens taped to the two sections close to the joint with nothing other than masking tape! The idea is that this will provide a decent grip on the slippery rod lengths and enable one person (not 2 or 4 people) to gently twist and pull the 2 sections apart. Before Cyn could get to the rod I had the "grips" in my hands, gently twisted and VOILA!!! The rod slid apart easily.... The frozen packing must have assisted as well, but this was a simple yet extremely effective solution to a very frustrating situation.

Of course, I am still trying to come to grips with the fact that my wife seems to be a perfectionistic lady that never ever gives up, and usually finds solutions to problems long after I have given up, but I am sure that one day I will make peace with this.

Here is the article by Neil G on this problem:

Needed:
8 pieces of wood 1cmx1cmx10cm-15cm
A roll of masking tape

Put masking tape around rod (just next to joint), about 4 turns - DON'T TEAR IT OFF, now put one piece of wood and tape that in place and continue till all 4 are around the 1 side of the joint

Do exactly the same on the other side. Now twist and turn. Problem solved

Tip shown to me by Chad Alcock

It is strong enough, put it this way, we did it to separate the 2 pieces of my shimano jigging rod - SHE WAS SERIOUSLY STUCK a rough drawing to explain

The tape just keeps the wooden pieces in place and the wood gives you something to hold onto.

WORKS LIKE A CHARM

Cyn also found the following tip - after you have cleaned the section ends let them air-dry and the put a little Mister Min or candle wax on the male section before putting the two pieces back together again.