[James Laraway]

Moving between Lochs on Orkney last night and somehow the tip of my rod snapped. Gutted. If anyone sees any well priced (under £125) #6 going new or second and please let me know

[Dave Robb]

Not sure if this is up your street, but John Norris have a few deals on just now including this 9ft #6 Guideline EX P5 for a very reasonable £75

https://www.johnnorris.co.uk/collections/fly-fishing-rods/products/guideline-exp5-fly-rods-1

Also a few of the Greys lineup is reduced across various sites.

If you can up your budget slightly you would get a GR70 which I’ve been told is a reasonable rod for the money, especially at the reduced prices.

Still, for £75 don’t think you can go wrong with first rod I mentioned unless others can suggest better for the money?

[James Laraway]

So, I called John Norris this morning to speak about the guideline exp5 vs their own branded rod. ( as they are about the same price). He said thier own branded rod is made by guideline but has a higher spec bank, so I took a punt. Expect a review next week as I’ll try it with my SLX’s

[James Laraway]

my new rod should arrive today so that means i'll be out with it on Thursday...…

in the meanwhile i was thinking - how can i do a repair job on my current rod as i don't want to throw it out.

I snapped about 7 inches or so from the tip...

so what i did was:
has an old carbon course fishing whip in the garage
took off the stop section
as it has a 'natural taper' I cut a tight fitting section matching the internal taper of the fly rod, added epoxy and slipped it inside,
I think it might just work as the 'overlap' is about 4 inches either side of the break ( on the inside of the fly rod blank

I'll let you know the result when i cast it on Thursday. Sure the action will probably mean its a #7 rather than a #6 but if it works....i'll keep you posted.

[Fred Hay]

re your repair - it should work but I would suggest that you will have to whip the end of the overlap to give it strength - otherwise it will just spilt as soon as any pressure is applied.

[James Laraway]

Hi Fred.

I did just that.

below is a picture of the repaired rod, and the 'donor' whip

Been out in the garden having a cast and it works ! Also did a 'pull' with the line attached to a fence to put a good bend it in - and its still in one piece !

Guess the acid test will be a days fishing with it...

[Fred Hay]

Difficult to see the whipping and repair in the photo (looks to be at the3rd ring from the top) but as long as you have whipped the cut donor end you should be OK
Good luck

PS: I have done this in the past and it's been successful although the rod flex is never quite the same …. but usable and serviceable

[James Laraway]

There is a reason I didn't zoom the picture,as  my whipping is not exactly astheticly pleasing 😅

I did fish with the repaired rid today with an slx intermediate . Due to the tip being ' more pokey' casts are slower to get going but with a little line out its works just fine ( even caught half a dozen fish on it). So it will be the spare rod for sunk line work I always have in the front of my tube, incase the fish go down)