[bolioboy]

ok, first off, i am not only a new member, but i am new to fly fishing. After teaching myself how to flyfish on a post-college roadtrip to california this summer i decided to get serious and buy some real gear. I selected for my first rod a Sage FLI 9' #6 rod. but i had to wait a week for my local shop to order it. so the big day comes i get the new rod and take it home. the next morning i take it out to look it over good and i find the the second ferrule (sp?) down from the tip has a crack in the glue. the ferrule has come away a little bit and had a semi-sharp edge. i worry this is a defect and can also ruin my expensive new floating line. so i immediatly email sage and send some pics and they tell me to return it to my fly shop and they would immediatly send me a replacement free of charge, of course. so i get the new rod, and myself and the dealer look the rod over from tip to toe right out of the case. we both carefully inspect the ferrule glue for any cracking or issues like the last one had. nothing, totally perfect, and everything is all good. so the next weekend we have a fly-club outing and its my first chance to try my new rod. I caught two tiny and i mean tiny perch, maybe 3-5 ounces each. thats it. so the other day i get my new rod out for the second time, showing it to a friend of mine and low and behold, i have a crack in the ferrule glue on the second one down from the tip, again, its pulled away from the rod slightly and is semi-sharp. So whats up? is this normal? its a fast action rod so maybe that's to be expected, you know, maybe the glue is a little bit more brittle and cant handle all of the defleciton in the rod at the tip? if this is normal than cool, i wont worry about it. but if not what can i expect? ruined floating line, bad ferrule, possibly a weak spot in the rod? and the reason i mentioned the two perch is because i figure if i caught a fish of significant size and held my rod striaght up i could have caused it, but to my knowledge i didnt, and those were tiny baby fish. if anyone has any ideas on stuff i could have done wrong please let me know. but come-on, this is my first real rod, i am babying the thing. i guess i should mention that other than this potentialy rod/line ruining annoyance, i absolutly love the feel and action of this rod. and i would love to get 3-4 more fli's if this whole thing is a none issue. thanks for the help fellas!

[BigCliff]

Welcome to the group! I guess my profs we're bigger on paragraphs than yours.

I'm guessing that one of two things caused the problem:
1- Both rods were from the same production run and had the same problem that caused the problem. Could have been faulty blank, epoxy (glue), or assembly, or even a combination of two of those.

2- The ferrule could be loosening slightly at that joint. If this isn't noticed, and you continue to cast the rod, ferrule damage is MUCH more likley. This is how most incidences of ferrule damage occur.

Either way, I would still send the second rod back for a replacement. A cracked ferrule may not render a rod useless, but it greatly increases the chances that you'll snap the rod on the final false cast before delivering a tightly looped cast to a 22" fish on the far bank, and find yourself physically unable to cuss loud enough.

Once the new rod arrives, treat the ferrules with about as much trust as a pathological liar deserves. For the first 10 outings with it, check the ferrules very frequently to make sure they are staying snugly joined. (I'm saying this based on your recent track record, not because Sage sux at making ferrules) I'd also suggest assembling the ferrules with a quarter twist, and use an amount of pressure equal to a firm handshake when doing so. Applying either too much or too little pressure increases the chances of problems.

I apologize for what may sound like an insulting tone, but I'm just trying to give the best advice for your situation.

[FrankB2]

Ditto what Cliff said....Plus.... I bought the same rod about one month ago,
and noticed that the ferrules loosened very easily. I consider myself to be
a fully competent ferrule-fitter, but the FLi's ferrules needed attention every
6-8 casts. My other rods (St. Croix and Diamondback) stay together all day
once the 1/4 turn method is applied.

I was speaking with a local rod builder a couple months ago, and he was discussing a batch of blanks that he was testing. He said that these particular
blanks are cured with a dose of intense UV light, and that results in a very
slick surface. The slick surface doesn't help hold the rod sections together,
according to this builder (Jack Mickievicz from Douglasville, PA). Jack said
that ideally you want to hear a squeek when the ferrules are joined. I got
some water on a ferrule section when putting a rod together last week. It
squeeked, and was almost impossible to get apart !

I hope Sage isn't charging you each time these rods are returned !

[Fly2Fish]

Have you all considered ferrule lube plus using a short length of latex surgical tubing to pull over the ferrule joints? Like taping the ferrule joints, the latex tubing will keep the ferrules from loosening, but it's a lot easier to deal with than having to re-tape the joints each time. With the tubing, you just roll it up onto one section when you take the rod apart.

[HuronRiverDan]

My first thought on your problem is a bad batch of glue...Someone at the plant wasn't paying attention to their job. I would be sending that rod back as you did the first; along with a strongly worded letter about your disappointment in their product. If your replacement rod also has the same problem, I would be looking at another brand...My $0.02 worth, good luck...

Dan