Pier Fishing in California

Resources :: Tackle Tips

Tip Replacement

Where, when, why, and how!

If you have a groove in your rod tip, the ceramic ring has popped out and is nowhere to be found, or you shut the car door on it again and have broken the tip and part of the rod off, read on. While your first thought may be to throw a tantrum and use all those extra words that your mother said were not nice, here’s what you can do constructively to save the day.

Two things that must first be determined are, is the rod blank solid or hollow, and what type of adhesive was used to adhere the tip to the rod.

You have two choices:

  1. You can heat the rod tip while pulling it to loosen and remove it, (this is best done with two people), or
  2. You can carefully cut the tip vertically to remove it from the rod.

Solid blanks can’t be heated because the amount of heat needed to soften the glue to remove the tip will also probably melt the blank. Heating will work on hollow blanks if the tip is held on with the older style heat sensitive glues. It won’t take much heat to remove the tip, but if it was put on with epoxy you must use caution because, again, the heat required to soften epoxy is very close to the the melt down point of most blanks.

On a hollow blank, hold a candle beneath the tip and rotate the rod and tip. If the glue is of the heat sensitive type it will soften in just a few seconds. Pull the tip at the same time as heating it and it will pop off. If it doesn’t pop off quickly, you have epoxy and its time for a very delicate use of a propane torch or a run to your local rod repair shop to have them do it.

To cut the tip off of solid blanks, or hollow blanks that have epoxy holding the tip on, use the carbide wheel in a Dremel tool. Cut lengthwise slits in the tip. After two or three slits, you should be able to peel off the tip, (like a banana) without hurting the blank.

To replace the tip, take your rod or tip section to the shop where you will be purchasing the new tip. This is important. You want a new tip that slides on easily without a lot of looseness. Install the new tip using Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy. Be sure the tip is properly aligned with the rest of the guides. Epoxy holds the tip firmly in the proper position, and although tougher, allows removal the next time it is damaged.

If you have succeeded not only in smashing the tip, but breaking the rod tip off, all is still not lost. Toss the broken part. The tip is usually, too small in diameter to fit the rod now. Cut the new tip end squarely, and fit a new tip to your new end. In some cases, depending on how much has been broken off, the first guide may have to be removed and repositioned. While you are probably capable of doing this, the cost of the materials needed to do this, will usually exceed the cost of having it done.

This Tackle Tip offered Ron Crandall of Ron’s Reel Repair