Onfish,

Glad to hear it came loose. You might tuck this trick in your hat in case of a next time. Have your buddy help out. Holding the rod between the two of you, you grab the rod on his side of the ferrule, and he grabs the rod on your side of the ferrule. Now, you place your other hand on the rod between yourself and your buddy's hand, and he does the same on his side of the ferrule. The scene should appear thus: The order of hands on the rod, going from you toward your buddy are 1) your right hand, 2) your buddy's left hand, 3) your left hand, 4) your buddy's right hand. Hope that explanation is clear (?). Now pull the rod sections apart.

This technique works. I've pulled metal ferrules that were installed with very high powered adhesives right off a bamboo rod when the ferrule stuck. By placing hands in the order described, the rod remains straight - critical to avoiding breakage - and the force of pull is most effective.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.