Several years ago, at Hoodsport (and one time, at band camp), a guy next to me shattered a spinning rod on a chum. It was in three pieces. The chum was still on, so my buddy picked up the tip piece, I picked up the middle shard and the unlucky rod owner stayed on the handle fragment. We coordinated a pull and reel drill, interspersed with the fish taking line, and eventually landed the fish.

Wives; you've got to love them. I must have put my rods in the car and taken them out thousands of times. My wife has done this ONCE, she broke a favorite spinning rod of mine in the car door.

My sister. Years and years ago, she snuck a spinning rod out of the house. It had belonged to my grandfather, who introduced me to fishing. I never used it. I had it as a keepsake. She took it to a lake with a bunch of her friends. At the end of the day, she left it propped against the back of her car and ran over it when she was backing out of wherever she parked. It's been 30 years and I still get hot about that one.

Me? I broke two rods in the last three years, both in exactly the same fashion. Landing fish on a confined bank space. Trying to haul the fish just that last foot onto the shore and it starts flopping harder than it ever fought in the water. It's called an ignosecond - like that instant when you shut the car door and realize you just locked the keys inside - you realize that you've just put way too much bend and pressure on the rod and just the instant before you can ease up, the rod shatters.

Buy your Loomis rods at Auburn Sports and Marine and you will have no trouble with the exchange. You take it in, you get your replacement off the rack and if it's not in stock, they order it. They get my business for this specific reason, but believe me, I've made it worth their while.