You guys are really hurting me....went years without busting a rod, and in the last three years have broken a rod each year.....and, yes, I broke every one of them doing exactly what you've been talking about!! I guess it goes with the territory......fishing big fish on small rivers seems to be constantly putting me in precarious situations. A lot easier to be kind to a rod while fishing from a boat than it is while casting from a brushy bank under the trees, in one of those fast, deep water pockets where you know the fish is going to shoot straight down through the rapids below as soon as you set the hook.

Ah, well....it's a helluva lot of fun!!