Tape or No Tape?

[kimosabe]

Hi all, new to the forum.

How many of you guys use tape on the ferrules? thanks

True or False?

"Whenever you fish a spey rod, you should “tape your joints.” Use high-quality electrical tape and lay a strip down one side of the blank, over the ferrule point, then down the other, then wrap the tape in a circular pattern up over your existing tape. Do this for every joint. The ferrule that loosens is the ferrule that explodes"

[hawkeye]

I don't, but if you don't make sure to check the fit of your ferrules regularly.

[Steve Buckner]

I'm a big advocate for taping them. Unfortunately I've witnessed folks break their rods by not taping them. An alternative to taping is waxing the ferrules, but the wax also tends to collect sand/grit over time and scratches the hell out of the rod. With all of the twisting motions required in a spey cast, those multi-piece rods can come apart at any time.

[Salmo_g]

I don't tape, except when taking casting lessons from Buckner. He's right, tho. I broke the second section female ferrule on a 4 piece Spey rod that had loosened while I was fishing. I do pay pretty close attention to my rod ferrules while fishing now, however.

Sg

[James Mello]

I don't tape, except when taking casting lessons from Buckner. He's right, tho. I broke the second section female ferrule on a 4 piece Spey rod that had loosened while I was fishing. I do pay pretty close attention to my rod ferrules while fishing now, however.

Sg

I think it was mostly because you were fishing with the new CND "Glass" series more than anything else! ;)

[TallFlyGuy]

Tape or no tape. It's like condom or no condom ;-)

Personal Preferance.

[bigtj]

I agree it's personal preference, you're going to have to figure out what works for you. Be aware that using tape does not guarantee unbroken ferrules. Some times the ferrules can work loose under the tape, and with the tape on there, you can't tell if the ferrule is coming loose or not. The only ferrule I ever cracked was on a rod that was taped. The tape had evidently loosened after being on the rod for a few days and I didn't notice it coming loose.

Personally I never tape my rods any more. Just a little wax and an occasional visual check on the ferrules is all I need. Over the years I've learned to apply a minimal amount of power in my casting and as a consequence my ferrules hardly ever work loose.

Going without tape saves me a big hassle at the end of the day when I break down my 4-piece rods and don't have to take all that tape off, and it gets me on the river more quickly in the morning because I don't have to tape up.

One more thing....for my buddies that do tape, there is a hockey tape that apparently out-performs electrical tape. I was never very happy with electrical tape, it tends to lose its grip quickly.

[Jason B]

I feel like anyone who breaks their spey rod casting is casting WAY too hard. I go slow and precise and can throw enough line that it is never a problem. The spey casting I do feels downright gentle on the rod. I have the Classic SAGE 9140-3 though and they are serious workhorse rods that seem to last. The newer lighter speys may be more prone to breakage.

[FLGator]

I've done both...

Over the last year I've decided I feel more comfortable taped. Why not. It's cheap insurance, costs me an extra two minutes while rigging up on the first day and gives me peace of mind on the water. Still, I find myself checking my rod throughout the day and on occasion finding sections either a little twisted or loose.

I have broken one rod (sorry Fred!) because of a loose ferrule. It was a rod that was handed to me, untaped, that we were demo casting for distance with a long belly line. The only reason it broke was because I didn't check the connections before I cast the rod. I should have known better, period.

So, I feel better on the water fishing and enjoying my day with my rods taped. One less thing to focus on while I'm fishing.

[SSPey]

if you fish short lines w/o taping, and don't break rods, then you are attentive

if you fish longbellies w/o taping, and don't break rods, then you might be a little over attentive, distracted from fishing

I broke a Sage 9140-3 that wasn't taped, fishing a longbelly Cortland 11/12 double taper. 7 years later I've always seated the ferrule as hard as I could and then taped, no problems, no distractions from fishing

[Davy]

No tape, but I check regular and have almost paid for it a time or two when I didn't.

[kimosabe]

appreciate your thoughts on this. this is supposed to be fun:) taping seems to be a "chore" streamside.

[Steve Buckner]

You should be able to tape 4 piece rod in a minute or two. It goes really fast if you haven't put your reel on, you can just spin the rod in one hand and hold the tape in another. I also tend to reuse the tape for a few outtings.

One quick story along this line - I remember one guy who came up to alaska with one rod, his two-hander. I asked him if he liked to tape - he said no. On his second day of the trip, his ferrules came loose and he broke the rod. He had 4 more days at the lodge. 2 minutes of his time taping would have saved his ass.
appreciate your thoughts on this. this is supposed to be fun:) taping seems to be a "chore" streamside.

[Red Shed]

this is supposed to be fun taping seems to be a "chore" streamside.


It is not near the chore that sending a broken rod in for repair is.

All I can tell you is that there are a great many very good spey casters visiting my shop with the rods set up on the hood. I would say 95% of those rods are taped. Some of these guys spey cast for a living and they have the best tackle available. The fact that they believe in taping tells me all I need to know about the subject.

[Brent Comer]

I think the advent of the magnetic rod holders has made it easier to tape up and leave it taped for subsequent stops. Currently, I don't tape my rod. However, as Steve put it, I am very attentive.

[pescador do mosca]

I have had the "lucky" misfortune of having sections fly off of my rod before and luckily not breaking. I tape all my two handers now. I just wrap a piece around the rod and leave it there.

I have also had the ferrules loosen in the tape but never fly off also.
The previous mention about using too much power may have merit in my case though, as my ferrules seemed to loosen the most when I first started using my speyrods.

[tweedside]

I tape rods - and the reel lockdown. Both for the reason that I have had accidents by not taping.
Another factor no-one seems to have picked up on is that if you put everything together and tape all joints and the air later becomes much colder, the joints will losen up - and the tape likewise. This does need watching.
Tweedside

[kimosabe]

I will heed the advise of the all the saged ones on this forum:)
Thanks!!!!

It is not near the chore that sending a broken rod in for repair is.

All I can tell you is that there are a great many very good spey casters visiting my shop with the rods set up on the hood. I would say 95% of those rods are taped. Some of these guys spey cast for a living and they have the best tackle available. The fact that they believe in taping tells me all I need to know about the subject.

[TallFlyGuy]

Like I said earlier. Tape or no Tape- Condom or No Condom..

Great risks if you don't use :rofl:

[fredaevans]

I think the advent of the magnetic rod holders has made it easier to tape up and leave it taped for subsequent stops. Currently, I don't tape my rod. However, as Steve put it, I am very attentive.

Even though I rarely tape my joints I'm frequently checking the 'connections' to assure they're snug. It's the type of cast that really counts here as to 'stay put,' loosen up. The more dynamic your casting style (or the casts themselves) will have a heck of an impact on what the rod will do/not do. If you're used to a rod's action you'll usually know if a ferrell (sp?) has slipped a bit.

All that said, tape or no tape, you DO need to check the connections frequently; the bloody things will still loosen up on you. (Side bar: in the opening post 'the how' was described; that is the correct way to do a taping job.)

End game for me (with a major exception - rods at 15' or longer) is taping gives you a false sense of security.

Fred

[inland]

The rods are affected by the temps. Waxing sucks for this purpose. Too many times has it been a prayer to get the sections apart after they have baked in the sun for a few days. The wax acts like a glue. However waxed joints to tend to stay together far better. Just didn't like that they tend to stay that way. Plus the grit.

Watch the sections- they will start to rotate as they loosen. This is where the tape helps because it keeps the rod sections together well enough to where they are less likely to break. Takes but a second to reset them.

I have broken too many rods to count. Since I went BACK to taping none of the breaks have been because of loose ferrules.

William

[Sloan Craven]

I echo everyone else. Taping rods doesn't take long and it should be and easy way to keep the ferrules from breaking.

[Hal Eckert]

When I am using sink tips (T-14) I tape, when floating line only I may not tape, but I religiously check my ferrule alignments. Broke one spey rod when not taping, not sure though if the non taping was the reason for the break.

With the Snowbee - Torridge no taping with their ferrule system is not needed per my experience to date.

:beer2: :beer1:

BG

[Wayne Kohan]

I've been reading this with interest, and I've seen the discussion on other spey boards. I have a question though. What exactly breaks? I'm assuming the fenale ferrule is what cracks, but does wrapping the female end higher while building a spey rod decrease the risk of breakage? I'm assuming the rod doesn't break in the middle as the torque on the rod away from the ferrules would be the same whether the ferrules were well seated or not.

Wayne

[Big Tuna]

What kind of tape to y'all use? I've heard electrician's tape, but is there anything else?

[SSPey]

I have broken too many rods to count. Since I went BACK to taping none of the breaks have been because of loose ferrules.


yeah, but isn't it just awesome when one explodes during casting?

ka-POW!! :eek:

You must be casting WAY too hard ;)

[inland]

Steve,

Never had one ker-pak-ki while casting. A few that had known design problems. A couple from dicey landings in tough places where I 'J' hooked the tip and couldn't get the leader free quick enough- those did let loose some nice splinters. Most of them from being nicked (nasty diggers on the bank rocks, hooks, etc) where they just give with minimal sound. Plus plenty that weren't taped and the ferrules cracked. Hence why I decided taking 30 seconds to tape isn't so bad.

William

[speyghillie]

On the Spey all the rods are taped, for a couple of reasons, most of the guests are fishing for the week, and the rods are carried on rod carriers on the cars to each part of the river and are stored away still taped together .(saves the Ghillie doing the job ever day).
Big Tuna, most use electrical tape, but you can get self emalgamating tape that will not stick to the sections of rod, but its a bit of a bugger to get off as it gets really tight.
Harry at Clan Rods has done loads of repairs on rods that have not been taped together some broken beyond repair, it only takes a minute and while taping it gives you a little chance to decided where to start on the river.
Gordon.:cool:

[Hal Eckert]

Here is my broken St Croix 13 foot 7/8 wgt spey thats the first ferrule fitting on the rod, sounded like a rifle shot on my second or third cast that summer morining when my fly hung on something, I gave it a slight pull to dislodge or set the hook, and CRACK it went for a second I was not sure what happened then saw my rod in two pieces. Back to the car for the single hander that day.

I use electrical tape and some wax on the ferrule connections now when using sink tips, and still check through out the day the alignment of them. They can loosen under the tape if you are doing some heavy tip lifting and throwing big stuff. Note there is an electrical tape for under 32 degrees freezing too for you real winter steelheaders like us out here in the GLs. Nit sure if it is any better though.

:beer2: :beer1:

BG


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