How to Fix Your Fly Fishing Gear - Rods | Lines | Waders

If you want to find success with fly fishing, you will need to rely on your equipment and gear heavily. A good fisherman knows that the gear is all-important. But from time to time, there will be the occasional problem where something goes wrong with your fly fishing gear, and when that happens, you might find yourself asking: can you even fix a fly fishing rod? How about a fly fishing line?

In this guide, we are going to answer all of your questions concerning how to fix your fly fishing gear. By the end of this article, you will be well clued up on exactly how to do that, no matter what part of your equipment might be broken.

Fixing Fly Fishing Gear

You can fix your fly fishing gear by determining which part of the gear is broken, what has caused it, and then attending to that broken part in the proper way. No matter what has gone wrong, you should find that you can always fix your fly fishing gear, and you will rarely need to replace it.

How to fix your fly fishing gear will always depend, of course, on what part of your gear has been broken. So the first step is always to identify the problem. It might be that your rod is damaged, which could result from a broken tip, a broken blank, or a broken reel seat. The necessary steps will then depend on which of those has the problem.

Likewise, if you think it might be your line that needs fixing, you'll need to determine the issue: has it come off the reel, come off the backing, or has the loop connection broken? Similarly, do you need to patch up a hole for waders, or do you need to fix the actual elastic? Or is it simply time to do away with them, recycle them, and get a new pair?

As you can see, many things can go wrong with your fly fishing gear. Let's look at all of these issues in a little more detail and get into those necessary fixes you might have to use.

How to Fix a Broken Fly Rod

So - can you fix a fly fishing rod? The simple answer is: yes, usually. When something goes wrong with your rod, there are a few essential parts that you need to look at to check whether you can fix it. The three elements likely to break or go wrong are the tip, the blank, or the reel seat. If any of these three breaks, you can fix them up depending on their specific requirements, which we will look at shortly.

To avoid many of these breaks happening in the first place, you might want to consider buying top-quality rods and making sure you are looking after them properly. With that, you will be in a much better position and avoid many of these troubles at all.

Broken Tip

So what should you do if there is a broken tip on your rod? Bear in mind that you will probably need to replace it no matter what happened to it. So you first need to work out what size tip you need to buy. If you happen to have access to a decent rod supplier, you can take the broken tip along to work out the perfect sizing for it. If you are ordering online, you'll have to measure everything and do it that way.

Once you have got your new rod tip, it's just a case of removing the remaining binding from where the old tip was so that you can place it in the new one. Then it's just a case of gluing the new tip in place. You might find it has a slightly different action at first, but for a quick repair, you can't really say much better than this.

Broken Blank

For most breaks in the blank area of the rod, you can pretty much fix it up to being in a workable condition again at home without having to spend much money or get any fancy new equipment.

In this tutorial, Peter Charles demonstrates rod repair for both fly and conventional rods. He addresses the frustration of broken rods and the challenge of finding replacements for discontinued models. Using materials like wood, epoxy glue, sandpaper, and spare rod sections, he constructs a spigot ferrule to join the broken sections. He emphasizes the importance of removing rod finish for proper adhesion. Charles explains how to reinforce the repair with additional rod sections and epoxy glue. He concludes by teasing a follow-up video on wrapping the repair for extra reinforcement.

It can take some patience and steady hands to do this right, but as a fisherman, you should already have both of those qualities in spades.

Broken Reel Seat

A broken reel seat is one of the most common fishing annoyances out there, and it's something that you are going to want to have a good solution for when it happens to you. You might find that you require something to wrap around the reel seat to use it with the proper amount of purchase. Or you could simply fix it up to a workable degree by wrapping it in a braid and super gluing the braid down on it.

You can also often fix a broken reel seat simply by properly using some electrical tape. This is very often going to get it back to being just like new.

How to Fix A Broken Fly Line

It's not always the rod that goes wrong and breaks. Sometimes a fisherman will discover a problem with their line, and it can be all too easy to despair when this happens. If you are wondering how to fix my fly fishing line, it is something that you can pretty easily do, regardless of what has caused the issue. But of course, the first thing again is to make sure that you have determined the nature of the problem to take the adequate steps to fix it upright.

A broken line can result from a few significant issues, which we will look at in detail now. Here are three of the most common problems that can happen with a fly fishing line and what you can do about them if they happen to you.

Coming Off The Reel

If you find that your line is always coming off the reel, this is one of the most common fly fishing queries of all. When your line comes off the reel all the time, it is often a result of the line has developed a 'memory' of loops, twists, and so on. These accumulate in the line, making it much harder to keep the line feeding off the reel smoothly. The solution is often relatively simple, but until you've applied it, you will only ever be disappointed with your attempts to catch those fish.

You can therefore prevent this problem by using the right fishing line, spooling it onto the reel correctly, avoiding backlacking, and avoiding it from getting twists and turns in it. You should also consider replacing the line frequently, especially if you go fishing a lot. If you do all that, you will prevent it from coming off in the future as easily.

Coming Off The Backing

But it's not always coming off the reel that you need to worry about. Sometimes your line will come off the baking too, which can be a frustrating issue to try and fix. Again, the issue here is that the line can become caught up in its twists and turns, and over time that makes it more likely that it will come off the backing, just as it might come off the reel as well. The fix is the same, which is to prevent it from happening by ensuring you are treating the line right and that it is the right kind of line in the first place.

If it does come off the backing you can connect it back using the Albright Knot.

If you do that, you should find that this is not an issue for you in the future. When it does come off the backing all the time, consider replacing the line with the appropriate kind.

Broken Loop Connection

Sometimes a line breaks not because it comes off the reel or the backing but because the loop connection breaks. This is one of those experiences that everyone has from time to time when they are fishing, and in many respects, it can be pretty heartbreaking. But again, as with everything, there is a solution that you can be aware of, so all is not lost.

First of all, clip off the defective loop. Then you need to double over around one inch of the tip of your fly line. You can then use a monofilament line to tie a 6-7 turn nail knot around both legs of the loop and slide the nail knot into position. Tie a second knot around the loop about 1/8th of an inch behind the first. Coat it all with adhesive. Then you should find that your line is back in action.

Another great solution is to ditch the loop altogether. I like a snail knot to have a clean connection from my fly line to my leader. There are a ton of ways to connect your line to your leader so dont feel like you need the loop to loop connection.

How to Fix Broken Waders

For any fly fishing fanatic, the waders are another hugely important part of your gear. After all, you need them to ensure that you can wade into whatever water you need to. If you don't have the proper equipment, then you will not be able to go into just any water, which will mean that you struggle to catch all the fish you are looking out for in particular. So, with waders being so necessary, it's equally important to look after them and avoid any of the common problems you might get with them.

In the following sections, we'll take a look at three kinds of fixes that you might want to do for your waders when they have seen better days. These should all be necessary for you from time to time, so it's good to know about them.

Patching Holes

To patch holes in waders, you first need to identify the position of the breach or tear. Then you need to clean around that hole with alcohol wipes and cut a patch around the hole so you can fit a repair with an overlap of about a quarter of an inch. Then apply a sealant to the wader around the tear, and apply the patch, holding it firmly in place. Wait a few minutes for it to dry, and you should be good as new. This is always your first port of call before simply replacing waders, as it is less expensive and less wasteful.

Fixing Elastic

To prevent elastic from falling apart, make sure you store your waders properly - if they are left damp, they are liable to grow mold, which breaks the elastic down over time. But it is much easier to avoid that problem, to begin with, if you can. You can again fix the elastic by getting some new elastic and fitting it in with something like Aquaseal, and sometimes this is good enough to see your waders become like new.

Recycling Old Ones

When you are done with waders, and you are sure that there is nothing you can do to fix them up more, you need to think about what you will do with them. Usually, the best approach is to recycle them in some way. For instance, you might simply take them somewhere you can recycle rubber and elastic. Or you could use them to patch up a new pair, so if you want to do that, it's always handy to hold on to them in the meantime.

As you can see, all of this is fixable, so you should not despair when something goes wrong with your fly fishing gear. Whether it’s your rod, line, or waders, you can fix them up and carry on fishing.