Despite what people say carbon fibre rods rarely break if they are used correctly. If there is a fault with the rod it will usually fail within the first use or two under load, so why has mine suddenly gone snap, crackle and then pop?

The sad fact is that most rods break from the actions of the fisherman. Sometimes those actions are obvious, like shutting the rod in a car door, other times the breakage is less obvious and less predictable, mainly because the fisherman didn't know the risks associated with his/her actions. Here are a few of the more common reasons rods break.

• Fly Impact: You might not realise but during fly casting a fly can move through the air at speeds in excess of 80mph, roughly the speed of a pellet which has been fired from an air rifle. If the section that takes the hit does not break immediately it will almost certainly have suffered internal fractures and is likely to break the next time it comes under load.

• Javelin: You’re walking along the bank with your rod in your hand and the tip is leading the way, you’re distracted by a rising fish and SNAP, the rod tip has hit the ground, causing too much rod stress and it’s snapped. Always when moving around the bank let the butt lead the way.

• Tree/Rock: So you get snagged in a tree or on a rock. Most people in this situation use the rod to pull or jerk the fly free. If the rod doesn’t break from this stress overload it may break when the tippet snaps. The correct way out of this situation is to lay the rod down somewhere safe so as not to stand on it and only pull on the fly line until the snag is removed. Take care and look away from the snagged area when carrying out this procedure.