I had one of those eagle claw "yellow clubs" that I used for cats and gar on the Guadelupe River down in South Texas. I don't remember what line size those rods were rated for, but I think I was spooled up with 30 or 40 lb big game, whatever you got cheap at wally world back in the day. Anyway, a gator gar that had to go at least 75 lbs plowed my bait and I ripped back to set the hook. That rod exploded..and then the darn gar broke my line of top of it. I would have to call it operator error.
If you horse a fish on a rod above its line rating, they will break. My buddy blew up two consecutive st croix avids on salmon one year. Running 8 lb leaders on an 8 wt rod. Fresh chrome fury with a bunch of current.
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Ever break a rod fighting a fish?
