thur. F. stop II will be shark'n

[OffTheHookB&T]

From what I've heard the problem usually happens at the reel seat when the reels are in being used with a heavy fighting harness. It seems the the harness holds the reel stationary while the rod is bending away causing the reel seat to shear.
Steve, I have a call into my Shimano rep.

[whitey]

what, did you step on them or something?

Dont even go there round guy.

[Bay Fishin]

Sorry to hear of your lost fish. Graphite Reels of any kind will have the risk of breaking when put into a harness. Out of curiosty was it a new style or old style TLD50

[F.stop]

they were the old style tld lrs 50 reels....great reels for the money but on a large fish over 200 plus lbs. in a stand up fighting harness like a braid brute buster the reels may fail on you....i'm glad this did not happen during a tourney i've heard this is the case with graphite reels under the stress of hard fight. other people have had the same problems with 30 tlds and the new style tld II as well as well. the tld seires is great as long as you fight them in a normal belt such as a play action but again you are taking a chance in a full stand up harness with reel straps. i'm switching over two tiagra 50 lrs reels.

f.stop

[Deep C]

I have never had a problem with one. 9 of em in my set without a failure. I did see two tld 30's blow up in the space of 48 hours a couple years back one on a fish and one on a line winding machine... Neither one mine.
I have noticed a human contribution as to why some may break. In my case I have been fortunate not to bust a reel but have torn the gimbals off a half dozen rods or more in just the last few years. People have a tendency espeicaially when under the stress of a big fish to stop gpoing round and round with the crank. Instead, they have a natural tendency to "jack it" up and down with a hell of a lot of torque twisting that frame... I see enough of it to know that is the most likely culprit. Hell I even notice slight bends in the nadles of some of my 25's.
The one on the line winding machine was not lined up properly and was getting a twisting workout big time when she went.
I have had Penn graphite do the same as you describe and knock on wood have been lucky so far with the shimanos... You say the fish was pulling the boat around some seems like a whole lot of 17 pounds to do that. I run mine at 14...