I've been fishing for forty years as well, and these graphite rods aren't tough enough for me. Almost all my rods are broken. My dad's rods as well. Only my Phillipson 7 wt fiberglass flyrod isn't.

I don't mistreat my gear, but I don't want to baby it either. It hardly matters now: I don't use them any more. Handline is all I do. Honestly rods and reels slow me down too much. I'm done with them. I've caught more fish with the handline than I ever did with rod and reel.

Here's the video where my last rod broke: