Big salmon on a trout rod - not smart

I'm not sure exactly why, but for some reason I never keep the fish I catch, even the salmon. Maybe its because I enjoy catching them so much that the quicker I get them back in the water, I figure the sooner I can be fishing again. Or maybe its my superstitious nature in that I think killing a fish will upset the fish gods which ultimately determines the amount of fish I catch. Either way I fish because I truly enjoy catching fish.For this reason, a day on the water fishing for chum salmon is about as good as it gets. 

I moved to Vancouver, BC about a year ago loaded with trout fishing gear. Lots of rods in the 3-7 weight range. This year, I fished a six-weight without a fighting butt for pink salmon and was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. After the pinks had passed through, the Chum began to show up. I had never fished for these hogs before so I spent a lot of time researching the fish, checking reports, talking to fly shops, and of course tying a lot of flies. My first day on the water was outstanding. I fished my seven weight and ended up landing about a half dozen fish, some pushing 20 lbs. I was pretty sure I had my seven weight maxed out but it seemed to get the job done. I was excited when I got home and figured that I would head back out the next time I had a day off, which turned out to be only a couple days later. On the second day, the fishing was even better - by 10:00 am I had already landed about a half dozen fish. However, fish number seven decided to test my rod....and my rod lost. As I gave the final pull to bring the fish within an arms length....snap!! Not only did I break the top 2' of my rod, but my line also snapped so I lost a lead leader, tippet, and of course, my fly.

It's not the first fly rod I've ever broken but its actually the first one I've broken while fighting a fish. One was slammed in a truck door, another was stepped on, and a few others have snapped in shocking moments of uncoordination. Thank god for warranties! Needless to say I am now the proud owner of new 8-weight fly rod.