8 feet vs 10 feet rod

Started by Reel Beaker, January 18, 2019, 10:58:16 AM

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Reel Beaker

I notice that rods have different diameters. Should i be overly concerned with the diameter of the rods?

thorhammer

No. it's a function of the intend line class (weight if you will) of the rod and it's coomstruction. Graphite will be thinnest, lightest and cast farther on average but is more costly and less durable then glas. Graphite comp or E / S glas are good compromises.


Again, it's about your application. If you are soaking a bait for a larger fish like drum, stripers or sharks, where they will eat it and take off on a circle hook, glas is actually at a bit of advantage due to it's flex: it will load easier and cast softer to keep bait on, and it will give a bit for the fish to get the bait down well without much resistance then suddenly lock up when the bend hits transition, pulling the circle hook up to do it's job. Stiff graphite may get your spike pulled over before you get there depending on your drag setting. This is why Dave Fritts advocated glas rods for bass crankbaits. If you are throwing light grubs on an 8' rod for trout in winter, then you'd want all the sensitivity graphite and braided line can bring for cautious nibbles.


just my 0.02 based on various ways i fish, and where. There any number of other factors that can change that, and others will have different opinions.

Reel Beaker

Quote from: thorhammer on January 19, 2019, 01:51:02 PM
No. it's a function of the intend line class (weight if you will) of the rod and it's coomstruction. Graphite will be thinnest, lightest and cast farther on average but is more costly and less durable then glas. Graphite comp or E / S glas are good compromises.


Again, it's about your application. If you are soaking a bait for a larger fish like drum, stripers or sharks, where they will eat it and take off on a circle hook, glas is actually at a bit of advantage due to it's flex: it will load easier and cast softer to keep bait on, and it will give a bit for the fish to get the bait down well without much resistance then suddenly lock up when the bend hits transition, pulling the circle hook up to do it's job. Stiff graphite may get your spike pulled over before you get there depending on your drag setting. This is why Dave Fritts advocated glas rods for bass crankbaits. If you are throwing light grubs on an 8' rod for trout in winter, then you'd want all the sensitivity graphite and braided line can bring for cautious nibbles.


just my 0.02 based on various ways i fish, and where. There any number of other factors that can change that, and others will have different opinions.

So if you use circle hooks fiberglass is the way to go?

RowdyW

Circle hooks will work with all rod materials.

Cor

#19
I can say "agreed" to every statement here!
Just generalising a longer rod will cast further, but the caster needs to know what to do with it to get the optimal distance.

I usually use a 10 to 11 ft rod for my daily work and carry a 12 ft 6 inch one for when I need more distance.   However at times the longer rod makes so little difference, that it is not worth the effort.

Quote from: Captain64-200 on January 18, 2019, 11:04:32 AM
The casting distance depending on so many parameters (including your personal skills ) , that ,in my opinion , I can't answer your question .  
Absolutely!

Quote from: Jeri on January 18, 2019, 11:40:04 AM
I would suggest that all other things being equal, your distance should definitely go up. Even to the stage where for general casting, with a fixed spool reel (spinner) your distances will go up considerably.


During recent years in our surf fishing, we changed over to braid and fixed spool reels, and while we started with standard 14', we immediately noticed improvements stepping up to 14'-6" and subsequently 15' long rods.

Cheers from sunny Africa
As Jeri says!
There are so many factors effecting this of which personal ability is the most important.   I find I no longer have the strength to cast a  long and strong rod with a 8 oz casting weight.

Cornelis

thorhammer

Quote from: RowdyW on January 20, 2019, 06:21:10 AM
Circle hooks will work with all rod materials.


Yep....my point was,, glas, having a bit of flex will let a fish swim a second before it locks up and pulls the circle to the jaw, while you are having a beer and looking off somewhere else on the beach which is what makes surf fishing surf fishing   ;D ;D

The graphite is faster and more responsive.


Jeri

Quote from: thorhammer on January 21, 2019, 01:31:05 AM
Quote from: RowdyW on January 20, 2019, 06:21:10 AM
Circle hooks will work with all rod materials.


Yep....my point was,, glas, having a bit of flex will let a fish swim a second before it locks up and pulls the circle to the jaw, while you are having a beer and looking off somewhere else on the beach which is what makes surf fishing surf fishing   ;D ;D

The graphite is faster and more responsive.




Most serious surf anglers wouldn't be seen dead with an antiquated glass fibre rod. Nearly all upper level surf rods these days are full carbon, though a few specialist rods might have a mix of carbon and glass in the very tip section; but most are full carbon construction - irrespective of what hook system is being employed.

Reel Beaker

Some 12' rods have casting weight and lure weight specs on their blanks. Are these the same thing or are they different?
I also noticed that the Spinning Penn Slammer rod has a heavy line weight but the first guide is rather small.
Should i be overly-worried about the size of the first guide? I i recall properly, the line weight was like 15-30 lb. But a 4000 spinning reel will most prob hold 12 lb mono, printed on their spool (Yeah i know we can use braid or high tensile mono if we wanted).

It seem weird to be to be using a 6000 spinning reel with a line cap of 20 lb(printed on their spool) with what small guides.

I looked at the first guide and it seem to me like a 3000, 3500 reel will be more appropriate with that rod, but it would be weird to be using such reels with a rod with that range of line weight.

Isnt the first guide to reduce the size of the line loop through the rod when we cast as line leaves the spool? So smaller guide = smaller reel, bigger guide = bigger reels?

What kind of reels would you recommend for that kind of rod? Penn slammer spinning reels don't count as it is obvious this would be a legit Penn combo.

Thanks. 

Tiddlerbasher

Have a google for Fuji concept guides - there are a lot of explanations why small guides can and do outperform larger ones.
Like this:

https://www.guidesnblanks.com/page/fuji_catalogue

Reel Beaker

Quote from: Tiddlerbasher on January 26, 2019, 02:43:09 PM
Have a google for Fuji concept guides - there are a lot of explanations why small guides can and do outperform larger ones.
Like this:

https://www.guidesnblanks.com/page/fuji_catalogue

The English is so bad and seem to be trying to sell fuji guides to rod makers and consumers. So what size reel will be best for this kind of rod?
Do surf rods tend to have less guides compared to other rods?