Rod Taper?!!!

[Kevin Bogan]

Most anglers, Party boat, charter and private are happy to see that the weather till now has been cooperative, reasonably warm, and more importantly a great mix of bottom species. Cod, Ling, Blackfish, Sea Bass,Poprgies just to name a few. This thread is intended to help understand what it takes to put a few more fish in the cooler, and which rod to use.
Material: We could argue all day, which is better, Graphite, E Glass? The primary difference between each material is that graphite fibers are "stiffer" giving a "stiff" feel to a rod, while E Glass is "softer" giving a soft feel to the rod. Manufacturers would have you believe such nonsense that certain materials are "lighterweight", but the actual difference is minimal. Some claim more "sensitive". Sensitivity has little to do with a fishing rod, it is an ability.
A skilled fisherman can feel all he needs to feel with the least sensitive rod, simply because he knows what he is feeling.
Rod Taper: This is the single most important characteristic of a rod that performs well. Fast taper is one where the rod generally bends in the tip area. The bottom portion barely bends. This is a great action for Tuna, and other top water species. As fish runs off line, the angler can put a good deal of pressure on the fish to slow him down and tire him.
Medium or slow tapers bend more in the mid section. So often someone says, "I want a fast taper rod to go bottom fishing". This leads me to believe that the person is not aware of what fast realy means. The advantage of medium to slower tapers is that they give a "shock absorbing" flex as you reel in a fish. As the fish attempts to "surge" away from you, the extra "give", or what I call the "slow load" helps to prevent a lip hooked fish from becoming dislodged, line breakage, and in fact works like a fine tuned drag on a reel.
There needs to be a little give and take. E glass has a natural ability to perform as described. Graphite can as well, but it must have a slower taper. Look at the legend/description of the rod that you own. If it says "Fast" and it's graphite, this is a sure combination of "more lost fish". High modulas graphite flexes even less, making higher cost graphite rods perform to lower levels than expected. Low modulas [ a measure ment of resistance to bending, or stiffness]teamed with medium taper makes the best performing graphite rod. When a Blackfish goes bananas, pulls out all his tricks to get you back into the wreck, just engage the proper taper, and in short time he will know he is in big trouble. If a doormat Fluke starts to go into "evasive tactics", the natural shock absorbing qualities of "slow load" tapers will give you the best chance of getting him to the boat.
Slow Load=Dead Fish

[Captain Rich]

Kev- need a rod worked on, are you back in your shop yet?? Left you a PM

[dfish28]

I don't think Kevin ever really stopped too long- he has a temp shop by the rite aid on 88 just east of bay ave 9-5, picked up my second rod this year right after x-mas! It's awesome!

[JerseyCoast]

Nice informational post here Kevin!!

I agree with you that fast tapered graphite blanks are trouble in most cases. Yet, we see so many of them sold under "popular brand names" because of some perfectly executed marketing skills. I know some good fishermen who will swear on their Brand name rods being the best made, but when they pick up the same action in another name they say its junk and not the right action. So many people are tricked under the advertising that we see today!

Great read, some good info and I wanted say that I agree with you!! Maybe a live bait rod...( no, they are better in e-glass) I see no other good to that combination of graphite and that action.

[HDMarc]

Very informative read, Kevin. I've often heard of different "action" rods and had little understanding of what the difference was. Your explanation definitely makes it easier to understand.

[East Coast Angler]

Taper or action I have two rods from the same company Phenix both have a slow taper one rod is fast and one is Moderate

Kevin do you mean action and not taper? its my understanding that different rods are built on the same mandrells and the taper are the same

What makes the action differ is the way they lay them up cut the patterens and how many layers they use But the tapers are the same

[TDaly25]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogan

Most anglers, Party boat, charter and private are happy to see that the weather till now has been cooperative, reasonably warm, and more importantly a great mix of bottom species. Cod, Ling, Blackfish, Sea Bass,Poprgies just to name a few. This thread is intended to help understand what it takes to put a few more fish in the cooler, and which rod to use.
Material: We could argue all day, which is better, Graphite, E Glass? The primary difference between each material is that graphite fibers are "stiffer" giving a "stiff" feel to a rod, while E Glass is "softer" giving a soft feel to the rod. Manufacturers would have you believe such nonsense that certain materials are "lighterweight", but the actual difference is minimal. Some claim more "sensitive". Sensitivity has little to do with a fishing rod, it is an ability.
A skilled fisherman can feel all he needs to feel with the least sensitive rod, simply because he knows what he is feeling.
Rod Taper: This is the single most important characteristic of a rod that performs well. Fast taper is one where the rod generally bends in the tip area. The bottom portion barely bends. This is a great action for Tuna, and other top water species. As fish runs off line, the angler can put a good deal of pressure on the fish to slow him down and tire him.
Medium or slow tapers bend more in the mid section. So often someone says, "I want a fast taper rod to go bottom fishing". This leads me to believe that the person is not aware of what fast realy means. The advantage of medium to slower tapers is that they give a "shock absorbing" flex as you reel in a fish. As the fish attempts to "surge" away from you, the extra "give", or what I call the "slow load" helps to prevent a lip hooked fish from becoming dislodged, line breakage, and in fact works like a fine tuned drag on a reel.
There needs to be a little give and take. E glass has a natural ability to perform as described. Graphite can as well, but it must have a slower taper. Look at the legend/description of the rod that you own. If it says "Fast" and it's graphite, this is a sure combination of "more lost fish". High modulas graphite flexes even less, making higher cost graphite rods perform to lower levels than expected. Low modulas [ a measure ment of resistance to bending, or stiffness]teamed with medium taper makes the best performing graphite rod. When a Blackfish goes bananas, pulls out all his tricks to get you back into the wreck, just engage the proper taper, and in short time he will know he is in big trouble. If a doormat Fluke starts to go into "evasive tactics", the natural shock absorbing qualities of "slow load" tapers will give you the best chance of getting him to the boat.
Slow Load=Dead Fish

Terrific post, Kevin. Great job of breaking down the code into laymen's terms! Thanks