Fluke Bucktail Spin Rod Action Question

[max1373]

was wondering if u bucktailers like a stiffer action rod or lighter tip

what lb rating in Sandy Hook area ?

Thanks

[Leif]

6 ft 6in Medium Action rated 10-20 lb test rod
Penn Battle 3000 with 20lb test braid.
20-30lb Fluorocarbon Teaser rigs.
1-4oz buck tails

Leif

[Gerry Zagorski]

I'm with Leif on the medium action rod. For those of you not familiar with what fast or slow action means, a fast action rod has less give at the tip and the slow action rod has more give. In other words, a soft rod tip is slower to return to a straight postion than a fast tip.

I like tend to favor a softer/slower tip because the combination of your wrist lift, the tip of the rod against the weight of the jig tends to make the jig jump more and give it better action with less effort. If however the tip is too soft/slow its a bit more difficult to jig when you require more weight to stay on the bottom. With a heavy jig, which is sometimes required in the Sandy hook area, a softer/slower tip is going to require a lot more work to get the jig to bounce since your wrist action/lift is going to be absorbed by the tip.

A medium action rod is a good compromise and will cover various conditions you will encounter better.

Having said this there are no standards for actions of rods and each manufacturer is different. A rod that is labled fast might be slow compared to one of it's peers with the same fast rating. Spinning rods, which are for the most part designed for casting tend to have slower tips... They are designed this way so they load up when they are casted. In other words the tip tends to bend more and load up like a sling shot and the forward whipping motion of the tip returning to a straight position helps launch your lure and makes for easier longer casting.

If you want to buy a rod from the rack, it's best to go into a store, don't pay too much attention to the ratings and see how the different rods react under a load. If you'd prefer to go custom, tell your rod builder what you intend to use the rod for and let them build the rod. Most have a certain blanks they build rods on and can cut them to the desired length to make the tip faster or slower.

As far as line, 20 to 30 lb braid is good as is 20 to 30 pound leader. I tend to lean more towards 30 pound because if you are fishing the sticky stuff, which is where jigging works best, you will loose a lot less rigs if you go heavier.

[Capt. Lou]

Understanding rod blanks, three components govern!
Power, taper, action .
Power how much weight blank can comfortably handle . Cast. & drop weight varies significantly.
Taper , how blank constructed . Thinner Hvy wall or thicker thinner wall. This reflects how blank will flex & recover .
Action within this taper is where blank is designed to bend under a load .
Power has little to do with action. U can construct almost any blank to exibit any range of actions .
That being said I favor fast action blanks in any power rod I fish.
They require less angler energy to fish in a myriad of situations .
Bucktailing is one since a fast action rod with proper within specific line class will perform very well when bottom fishing .
Many prefer a full parabolic for for tog which is fine since u r primarily fishing shallow .
Those rods will kill u in deeper water where bigger fish r found & never have they been my choice for any big game applications in gts!

[SandsharkPolar]

Gerry,a faster tip rod will bend easier than a slow one. Max get a 7' medium fast that will handle at least 20lb braid and 4oz. Any thing heavier go conventional gear. Shimano has a beautiful 7' Trevalla spinning rod ($119.99). Pair it with a reel your comfortable with. Remember you get what you pay for. Alot of high end gear out there and also low end. Treat yourself to something nice, you deserve it.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by SandsharkPolar

Gerry,a faster tip rod will bend easier than a slow one. .

Not sure that is correct Polar.

[stevejordan]

slow action bends more. moderate is in the middle, fast is more stiff

[SandsharkPolar]

Gerry, I stand corrected.
Action refers to how much the rod deflects or bends when you put pressure on the tip. A fast action rod will bend in only the top 3rd or less of the blank, a medium or moderate action will bend in the top half or so and a slow action will bend starting in the lower 3rd of the rod. Fast action rods are great for short to long casting distances and where single hooks are the rule, such as jig fishing. Medium action fishing rods provide a little more casting distance and still offer good responsiveness for setting your hook. The medium fast rod will handle heavier jig weights better than a medium rod.

[makokeith]

I think it all depends on how deep and heavy you plan on fishing mostly. Jigging 1oz BTs in 20 ft is a big difference from 4 oz in 40 feet. JMHO

[JerseyCoast]

I think it also depends on the type of jigging your doing. If your using light jigs that your letting out 200-250 feet, I think a fast action rod is ideal so that you can feel and work the jig with only the tip.

If your using a heavier jig, I agree with the slower action. I started using lightweight rods with the new Microwave Guide System and I can tell you...... it makes a huge difference.

Ideally.... you want both types of rods. The fast action when your fishing a 2oz jig far out and everybody else is fishing 4 or 5 ounces. The slower action when your more of a vertical angle with the heavier jig.

I have watched guys on head boats with 2 oz jigs and 100 yards of line out, crush fish while the rest of us using heavier jigs did nothing great. After 2 years of watching.... I started doing it myself.