Fishing Rod Terminology??????

[Niner]

I’ve been looking at rods in the Cabelas/Bass Pro catalogs.
I thought I had an understanding of rod classifications, but evidently I am uneducated.
I thought the classes were Ultra Light, Light, Medium, Heavy, etc….
However, it seems there are SUB classes within each class. This is the “action”. Fast, Mod. Fast, X-Fast, Super Fucking Fast.
What does the “action” mean as far as what the fisherman experiences at the handle?

Say I want a bream/crappie rod. I assume an Ultra Light or Light rod would be the Class, but what "action" should I look for?

Maybe I should just stick to a cane pole and a wine cork.

[Egghead]

I'll probably screw this up and should let Len the rod-builder weigh in, but...

I believe the main classes refer to the "backbone" of the rod, so a medium rod is stiffer overall than a light rod. Then the subclasses refer to the tip of the rod, where the faster the action, the more movement (and therefore sensitivity) the rod will provide. I think of it as how much bend will a rod provide at the tip vs. another rod using similar "whipping" action. Or in other words, I would want a lighter action rod for lighter tackle, and a faster tip if I thought I was going to be throwing lighter lures (so I would get better castability).

On my river rods I prefer light to light-medium on the rods I'm throwing spinners or other retrievables and medium action for tubes and jigging. On the bay, I prefer longer rods of at least medium action, so the rod doesn't want to bend in half when I'm tossing lures over 1 oz. Of course when going for spot for striper live-lining on the bay, a light action rod with the bottom rig makes it a bit more fun, and I can feel the bite better.

HTH

[BarryBobPosthole]

They have gotten so far out of hand with that stuff I don't understand half of them either. Rod technology has also given us a lot more options. My own opinion is that most of the action in a rod is in the last couple of feet, that being on the business end of it. A faster tip just means you can 'load' the rod up with light weight stuff and it'll cast further. the trade off is it is less response when you set the hook or fight the fish. And that depends a lot on the lines you use. I use braid on half my stuff and flouro on the other half. The rods I use braid on tend to be my faster tips so I don't rip their lips off when I set the hook and also for bigger fish you can wear their asses out. A very stiff rod (shut up Thumper) means you're fighting those bigger fish mainly with your arms, and for me that usually means I lose more bigger fish. I like a stiff backbone and a medium action tip most of the time. I have two rods by two different rod makers that are labeled exactly the same but their actions are actually quite different. so to me that means I hardly ever order a rod any more. I gotta feel 'em.

I'm sure this doesn't help. But for crappies I am a 'wrist guy', meaning I set the hook by popping my wrist. Buggy whips are the choice of the day for me with crappies. that's just my personal preference. I guess that'd be 'extra fast'? I dunno.

BKB

[LJ3]

That's about it in a nutshell (shut up thumper)

Like BBP said, it's a bit out of control now. Two rods with the same "specs" will feel completely different. The "fast" or "way fast" designation is in relation to their line of blanks only. I like medium light with fastish tips for ribber fishing although there's plenty of river scenarios where you need the ass of medium back bone and a stiff tip (shut up thumper)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Speakin' of ribber fishin', let's cook something up, even if its wrong. You guys come out here and float the Current or the Eleven Point rivers in Missouri with me. We'll camp. Make it a redneck official fishin' trip. You won't regret seeing that country I guarantee.

BKB

[Niner]

That helps.....somewhat. I guess like Barry says, a fella needs to play with a rod in the store before deciding on one.

And here I thought if I got a rod with Fast action, I'd be catching fish faster than the others.

[LJ3]

...a fella needs to play with a rod in the store before deciding on one...

(shut up thumper)

[Chicken Dinner]

Shut up, Thumper. (Hell, I don't need a reason...)

[Thumper]

Sheeesh! I'm out bustin' my balls running around to estate sales so I can afford a sack'o taters for supper and I come home to this kind of abuse!