Fishing Rods

Fishing rods will vary drastically, depending on what they are constructed from, the quality of the build, and whether they are mass factory produced, hand built, or even custom builds, and they can vary from £30 a rod up to £900 a rod, and everything in between.

Rods are best stored in a protective rod sleeve, or holdall, to prevent them from damage. The last thing you want is something falling off a shelf or falling over and damaging the blank. Rods can be safely stored upright or laid horizontally across a couple of u-shaped brackets for example.

Rod action can describe the way the rod feels when playing a fish, eg the playing action, or the rod / blank action meaning how the rod bends. Both are important things to consider. Firstly the rod action, eg how the rod bends, will fall into two types. A through action also called a parabolic action, means the rod bends throughout its length, meaning both the tip and butt sections bend at a similar rate. These are great for short to medium range and tend to nowadays be found more in deadbaiting rods in predator fishing, or game rods, such as fly fishing. The other main form is fast taper or fast action, meaning the rod bends progressively more from the tip of the butt, meaning the tip is softer than the rod. It is far more common in long range casting rods, as it allows a better build up of power to deliver the cast, and if balanced correctly can still be very enjoyable to play fish on. This is where playing action comes into it, as generally stiffer rods, in the past, have compromised the playing action, making them feel unresponsive when under load playing a fish under the tip. However, rod blank technology has moved on meaning you can retain a lot of power in the butt and mid section of the rod, to enable long range casting without compromising for a softer tip to play fish on.

A rods life expectancy ultimately comes down to the amount of usage and the quality of materials used. A budget rod, where it may have a higher resin component in the blank, or made of a lower grade carbon, will ultimately soften more over time due to use. A high end rod, constructed from a high grade carbon, will last a lot longer, and retain its test curve much longer. Blanks like the old Daiwa Amorphous are still found being used today by those who had them, due to the quality of build when they were made, whilst I am still using my rods some 5yrs on since taking ownership of them, and they are being used 2-3 trips a week, putting large heavy leads out at range.

The vast majority of carp rods made today, are made from carbon fibre, and as outlined about, will have a resin component of sorts in the mandril for the blank. The better the quality and grade of carbon, the better the rod should perform,. They will then have guides / eyes whipped on, which will be a blend of materials eg titanium or metal guides with a ceramic insert to protect the line, and then finished, with a reel seat, again materials will vary from metal to polymer, and handle which will vary from abbreviated (bar carbon between the real seat and butt cap), full shrink, full duplon or cork handle.

The most popular length is 12ft and has been for a long period, as it packs down to fit most cars, and offers the best balance between control when playing fishing and casting. Shorter 10ft rods are great for close to medium range (sub 100yds) or when fishing from a boat, whereas longer 13ft rods and longer are best for distance and longer range fishing.