6.6 vs 7.0 rod

[Whitemikeca]

Whatever you buy a longer rod for, don't buy it for "increased leverage on the fish"....it's actually just the opposite: a longer rod gives the fish more leverage on you, not the other way around.

 

I would agree with you if we were talking about a rod and line that both had absolutly no flex rotating around a fixed point (i.e. a tire iron/grade 9 physics). However that is not the case with fishing rods. The longer rod will give you more leverage because it is going to impart the force of the fish through out the curve of the rod. A shorter rod has less of arch to impart the force coming from the line. Because there is less arch on the shorter rod it will result in the force moving down to the bottom of the rod and will act against your wrists at an angle.

 

Of course the action of the rod is also a major part of this equation but again the longer the rod you have the faster the action you can acheive while still maintaining enough elasticity in the rod to load up while playing a fish. The longer rod will indeed give you more leverage. If you want to test this our yourself then try playing a musky or a carp on a 6 footrod and then play the same size fish with a 9 foot rod and then tell me which one gave you more leverage. Trust me there is a huge difference between the two rod lengths.

Edited March 20, 2011 by Whitemikeca

[Whitemikeca]

Yep, if what you want is leverage. A longer rod is giving the fish a longer lever, while the anglers lever (roughly the handle, but it is variable) stays the same. It's amazing to me how many pro anglers still push longer rods as giving them "more leverage in thick cover".

 

Again, along with my other post, you are missing a huge variable. The whole point of the rod is to load up and play the fish/load at the end of it. Your example assumes no flex in the rod which is not the case at all.

 

As for pulling out of thick cover, if my rod is 6ft and I give it a jerk I will pull the lure on a flatter angle against the weeds/cover then if I were to give the same jerk from a 9ft rod. Because the rod is longer, the angle of force against the lure will be higher, thus jiging the lure up and through the weeds instead of just through the weeds. Also because the longer rod is longer and will load more a jerk of the longer rod will move your lure a greater distance, thus it acted with greater force/leverage on the lure.

Edited March 20, 2011 by Whitemikeca

[Gregoire]

Lay off on the smart stuff, I'm still on March break for another day.