Advice on New Fishing Rod

[seanik]

At 75 I still get excited about my yearly fishing trips to Northern Ontario. This years July trip to Lodge 88 got me thinking I should up grade my fishing Rods. Being a kid in the 1950's I used my fathers steel TruTemper 5" casting rod and later a cheap fiberglass spinning rod with a Mitchell 300 reel. I never got past my present Ugly Stik pro Lite rods. I recently bought a St.Croix Triumph 7' Med. Lite spinning rod.

The rod I remember most and still have is a 7' Berkley 2 piece parabolic fiberglass spinning rod from the 1970's, I would like to buy a modern sensitive graphite 2 piece rod with similar action, feel and that C bend.

I have heard the some of the Quantum rods are parabolic but not 2 piece, any advice is appreciated.

 

Seanik

[aplumma]

Sean I am not sure what you mean by parabolic it is not a term I have heard before in fishing rods. That aside the best fishing rod is the one that feels good in your hands. All of the major name brands are made with quality material and the difference between a 100 dollar rod and a 300 dollar rod is usually the hardware it is made of. A synthetic handle is much cheaper than a matching cork handle and ceramic guides are less than titanium guides. Both of these examples are the difference between the rods but unless you love cork and need the rod to be lighter are expenses you may not need. Rod materials are important in the blanks but an IM8 blank is the same IM8 blank material from brand to brand they differ in the way it is spun and or bonded together. Machine wrapped versus hand wrapped make the cost of a rod higher but for the average person you will not be able to feel the difference. With all that said look at the St.Croix series they are a very good bang for the buck. You can also look at other major brands either higher in price or lower in your budget. I am lucky that a good friend of mine (spiels custom rods) built me my first custom rod and has over the years made me 8 more. I just had to describe what I wanted it to do and he has been able build not only a great rod with state of the art materials but the look and feel can not be matched by any other rod i have held to date. This might also be the road for you but a warning from me is in order, don't do it unless you look at a custom rod as a work of art and a treasure to be cared for the rest of your life.

 

 

 

Art

[KraTToR]

Parabolic typically means medium or moderate action.

 

Parabolic rods really excel in crankbait/treble hook applications because they load up a little slower and help you keep the fish hooked with the small hooks you find on a treble. Not an ideal solution for larger single hooks (IE jigs!) where a fast or extra fast rod will help detect a lite bite and have the backbone to send the hook home.

 

Saying that you can catch fish on any rod with any technique but to optimize your landing success rate its good to have the right equipment.

 

Seanik, if you already have a parabolic rod and a MedLite triumph (most likely fast action) then start looking towards something more to the Medium or Medium Heavy power. I would recommend a fast action rod unless you're going to use it exclusively for crank baits and trolling.

 

Check out the Fenwick HMG line. Its been completely updated and they are great value, come in all kinds of actions and powers, and are 2 piece.

[Dara]

For fishing 88, and I have, I don't think you can do better that the St Croix Triumph. You might want to go up to a med instead of the med light, especially if you want to target Pike.

 

Pulled in a 28" eye on my med light this summer no problem...well, maybe a bit of a problem but it did it.

[BillM]

Art, parabolic would be the blue 'rod' below. Definitely not something I'd be using for jigging up walleyes.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

As I was told the parabolic action is determined by the bend in a rod when loaded.

[muddler]

All rods are parabolic when under a load, unless the the rod tube is uniform in diameter along its full length , ie: biult like a uniform wooden dowel, then it would have a circular action.

 

BillM's diagram is the best way to visualize a rods parabolic action. By changing either the diameter or/and thickness of the wall of the tapered rod blank, the rod will bend less (faster) or more depending on the formula of the the manufacturer. Guide placement can affect this also.

 

The best way is to test cast the rod to determine how it will behave under fishing conditions. This is rarely possible. The next best way is to physically load the rod by threading it with a line and loading the rod. I bring about 20 feet of 10lb test mono and string it through the guides. Wrap a bit of the line around the reel seat holdin it down with one hand and gently pulling the loose end from the tip top. You'll get a pretty good idea of the "action" of the rod under load. Flip the rod so that guides are on top of the rod and reload the rod. The line should not touch or go below the blank under a normal load. If the line stays above the blank then the guides are placed correctly for that rod. It's probably the one you want.

 

 

All factory rods are NOT all the same. In a batch of 100 exactly the same make and model, some will perform better than others. That's why I recommend bringing 20 feet of mono to test them.

 

Guides are important. Pick up a cheaper rod with heavier Haloy guides vs titanium single foot SIC guides and you immediately notice the difference. That's why two similar rods can vary in price by hundreds of dollars. Also check the reel seats. They should be comfortable and strong.

 

My personal favourites are a fast action for casting artificials and a slow action for throwing live bait. If I can only take one rod and I'm not too sure what I'll be doing, I'll settle for a medium or medium fast action.

 

Just my 3 cents (2 cents US)

Edited January 20, 2016 by muddler

[bare foot wader]

how do you like your ML triumph?

 

it sounds like you want that deep bend from the fiberglass rods you're used to, but just with more sensitivity...imo I'd look for a light power, fast action rod...st Croix has some, and I've been impressed with my rapala F2, it's a 7'2" light power with fast action, price is about 120 (been a couple years since I bought one though), plenty sensitive, and a 3lb walleye will put a good bend in the rod, I love jigging walleyes with it, you feel every headshake

 

I find on fly ins when the catch rate is awesome, I lose interest in boating maximum numbers of fish and I would dare say 50+ walleyes gets boring, so I like to downsize and have fun fighting the fish, a L or UL fits that niche for me nicely

[bigbuck]

I wouldw look at a 7ft medium heavy fast action rod for the pike. Coupled with 30lb braided line (palomer knot-easy to learn and tie). Fibreglass rods would have that soft c action. Problem with that is your hookset, it has to be REALLY long to dig the hooks in. A fast action rod is pretty much a solid flick of the wrists. A 3000 size reel and a good leader and you can tackle anything in that lake. Enjoy!!!

[seanik]

Thanks to all who replied, I really appreciate the help and information.

One of the reasons I brought this up was I may start a new to me and simple fishing method. It has to do with my fishing partner who usually sits in the front of the boat. Dave exclusively uses a night crawler attached to a bare #2 snelled bait holder hook. He also makes a sliding 1/2 oz bullet sinker rig that the hook is attached to. Dave trolls and fishes over the side with this set up and almost always catches more Walleyes than anyone in the boat or other nearby fisherman.

I will soon go to Gander Mtn. and Field and Stream with some line and check out rods. I have stored in the rafters of my garage a 1970's Berkley fiberglass parametric spinning rod with a parabolic bend, that with a rig like his and maybe a small spinner blade, which I won't tell him about, I'll smoke him at Esnagi

 

Thanks again,

Seanik

[dave524]

I've done up a couple of spinning rods on fly rod blanks when I've wanted a slower action rod for lighter lines and casting fragile live baits.

​They were longer than 7 foot though but an action more of what you are looking for .

[aplumma]

Art, parabolic would be the blue 'rod' below. Definitely not something I'd be using for jigging up walleyes.

 

Ahhh got it it is a term we don't use when discussing rods. We refer to the speed and weight of the rods. Parabolic is a word we use when we discuss discs. I use rods ranging from 10ft salmon/ slow rods which are very limber with 2oz of lead and circle hooks for catfishing to ultra light/ fast rods for smallmouth. I have a few of the old glass rods for heavy catfishing and my best catfish catcher is an old fenwick flyrod that Spiel built as a baitcaster man that thing just doesn't miss a single pull down. Thanks Chris it is not only a catcher but it also won't let a novice lose a fish.

 

 

Art