Rod position

[Sportsman]

This thought was triggered by watching a program in the Predators series on Sky. The one about Wells Catfish.

The expert hooked a decent cat, about 35lb and was having trouble with the fish in weed. He was trying to bully the fish and was leaning backward with the rod past vertical. At one point the rod was about 45' backward.

Now in this position the only part of the rod that is bent is the tip, and the amount of force applied would not be great. In fact I was surprised that he didn't break his rod. (Looked very dramatic though )

The way I see it the best angle for the rod to apply max power would be around 60-60 degrees. At this angle the bend goes down into the middle and but sections and the whole power of the rod is applied.

What do you guys think

[Brian Carragher]

I would have thought that the rods regardless of type would give maximum leverage and power at any point between 45 and 70 degrees from the horizontal, anything other than that and the fish is in control and not the angler

[Worms]

For maximum power I would have thought that the rod positioned at 90^oto the line direction would be the optimum angle (it works with clutch operating levers etc) and is also where a rod's maximum test curve is measured, ignoring action etc. As you suggest, going past 90^o is going to put a lot more stress on the tip.

 

One slight difference though would be fishing from a boat when the fish is coming up from beneath you. The fish is brought to the surface by pumping and then the rod is frequently at a greater than 90^o angle!

 

Perhaps that is designed into the action of boat rods?

[weirwulf]

In my limited experience of cats I found the fish pretty much dictated how the rod was held. Most of the time it was as much as I could do to just hold on comfortably but in terms of actually controlling it seemed that the old trick of keeping the rod low to calm the fish was a good plot and each of the fish I played responded to my call to relax a little. You do however at some point have to apply pressure because the fish has got all day and you want to ruin it for them and I found that using the pumping action that sea anglers use gradually brought the fish to the net. This meant making an arc between water level and around 70 degrees. I gather the lake was around 30 feet deep so a shallower water may produce longer runs where you would doubtless be left just holding on with the clutch slipping a bit at whatever angle felt comfy

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'd tend to go along with Worms here. Although you can't be expected to keep the rod at 90 degrees throughout a fight, that is where I'd expect the to achieve the maximum power and cushioning without stress being placed on the line and so, that is the position I'd be aiming for.

 

I don't know if that's right though. It feels right to me.

 

....Andy....

[lutra]

I'd tend to go along with Worms here. Although you can't be expected to keep the rod at 90 degrees throughout a fight, that is where I'd expect the to achieve the maximum power and cushioning without stress being placed on the line and so, that is the position I'd be aiming for.

 

I don't know if that's right though. It feels right to me.

 

....Andy....

Yep me to.

[Tigger]

I would agree with Worms also...but the position you hold the rod whilst retreiving a fish is gonna vary an awfull lot depending on the depth of water, size of fish, ammount of pressure you need to excert etc so I don't think there's any fixed rule.

 

Don't forget when you've played a decent fish and it's powering about you have to move your rod at different angles continuously throughout the fight.

Edited November 30, 2009 by Tigger

[tincatinca]

With a fishing rod, you are dealing with what is known as a class 3 lever. Basically what that means is the input effort which is how you are holding the rod greatly exceeds the load which is the fish. For example if you have a 12 foot rod held at a right angle to the line and your hand is 2 feet from the butt with your elbow applying the force with say a 20lb fish on the end trying to pull away from you and you are holding fast so that neither fish or you gain any ground then the maximum theoretical forces in play to maintain equilibrium would 20 lb at the rod tip but 100 lb at the elbow which equates to clockwise moments of force equalling anti clockwise moments of force around the fulcrum which is your hand. This is the simplistic approach but we now have with a rod due to its tapered construction, something that tapers down the whole of its length becoming more rigid as it goes down and thus continuously increases for want of a better description its test curve and subsequently the spring effect. Added to this there are frictional elements to consider amd also the breaking strain of the line which of course is a key issue as if the applied force is greater than the line strength it is likely to go ping. This can really show up when playing a moderate sized fish on a long rod which makes the fish feel a lot heavier than it really is due to the effort required which is the main reason for putting your other hand up the rod to reduce the effort. Coupled with that is also the huge variation in actions of rods i.e. the spring effect. Complicated innit and much more fun to do what comes naturally and just do what feels right.

Edited November 30, 2009 by tincatinca

[weirwulf]

I think you might have put that topic to bed now tincatinca!

[Anderoo]

Leaning back too far with the rod puts excessive strain on the rod tip, which can snap. The most pressure you can exert on a fish (e.g. a weeded fish), assuming your line is strong enough, is a direct pull on the line and not using the rod at all. Then you risk the line snapping.

 

Everything else is give and take!