Rod Length

[wunnus]

I have experimented in customising rods to be shorter (so they go straight in the car). I fish small (5m across etc) streams and usually with plenty of interesting/challenging overgrowth. I find that I can get to grips with 2lb+ perch and some nice lookin rudd/roach crosses. It s those bolshy chub that cause the agro , and who the hell taught small pike to go for maggot!!. But why are the produced rods so soft in their action. If I had to rely on a gettin a commercial rod I'd have to use a small feeder rod with a float.

[The Diamond Geezer]

Have you thought about using a telescopic? You only need to extend the sections you want, and some of them are quite tough i.e. not soft

[Steve Burke]

I used to do an awful lot of small stream fishing and found similar problems to you.

 

On overgrown waters I agree that short rods are preferable. However most of my local streams are pretty open thanks to unenlightened drainage policies. Here I much prefer long rods as they allow me to keep well back out of sight with less likelyhood of spooking the fish.

 

For fitting into the boot of the car I prefer 3 piece rods. These days there shouldn't be a problem with flat spots at the joints. Also as a former professional rod designer I can tell you that, contrary to popular belief, you can get a better action in a 3 piece rod than a 2 piece one. This is because you can use different mandrels for each section.

 

Like you I don't like soft through action rods. I find in particular that by the time you can apply enough pressure, so much of the rod has bent that the fish has been able to move a fair way. In small waters especially this can be a major problem - especially with chub that are so often near a snag!

 

What I prefer is a rod with a soft tip but with a progressive action and a bit of power in the butt. Like you I couldn't find what I wanted, so had to design my own. Now I've retired I don't know if my rodbuilders have any of these blanks left. However, you may be able to find something similar if you try enough tackle shops.

[Newt]

Steve knows wherof he speaks. As long as you bear in mind that he has a very strong bias toward long rods.

 

If you do want to go with shorter, take a good look at the lure rods in 7-8 ft lengths. a 2 piece would break into 3.5 to 4 foot sections that should go anywhere.

 

And you can get pretty much any action that suits you. Not at all unusual in the US for a occasional carp angler to use his normal spinning rod/reel and put doubles or even 20s on the bank.

 

If you can't find any UK shorter rods that suit you, post back since the US rods almost never mention T/C and are rated quite differently than UK rods. Several on here can translate the terms for you.

 

And you might want to strongly consider a muiltiplier rod/reel rather than fixed spool. Or if you are keeping the rig light, a spin-cast reel on a multiplier style rod.

[Steve Burke]

Newt's made a good point as usual. Certainly some of the US rods have the right action. These include some of their fast action fly rods, which will usually be longer than their lure rods. As a broad generalisation US rods tend to less through action than ours.

 

Alternatively you just might find the top 2 sections of certain float rods will give you what you need. Discarding the butt will both make the rod seem more powerful and less through action. However you may have to try a lot to find a suitable one!

 

It really depends on the length you're looking for. On the overgrown streams I fish I use a 7½ footer, which suits my local waters. On the open streams I prefer a 12ft+ rod for the reasons I gave.

 

It's interesting that one of the best small stream anglers, David Carl Forbes, made the same point in "Rough River & Small Stream Fishing". He qualified the advice he'd given in his earlier book "Small Stram Fishing" as he started fishing more open streams.

 

Other small stream books well worth getting hold of are "The Exploring Angler" by Tag Barnes and "Big Fish from Small Waters" by Kenneth Seaman.

 

One I haven't got in my library at the moment is "How to Fish the Upper Great Ouse" by Fred J. Taylor. Can anyone help? I'm not bothered about condition.

[wunnus]

I started with telescopic ideas but I hated it when the whole lot shot back.

I also used a spinner rod. The casting went well but the control of the fish on a barbless hook was a bit wayward.

By hit and miss with cut down match rods I ended up with about 9ft as the ideal, a sorta compromise. I did tend to lean to a whip rod tip, but then I like using whip rods.

 

The two most common challenges were the downstream side of an overhanging willow and the wide,low road bridge. The challenge in both cases was not so much in the casting as in the striking. The slow stream flow tended to aid placing the bait where I wanted. Quite often it is necessary to draw the catch to a suitable landing position. Plus large Chub (5lb+) tend to be a bit headstrong, weell come that chunky perch (2lb+) also tend to have a mind of their own. The line can hang on to it but the rod needs to soak up the sudden moves.

 

Thanks for the great ideas. The commercial rods rarely offer much below 10 ft. The few that I have encountered (Shakespeare, Masterline, Abu) have been way too sloppy for the jobs mentioned above. The older glass fibre rods are more suitable. Fly rods (8s) have also been used, but I tend to end up fly fishing for chub, nothing wrong in that but I do enjoy my stick float fishing.

 

Clearly the

[Steve Burke]

I agree about some of the old glass rods. They certainly weren't all "flop sticks", and a few of the fast taper designs with their soft tips but powerful butts will give you the action you're after. Their other great advantage for this type of fishing is that they stand knocks better than carbon.

 

You've reminded me that 2 of my rod-building friends still have a lot of glass blanks. There's almost certainly something suitable amongst them. If you're interested let me know and I'll put you in contact.

[Newt]

Also take a look at some of the Ugly Stik rods from Shakespeare. Carbon-glass composite with a solid glass tip. A blurb I stole from Shakespeare:

quote:

---

HOW THE SHAKESPEARE UGLY STIK®

GOT ITS NAME

 

In the 1940s, fishing rods were manufactured from either hollow or solid fiberglass. Hollow fiberglass rods were lighter and less expensive than solid ones, but they were also more inclined to break, particularly at the tip. While solid rods were stronger, they were also heavier and more expensive than the hollow ones.

 

Shakespeare developed a process that combined the benefits of each type of rod by joining a hollow fiberglass base to a solid fiberglass tip. With developments in graphite in the mid 1970s, Shakespeare added a graphite core to the base of the rod, making it even stronger. The tip remained solid fiberglass, which is both strong and flexible.

 

Shakespeare patented its invention and for years was the only manufacturer of fishing rods with a hollow graphite base and a solid fiberglass tip.

 

Because graphite is naturally charcoal gray and fiberglass is naturally clear or "whitish translucent," Shakespeare's rods had a distinctive appearance when compared to those of its competitors. While Shakespeare was at first troubled by the aesthetically unappealing two-toned rod, their customers seemed to like it. Shakespeare sought to capitalize on its appearance, deliberately marketing it in its natural two-toned appearance so that consumers could recognize the graphite base and solid fiberglass tip, and calling it the "Ugly Stik" - the name by which their two tone rod blanks are still known today.

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You can get them from 4ft to 13ft. I have used a pair of the 8ft ones for some years now and they are excellent rods. Good action. Plenty of beef to handle large fish. Not great precision casting instruments and I never use one for a lure rod except the short (4-4.5ft) ones for U/L rigs but for the sort if fishing you describe, ideal I'd think. And not expensive at all. Cheap in fact. But don't let the low price put you off.

 

Here for a good listing of all their rods to 9ft.