Changing rod action?

[Eric Peterson]

I know this is a ridiculous question but my frog rod has way to stiff of tip for me. Is there anywhere I can make the tip more flexible?

[Eric Peterson]

My rod has a really stiff tip and am looking for a way to make the tip more flexible. Is this even possible?

[BobP]

Nope, don't think so.

[gulfcaptain]

Only if you get a new rod.  Not any way to really change the action of the rod or make the tip softer.  Get a new one and sell that one or use it for something else.  Part of our great sport is finding new rods that fit the application you're wanting to use them for.

[smalljaw67]

The way the graphite is cut and rolled on the mandrel  determines power and action, and there is no way to make a rod that is stiff more flexible. What kind of rod and what power and action? Why do you want it to have more flex?

[Eric Peterson]

Well it's a mh 7 6. It's my frog rod. I like to set the hook to faster then I should. I've used my buddies that has more tip to it and it walks better and I hook up more. As for action I'm guessing between moderate and fast. It's awfully stiff

 

[Batson]

As mentioned, can't change the action that way.
You can stiffen up a blank but not the other way around. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

It is what it is. What you're looking at is more power than action. 

[MickD]

Batson, how do I stiffen up a blank?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I think he means the tip which will be stiffer if trimmed. I thinks it's common among salt water builders. Can't imagine doing that to a bass Rod blank though. 

[Big Bait Fishing]

3 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

I think he means the tip which will be stiffer if trimmed. I thinks it's common among salt water builders. Can't imagine doing that to a bass Rod blank though. 

common practice with musky rods

[MickD]

Got it.  Trim it, action slows, gets more powerful.  Trimming from the tip, right?  Trimming either end will slow it, but not sure about power if trimmed from the butt.

I have trimmed a few from the tip, by breaking off the tiptop, and have never really liked them after that.  Same sort of disappointment as when your pedigreed bird dog gets knocked up by the mutt down the street.  

[Batson]

Correct. Of course I personally wouldn't recommend trimming the tip.
You wouldn't gain a slower action (bigger arc) per see but would stiffen up the tip (shortening up the flexing action). Would change the power by making a Medium Light into a Medium or Medium Heavy.

A gentler way would be to add additional wraps - the more you put on a blank the more it changes things.

Course always best to get the blank that fits what you want the most.

[MickD]

I believe that trimming the tip will give a smaller action angle when CCS tested.  Smaller action angle = slower action.  Take a scrap blank and try it.  Same for trimming the butt.   

Agree, the right way is to get the right blank in the first place, and with all the choices, that should not be that hard.

[Chrisbigdaddybasshole]

..You have any old broken rods or kids rod with a softer tip cut off the tip and add it to your other rod..kinda like replacing the tip if you've ever done that. There's a little more standing and gluing involved but with 3 kids and health issues keeping me out of work I can't afford new rods all the time.. my favorite rod right now his one eye put together out of three broken poles and that's my pull them b****** out the pads poll good luck man but it is a lot easier to go buy a new Pole

[MickD]

On 5/24/2016 at 10:56 AM, Batson said:

You can stiffen up a blank but not the other way around. 

How is this accomplished? 

On 5/30/2016 at 8:45 PM, MickD said:

I believe that trimming the tip will give a smaller action angle when CCS tested.  Smaller action angle = slower action.  Take a scrap blank and try it.  Same for trimming the butt.   

Agree, the right way is to get the right blank in the first place, and with all the choices, that should not be that hard.

I should have mentioned that while the action will slow it will get more powerful, which is not what you want.  I ascribe to the philosophy that one can never have too many rods, so do another.  If you try butchering this rod up you probably will end up with something that's not good for much of anything.

[spoonplugger1]

I think Mick was trying to say, shorten any rod and it's action slows. Shorten from the tip, stiffer tip, slower tip, power stays the same. Shorten from the butt, slower rod, same tip, less power.

If it was me, I'd take the rod and reel I don't like to the store. First thing, find that softer rod, second thing, put the reel on both rods and compare weight and ballance. Rods are regional, western rods by and large have softer tips, a MH is usually a bit less powerful than an east of the Rockies rod. We have the "G Loomis influence", deeper, cleaner waters as a whole.

[Brad Reid]

8 minutes ago, spoonplugger1 said:

I think Mick was trying to say, shorten any rod and it's action slows. Shorten from the tip, stiffer tip, slower tip, power stays the same. Shorten from the butt, slower rod, same tip, less power.

I think the original post on shortening was, no doubt, referencing trimming in the tip end.

 

Spoonplugger1, well, no, shortening from the butt end, yes, you'd get the same action; but, more power, not less, as trimming off the butt end would shorten your lifting lever. Your hand will be closer to the load on the rod. So, from the angler's perspective, for a given flexion in the rod owing to some big bass tugging on it, he or she will feel less load in his wrist and hand if the butt end is chopped off some amount.

 

Brad

[spoonplugger1]

Brad, you're right in your perceptions, wrong if you take the time to actually measure the load the shortened blank will carry. Loss of graphite and butt diameter can have dramatic effects, a rod blank using the same amount of graphite, but double in diameter, will be 9 time stiffer.

[Alex from GA]

You can soften the tip by adding heavier guides and tip top but not by much.  Most of us want a crisper action which calls for installing lighter guides.