Rod Ratings

[Jigfishn10]

I’m sure in the 15 plus years this has been asked but do rods have a “safety factor” built in?

 

My rod is rated for 1/4oz - 1 1/2 oz lures. I casted a 2oz bucktail jig, no trailer with ease. There has to be a safety factor built in, no?

[A-Jay]

Who Knows ~ ?

But your experience here may be a prime example of how a rod's

'rating' is more or less a simple recommendation more than anything else.

Cast Hard my friend . . .

A-Jay

[CrankFate]

Rod Ratings.

 

                                                                                     

[Jigfishn10]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Who Knows ~ ?

But your experience here may be a prime example of how a rod's

'rating' is more or less a simple recommendation more than anything else.

Cast Hard my friend . . .

A-Jay

@A-Jay, you’re killing me man!!!???

 

 

[DitchPanda]

I recently replaced an Abu Garcia ike rod 7ft2 medhvy fast 3/8-1oz with a 7ft 3 dobyns fury heavy fast 1\4-1oz. Rods are supposedly almost identical but the Abu was much stiffer.

[jimmyjoe]

   I once spoke with a rod designer from one of the major companies. I didn't even know it until after we had chatted for awhile. He said that different companies rate different ways, sometimes for different reasons.  Company "A" might want to sell light weight, but feel they  need to hit an advertising point in the market. Company "B" might build a little over rating to make a reputation for a really strong rod. Company "C" might get rods from overseas that are cheap and stiff, and they try to rate them according to flex, even though they know a certain percentage will break. They'll absorb the costs of replacement as a way of doing business. Company "D" has a rod that is rated with no margin for error, but it's light and super sensitive. Company "E" doesn't care. They make a rod that's almost unbreakable, and expect the fishermen to figure it all out for themselves.

   This gentleman had just left his former employer and moved to a new rod company. The old company had hired a new person with "fresh ideas". So now the effect would be that both rod companies will now market rods that are different than what customers had been accustomed to for years.

 

   So............. don't rely on last year's stereotypes.                       jj

 

  

[Jigfishn10]

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

Rod Ratings.

 

                                                                                     

Hey bud, seriously!?

[LCG]

15 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   I once spoke with a rod designer from one of the major companies. I didn't even know it until after we had chatted for awhile. He said that different companies rate different ways, sometimes for different reasons.  Company "A" might want to sell light weight, but feel they  need to hit an advertising point in the market. Company "B" might build a little over rating to make a reputation for a really strong rod. Company "C" might get rods from overseas that are cheap and stiff, and they try to rate them according to flex, even though they know a certain percentage will break. They'll absorb the costs of replacement as a way of doing business. Company "D" has a rod that is rated with no margin for error, but it's light and super sensitive. Company "E" doesn't care. They make a rod that's almost unbreakable, and expect the fishermen to figure it all out for themselves.

   This gentleman had just left his former employer and moved to a new rod company. The old company had hired a new person with "fresh ideas". So now the effect would be that both rod companies will now market rods that are different than what customers had been accustomed to for years.

 

   So............. don't rely on last year's stereotypes.                       jj

 

  

This was the most logical and well written explanation I have read. It would be nice to have an industry standard with respect to power and action of rods. Would save a lot of time and confusion, especially for newer anglers.

 

I imagine we have all been there and probably still are for that perfect rod. I realize that most of it is personal preference, but to have a "standard" would be beneficial.

 

A 7ft Medium heavy rod that is always recommended as general use rod various greatly from one rod company to another. So people end up buying and selling rods trying to find that feel they are looking for. It still amazes me how complex fishing can be. 

[Columbia Craw]

I guess I’m an optimist and realist. After forty years, I know a universal power rating is impossible.  What is far more important is a consistency in the progression of the powers within the brand or series. I also feel consistent actions are just as critical.  Good luck!

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, LCG said:

. I realize that most of it is personal preference, but to have a "standard" would be beneficial.

 

   Common Cents comes close.   https://common-cents.info/    

   Marketing and advertising priorities get in the way of standardization, though. After all, notice how rod companies all claim to be different, or unique, and not similar or standardized. Customers respond to that.    jj

[Fishes in trees]

Rod ratings give you a place to start.  I don't buy rods over the internet unless I'm replacing a rod that I know works for me.  I have to touch it and feel it for me to get an idea of what I might want to use it for.  Then price and current disposable income and wants & needs come into play.   In my fishing shed there are several rods where I guessed wrong.   These sit bungeed together in a 5 gallon bucket in my fishing shed, waiting for me to discover a purpose for them - or - trade them off to someone who might need it or want it.

 

Ultimately I find that rod ratings printed on rods are like parking lot striping on any Ozark Walmart parking lot, i.e. - they are there for guidelines, but no one really expects everyone to follow them all the time - if ever.

[T-Billy]

17 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

I recently replaced an Abu Garcia ike rod 7ft2 medhvy fast 3/8-1oz with a 7ft 3 dobyns fury heavy fast 1\4-1oz. Rods are supposedly almost identical but the Abu was much stiffer.

I have several Abu's in the Vendetta, Veritas and Veracity series. They're all stout rods for their ratings. Dobyns on the other hand seem to run light for their ratings. My 7'3" MH Veritas is a pool cue compared to my 735 Fury witch is supposed to be a Heavy action. Both are quality rods but I like the action on the Dobyns better. To me the Dobyns feels like a MH MF. Very versatile rod . It gets lots of use. 

[CrankFate]

23 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Hey bud, seriously!?

That about sums it up, yes.

[Jigfishn10]

9 hours ago, CrankFate said:

That about sums it up, yes.

Ok CrankFake

[MickD]

On 7/31/2021 at 11:22 PM, Columbia Craw said:

I know a universal power rating is impossible.  

It really is not.  Dr. Bill Hanneman many years ago developed what he named the "Common Sense System" for objectively rating the power and action of blanks and rods.  It was aimed at the time for fly rods, but it is universal and many custom builders have been using it for years.  It gives a power number and an action angle which describes the "speed" of the action.  Some manufacturers of custom blanks have started using it.  One of the biggest, Batson/Rainshadow just introduced a new line of premium blanks and published CCS data on all the blanks.  Anglers Resource, distributers of the Point Blank premium blank series publishes CCS data on all their blanks.  Pac Bay has published CCS data on some of their blanks.  I expect the use of it to continue to grow.

 

It is not difficult to set up the "tools" required for builders and fishermen to measure their own rods, and in time, have a better understanding of this issue.  I measure every blank I get my hands on.  For more info on it go to https://www.common-cents.info/

 

The big board described in the literature is ideal, but not necessary.  I do not use a big, space consuming board like that, and can show my system to anyone who would like to set theirs up.