"the wand picks the wizard, mr. potter!" or how to rate a rod

a number of guys have e-mailed or asked, so i thought i'd repost this. if you need to establish the proper rating for a rod, here is the procedure....

1. place any reel on the rod with any heavy line (it does not matter). run the line through the guides and tie the water jug at the end. place the rod in a holder of some sort so that the rod butt rests at a 45 degree angle. now add water or weight (cut a hole in the jug) until the rod bends to the desired flex that you want.

i usually look for the rod tip to bend until the tip is midway between the top of the arc and the butt cap of the rod. you may desire more or less. it depends upon the type of rod and your personal preferences.

2. now measure or total up the weight. let's say that you have a medium weight rod that flexes to a desired amount with only 10 pounds. you have now determined the proper drag setting for your rod.

3. now choose a line weight. different people have different preferences. you might typically fish as heavy a drag setting as 33% or as light as 25%. anything more risks line breakage. anything less is wasted unless line abrasion resistance is a concern. admittedly, i fish some rigs as heavy as 50% and others as light as 12%.  let's just say that we will stay within average parameters.  with a desired 10 pound drag setting at a 33%, you need a 30 pound mono.

4. now chose a line capacity. typically people look for 300 of line capacity. what fish can take a 100 yard run on you if the drags are properly set? that is the length of a football field. why in the world would anyone want 500 yards of line for fish under 60 pounds? in the vast majority of situations, it is lack of confidence and low drag settings. very few fishermen actually check the drag settings with a scale. i'm sorry that this is so harsh, but unless the fish is larger than 5 times the line weight, i see no reason for getting "spooled." in open water, you typically fight a 40 pound fish with only the first 100 yards of 40 pound mono. in moving water or fish up to twice the line rating, that fight might occur in the first 150 yards.  i use 300 yards for smaller tuna, 500 yards for the big ones.

5. now pick the size of the reel. are you fishing with straight mono or spectra with a mono topshot. what ever the situation, you pick the size of the spool to fit the required amount of line. and make sure it can deliver the required amount of drag and still maintain good free spool. we can talk about avets later, right adam?

hope this makes sense.  alan

Thanks Master Alan! this is sorcerer stuff!  I'll never**HIGH-STICK again!
but if I do?  atLEASTiKNOWwhatTOcallIT!

Alan,

I've just rebuilt my Penn Squidder and 309M with the help of your digital photo lessons.

You have helped so many people.. Thanks.

Star Wars had Obewan, we have Taniwan!!!

Rich

Alan,

I forgot to mention that when I was replacing the dog spring on the 309, even though I was really careful, it disappeared, never to be found again. So, I've renamed it the "Oh Jesus" spring;  as it flew into the oblivian, all I could say was, "Oh Jesus." Lucky for me, right in Felton, there is a shop called "Ralston Rod and Archery". Its owned and operated by Perry Ralston, he is a full service Penn dealer.

We rode over there, had to wait while he got back from a Turkey hunt, and of course he had a dog spring.....

My lucky day!!!!

Rich

is the 12% method the 50lb spectra with 2.5lb drag? wait, that is 5%! maybe you set the drag to 6lbs?

okay, so what is your 50% rig? hmmm... must be 10lbs of drag on 20lb test live bait albacore?


the mcgyver method of setting drag:

0. attach lure to chosen rod and reel.

1. freespool lure to floor.

2. step on it.

3. pull up on rod.

4. line should pull out before the line or rod breaks, but rod should bend pretty good before line pulls otherwise your line does not match your combo. adjust drag until line pulls out at just the right "bend". test it with your hand so you can try to reproduce if you mess with the drag while on the water.

5. if line pulls out in jerks, send reel to alan tani or go to reel seminar.

 

Rangerben
  What else has he got in his little shop?  I drive by it quite frequently, but, haven't stopped due to parking concerns. (Dodge Ram 2500 CTD needs her space)

jprtroy,

I was blown away when I walked in there.. Full blown hunting and fishing shop, incredible # of hunting bows, etc... The parking problem is fixed. As of 5/1/08, he is moving to a BIG place on Scotts Valley Drive with Archery range, etc....

He is a full service Penn dealer, has guides, threads, wraps rods, does it all.

You gotta check him out, whata character... But then again , SLV has a LOT of characters!!!!

Rich