Rod Taper?!!!

[Kevin Bogan]

Most anglers, Party boat, charter and private are happy to see that the weather till now has been cooperative, reasonably warm, and more importantly a great mix of bottom species. Cod, Ling, Blackfish, Sea Bass,Poprgies just to name a few. This thread is intended to help understand what it takes to put a few more fish in the cooler, and which rod to use.
Material: We could argue all day, which is better, Graphite, E Glass? The primary difference between each material is that graphite fibers are "stiffer" giving a "stiff" feel to a rod, while E Glass is "softer" giving a soft feel to the rod. Manufacturers would have you believe such nonsense that certain materials are "lighterweight", but the actual difference is minimal. Some claim more "sensitive". Sensitivity has little to do with a fishing rod, it is an ability.
A skilled fisherman can feel all he needs to feel with the least sensitive rod, simply because he knows what he is feeling.
Rod Taper: This is the single most important characteristic of a rod that performs well. Fast taper is one where the rod generally bends in the tip area. The bottom portion barely bends. This is a great action for Tuna, and other top water species. As fish runs off line, the angler can put a good deal of pressure on the fish to slow him down and tire him.
Medium or slow tapers bend more in the mid section. So often someone says, "I want a fast taper rod to go bottom fishing". This leads me to believe that the person is not aware of what fast realy means. The advantage of medium to slower tapers is that they give a "shock absorbing" flex as you reel in a fish. As the fish attempts to "surge" away from you, the extra "give", or what I call the "slow load" helps to prevent a lip hooked fish from becoming dislodged, line breakage, and in fact works like a fine tuned drag on a reel.
There needs to be a little give and take. E glass has a natural ability to perform as described. Graphite can as well, but it must have a slower taper. Look at the legend/description of the rod that you own. If it says "Fast" and it's graphite, this is a sure combination of "more lost fish". High modulas graphite flexes even less, making higher cost graphite rods perform to lower levels than expected. Low modulas [ a measure ment of resistance to bending, or stiffness]teamed with medium taper makes the best performing graphite rod. When a Blackfish goes bananas, pulls out all his tricks to get you back into the wreck, just engage the proper taper, and in short time he will know he is in big trouble. If a doormat Fluke starts to go into "evasive tactics", the natural shock absorbing qualities of "slow load" tapers will give you the best chance of getting him to the boat.
Slow Load=Dead Fish

[Captain Rich]

Kev- need a rod worked on, are you back in your shop yet?? Left you a PM

[dfish28]

I don't think Kevin ever really stopped too long- he has a temp shop by the rite aid on 88 just east of bay ave 9-5, picked up my second rod this year right after x-mas! It's awesome!

[JerseyCoast]

Nice informational post here Kevin!!

I agree with you that fast tapered graphite blanks are trouble in most cases. Yet, we see so many of them sold under "popular brand names" because of some perfectly executed marketing skills. I know some good fishermen who will swear on their Brand name rods being the best made, but when they pick up the same action in another name they say its junk and not the right action. So many people are tricked under the advertising that we see today!

Great read, some good info and I wanted say that I agree with you!! Maybe a live bait rod...( no, they are better in e-glass) I see no other good to that combination of graphite and that action.

[HDMarc]

Very informative read, Kevin. I've often heard of different "action" rods and had little understanding of what the difference was. Your explanation definitely makes it easier to understand.

[East Coast Angler]

Taper or action I have two rods from the same company Phenix both have a slow taper one rod is fast and one is Moderate

Kevin do you mean action and not taper? its my understanding that different rods are built on the same mandrells and the taper are the same

What makes the action differ is the way they lay them up cut the patterens and how many layers they use But the tapers are the same

[Kevin Bogan]

East Coast. Taper and action are generally the same. You could have two blanks form the same mfgr, wrapped on the same mandrel, and if one has more material in the butt section, it will be a little faster.

[TDaly25]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogan

Most anglers, Party boat, charter and private are happy to see that the weather till now has been cooperative, reasonably warm, and more importantly a great mix of bottom species. Cod, Ling, Blackfish, Sea Bass,Poprgies just to name a few. This thread is intended to help understand what it takes to put a few more fish in the cooler, and which rod to use.
Material: We could argue all day, which is better, Graphite, E Glass? The primary difference between each material is that graphite fibers are "stiffer" giving a "stiff" feel to a rod, while E Glass is "softer" giving a soft feel to the rod. Manufacturers would have you believe such nonsense that certain materials are "lighterweight", but the actual difference is minimal. Some claim more "sensitive". Sensitivity has little to do with a fishing rod, it is an ability.
A skilled fisherman can feel all he needs to feel with the least sensitive rod, simply because he knows what he is feeling.
Rod Taper: This is the single most important characteristic of a rod that performs well. Fast taper is one where the rod generally bends in the tip area. The bottom portion barely bends. This is a great action for Tuna, and other top water species. As fish runs off line, the angler can put a good deal of pressure on the fish to slow him down and tire him.
Medium or slow tapers bend more in the mid section. So often someone says, "I want a fast taper rod to go bottom fishing". This leads me to believe that the person is not aware of what fast realy means. The advantage of medium to slower tapers is that they give a "shock absorbing" flex as you reel in a fish. As the fish attempts to "surge" away from you, the extra "give", or what I call the "slow load" helps to prevent a lip hooked fish from becoming dislodged, line breakage, and in fact works like a fine tuned drag on a reel.
There needs to be a little give and take. E glass has a natural ability to perform as described. Graphite can as well, but it must have a slower taper. Look at the legend/description of the rod that you own. If it says "Fast" and it's graphite, this is a sure combination of "more lost fish". High modulas graphite flexes even less, making higher cost graphite rods perform to lower levels than expected. Low modulas [ a measure ment of resistance to bending, or stiffness]teamed with medium taper makes the best performing graphite rod. When a Blackfish goes bananas, pulls out all his tricks to get you back into the wreck, just engage the proper taper, and in short time he will know he is in big trouble. If a doormat Fluke starts to go into "evasive tactics", the natural shock absorbing qualities of "slow load" tapers will give you the best chance of getting him to the boat.
Slow Load=Dead Fish

Terrific post, Kevin. Great job of breaking down the code into laymen's terms! Thanks

[East Coast Angler]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogan

East Coast. Taper and action are generally the same. You could have two blanks form the same mfgr, wrapped on the same mandrel, and if one has more material in the butt section, it will be a little faster.

I never thought taper & action as one in the same

Taper can be slow or fast

so can action but you can have a slow taper fast action rod or a fast taper slow action rod

Its all about how a rod is maped out not the taper

also has little to do with material you can have a extra fast hard tip glass rod and a slow action soft tip graphite rod

all about how a rod is maped out

you can aslo use the same part of a mandrell and get different action rods

I agree with you on over priced custom rods I went to a builder and he wanted way north of $600 for a seeker

No way do I think a seeker is worth anywere near that no matter how pretty ot looks its still a seeker same goes for calstar phenix on and on

But to say a low quality graphite or glass rod is better than a high quality I dont get

If I were to agree with you I would just buy ulgy sticks for 69

[Ol Pedro]

The first time that I heard of Taper was in the early 70's . It was on Browning Siloflex and Fenwick blanks . How many people remember when most rods were parabolic (early solid glass/hollow) ? Action meant more then . Light , medium , or heavy . From a moodle to a broomstick . Same flex top to bottom . When the progressive taper came , slow , medium , fast , and extra fast tapers became relevant terms to discribe the same thing .The way that blanks were made changed . With better fibers to work with , internal pressurization , and changing the angle that the fiber is cut and where it's placed in the layup changed where the blank will flex/how much .