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Fast isn't always good - an examination of rod action

The action, or way a rod feels when casting, is determined by the designer and is derived from the taper or combination of tapers, of the blank (both for carbon and cane rods) that makes-up the rod. It has nothing to do with the length of a rod or the weight of line (although a change of line weight can modify the action). Designing a rod with the right action is fundamental to designing a successful rod. And a rod's action is the most important factor to establish when trying and buying a rod.

Designing a rod's taper is a fairly complex process involving plenty of maths, a calculator, micrometer and a computer today. Carbon rods are built on steel mandrels that are machined by computer-controlled milling machines whereas the tapers for cane rods are achieved by careful hand planing. The ideal action is smooth and continuous with no hard or flat spots. By varying the taper throughout the length of a rod as well as each individual section, the action of a rod can be designed to cast in a particular way. Such as easy loading for short to medium casts but with enough power to be able to cast a long line when required.

In very simple terms a fast rod will be (very) stiff and a slow rod will be very flexible. The fast-action rod will bend very little and what bend there is will be at the tip of the rod, whereas the slow rod will bend more and from tip to handle. A medium action will be somewhere in the middle.

When a prospective customer picks-up a rod and starts waggling it, if this is done properly, you can find the first natural frequency of a rod shaft. If this wiggle test is done correctly and you find the first natural frequency, it will tell an experienced caster quite a lot about the action of the rod being wiggled. If you do not find what what you are looking for, this test is a meaningless tackle shop ritual and is best ignored.

What action to choose?

Progressive through tapers and middle or middle to tip tapers tend to be more forgiving to cast with than a rod with a fast or tip-action. Sadly for the less than expert, there is no common or consistent system for rating a rod's action. This is compounded by different manufacturers using different terminology to describe a rod's action. Orvis has developed its own system for rating rod actions which seems to be very accurate.

The greater flexibility of progressive through-action rods is good for protecting fine tippets and is popular with anglers who prefer a more traditional action. Such rods will please the angler who prefers a slower casting stroke and who fishes at close range. A progressive action rod will bend and provide plenty of feel when playing a fish.

A medium action will provide excellent performance over a wide range of fishing conditions and casting styles. Such a rod is ideal for the angler who regularly fishes a range of conditions. It will load with a shorter line which is important for casting and fishing at close range.

A fast or tip action is good for high speed casting as it will create high line speeds, tight loops and good accuracy and range. Such rods can take some getting used to as you have to get the timing absolutely spot-on and they will demand a shorter casting stroke. These rods will have plenty of butt strength for fighting big, powerful fish.

Although fast-action rods are heavily promoted, they are not always the best rod to choose or even the answer to all your casting problems. The choice of such a rod could, in fact, make things much worse. While they will appeal to some anglers, not everyone will have the ability or the desire to master such a rod.

Thanks to the advances of technology it is now possible to use lighter-line rods that cast as well, if not better, than rods of a heavier line weight a decade ago. Generally speaking, lighter rods and lines are much pleasanter to cast and fish with, particularly over a whole day on the water.

A stiff rod will cast further, in the right hands, as well as providing better control when playing fish. A soft tip will help protect light tippets: this is achieved by increasing flex and reducing mass. A low mass tip that is stiff gives control over fish as well as high line speed when casting. But a soft tip may not provide enough control to keep a determined fish out of a weed bed.

Good line speed is achieved by stiff, light, small diameter high modulus blanks. The small diameter reduces wind resistance during the casting stroke. But care has to be taken by the rod designer that he does not compromise the hoop strength of the rod blank by reducing the diameter too much. Without adequate hoop strength, a rod will collapse when subject to any sort of load as in casting or playing a fish.

If a standard test could be agreed by all rod makers, then all rod actions could be classified in the same way that line weights are defined by the AFTMA line weighting standard. One company that has taken a lead in this area is Orvis. It has designed and developed a test rig that is used to establish a flex point. The distances of that point from the butt and tip and from a straight line between the butt and tip are then measured. These measurements are used in a formula that produces a flex rating for the particular rod. One problem with such tests is that they are essentially static - whereas casting is dynamic - and they cannot take into account the aerodynamic properties of a rod.

What is the right action for you? As we have said many times before, the only way to find the rod action that will suit your casting and fishing style is to test cast a selection of rods before making up your mind and handing over good money. Don't be a slave to fashion and think that you have got to own the fastest rod on the market if you know that you won't be able to cast well and consistently with it or enjoying fishing it.

UPDATE - AUGUST 2001

Einar Østerdahl Poulsson, from Norway, contacted Fish & Fly in response to the recent article on the actions of fly rods. he wrote: "I have just read the examination, which was interesting, but as far as I can figure out too one dimensional. I think everything that was said, is right, as long as you compare rods of the same material. But the moment you have different materials, the matter gets more complicated. Carbon recovers from bending much faster than cane. A medium action carbon rod, could have a faster recovery than a tip action cane rod. As far as I can see the Orvis system does not solve this problem. The only one which to my knowledge tackles this is David Norwich with his double system of both rod action and recovery rate and comes up with a Performance Factor."

We contacted David Norwich for his comments. He replied that assessing and grading rod actions is a very complicated subject, and not as simple as it may first appear.

If you anchor the butt section of say a 9' 6" # 6 rod, and attach a weight (let's say 142grams or 5ozs.) and then examine the curve which the rod takes - what does it tell you? Does it tell you that the rod has a more pronounced bend in the tip (middle to tip)? Or does it have a bend in the middle (medium)? Or does it show a pronounced bend in the butt (butt action)? Or does it have a combination of all these. How do you describe that combination with our simple system which is entirely subjective - ''Middle to tip occasionally medium with a leaning towards the butt''?

Then if you add into the equation that the diameter and the thickness of the tube can be varied at any point, this would change the perceived curve of the rod. Then throw into the equation the different elasticities of the carbon fibre materials which could be used i.e. stiff, moderate-stiff, less-stiff etc (these are layman's descriptions for modulus of elasticity), and that these can be varied and mixed throughout the rod length, then the subject gets even more complicated. For instance it is possible to use a very low-modulus (less stiff) carbon-fibre to come up with exactly the same curve under the 5oz load, as a rod using extra-high-modulus (very stiff) carbon-fibre. One would be considerably thicker than the other and an entirely different diameter but strictly speaking the action would be the same (ie the curve they describe), but the recovery rate (by this I mean the time taken from the release of the load from the tip to the unloaded position) would be entirely different. The extra-high-modulus would be quicker every time. So it is a very incomplete and unsatisfactory system to label a rod as middle-to-tip, or medium action etc without taking into account the taper and the type of material used in the construction.

My Performance Factor allies a description of the curve that the rod takes under load to a rating of how fast the rod takes to recover from load. This is measured in my workshop using the bare blank and a further measurement is taken once the blank is fitted with guides and the rod finished. The rod is then cast with a fixed length of accurately rated lines of the correct grain AFTM weights. I then give the rod a general casting workout before giving it its Performance Rating figures. Using this system my customers have a much more accurate idea of how a rod from our production range will perform and this is particularly important when the majority of my rods are sold mail-order without the customer actually handling the rod. Subsequent rod purchases can then be made with confidence because we then both know what we are talking about. This system also gives customers the opportunity to discuss the modification of production tapers and action to construct a custom-rod to their ideal specifications - the Performance Factor gives us both the benchmark from which to develop a rod to meet their needs.

Action + Recovery Rate combine to give you the Performance Factor of each model.

Thus a 9' 6'' # 7 rod with a Performance Factor listed in my catalogue as a rating of B 1 would be middle to tip with fast recovery with a powerful and stiff butt section. Combinations of the above would be used to describe various models - what could be easier to understand?