Choosing the proper rod allows you to cast more effectively and subdue fish more efficiently.
We’ve come a long way since the days of Huckleberry Finn fishing on a creek bank with a cane pole and a worm. Today, the terminology, materials, technology, and price of fishing rods are difficult to evaluate and calculate. In addition to cost, the fundamentals of rod choice include length and type (fly, conventional, spinning, jigging, slow-pitch, etc.), but those categories are further subdivided by varying rod action and power.
Power vs. Action
A rod’s “power” refers to how much weight or load the rod is designed to handle. Ratings include ultra-light, light, medium, medium-heavy, heavy, and extra-heavy. The rating is usually printed on the rod and accompanied by manufacturer-recommended line test and lure or sinker weight ranges. For optimal performance, it’s important to match your rod’s power to the lure or sinker weight you intend to fish with, along with the pound-test line you want to use.
Rods are generally categorized in three basic “actions”: fast, medium, and slow. A rod’s action refers to how far the bend extends from tip to handle. Rods with fast or extra-fast action are best suited for pinpoint casting accuracy and solid hooksets even with large lures. A medium (or moderate) to slow action is ideal for extending casting distance with specific applications such as pitching live baits, fly casting, surfcasting, and imparting finesse motion needed when working certain lures, jigs, and baits.
Fast Action
A fast action or fast taper rod is relatively stiff but has a light/flexible tip, where only the top 20 to 25 percent of the rod bends when casting or under light strain. A fast action allows a rod to load quicker, and makes it easier to produce high lure speeds, which translates into the ability to cut the wind better and match well with small metal lures. An angler can make casts faster when casting off the tip, which is particularly advantageous when working quick-breaking/quick-vanishing predators like Spanish mackerel, false albacore, and bonito. But there’s a trade-off because the angler doesn’t feel the rod loading and unloading well, which makes the precise release timing difficult for beginners.
Fast action rods are good for immediate hook sets because the rod gets past the soft tip to its “backbone” and loads quickly to the stiff portion of the rod. They allow for more accurate, pinpoint casting, which is again important to target a specific fish or small school of fast-moving fish. They’re helpful for casting lighter lures on relatively heavy gear because you can cast a light lure by mainly using the tip portion. However, these rods do not overload well.
Fast action rods aren’t ideal for vertical jigging, such as slow-pitch jigging for black sea bass or diamond jigging for cod, because you need the rod to load or bend more to help impart flutter action to the jig. Also, the quick and sudden recovery rate of a fast-action blank can snap a light leader or tear the hook from the soft mouth of fish like fluke and weakfish. Fast action rods, however, are ideal for a light or ultralight setup, and they work well for casting light, low-profile lures like a 3/4-inch long Deadly Dick.
Moderate/Medium Action
A moderate-action rod offers a more parabolic bend (distributed curve) when loaded, so it bends through the top half of the rod rather than the top quarter, and it’s easier to cast. Many anglers, especially novices, can cast more accurately with a medium-action rod because there’s more time (during the cast stroke) to line up and “aim,” as well as time to predict your ideal line-release point.
Medium/moderate-action rods are also more enjoyable to fight big fish because the rod bends farther down towards the angler’s hands, providing more “feel” when it comes to deciding how much pressure to apply at different points in the fight. Rods with this action also do a good job of switching over from casting to vertical jigging, and they’re therefore multipurpose. This rod action is the most versatile in terms of a lure casting set-up for the recreational or weekend angler.
Slow Action
Slow-action rods occupy the smallest part of the market, but it’s an important part. Slow rods require smooth acceleration and greater tip control during the casting stroke. If you’re “overloading” (bending deeply) the rod, you can “lob cast” (such as when heaving an adult bunker) and use much more of the blank, which you can best visualize as a catapult-like action. Medium-slow to slow action rods are popular with surfcasters using extra-long blanks to make extremely long casts into the surf, where distance, not pinpoint accuracy, is the goal.
