What rod length do you prefer?

[Mo Fish]

I have used ultralights for years and I started out with the usual 5 footers. They work great and they surely have their place. However, the past year or so I have stepped up to rods measuring between 7 to 8 feet long. I feel that they have definitely improved my overall feel of the bite and control of the fish once they are hooked. In addition, they have greatly increased my casting distance when it is needed. Shoot, it also looks pretty cool to see that long rod bending down to the handle. What size rods do you guys prefer?

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

Thanks Dick and yup I have been using em a long time ....... Length? That's a huge and bottomless pit to go into , but I have a preference and it is anything under 6'6" gets the nod from me..

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Mo , I just happen to have a Browning Silaflex  Flyrod  , 35 year old , New in Tube,it was my Dads spare , never has had a reel on it ,  I have to keep it in the Family, but have another just like it, It was his working Rod, my main Battle Rod is a 8 and 1/2 ft  Browning graphite, I have had it for 25 years, and have never found another that fit and feels so well, dont know what I would do if it broke. I have literally caught tons of fish with it..   LOFR

[Mo Fish]

LOFR,

That is so cool. I have a couple that I am in  love with too. I have a 9' 5wt Fenwick Eagle GT fly combo that I call the "Bream Reaper". It has sent many a bream to meet its maker. I have several nice fly rods that I can' t part with but I never use. It is the first one that I pick up and it literally feels like an extension of my arm. I think I am going to bury it if it ever breaks.

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Anyone using a parabolic ultralight rod? I have always found them intriguing, but never used one. They look great in pictures; that even arc makes it look every fish is a monster.

[Joe Angelucci]

Andy 

Most true UL Rods are parabolic by their nature . A soft slow rod is the only way to control  a medium to large fish without breaking the top section. I fished UL for a few years and a good size bluegill would put a nice blend in a Shakespeare Ugly Stik UL 4.8 Foot combo ( SPL 1100) .  A medium sized bass would have the tip just about 3/4  to the reel. That rod is what got me to very light weight fixed line fishing, I love the bend and the direct pull on the line. 

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Joe. Not sure we are talking about the same thing. Evenly bent the entire length. Same bend 6" from the handle as 6" from the tip and every point in between. They are fairly rare and expensive. I have seen only a couple and never used one.

[Joe Angelucci]

 Think you are right.  

When I think parabolic I think rod action . The example below describes  different rated Japanese rods. The parabolic action is evident at the 50% point in the slow rod example. I fish Tenkara and I'm use to seeing that type of bend in a rod since I use a 5/5 rated rod. 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Joe, your visualization of "parabolic action" strikes me as correct.
I think of mathematical curve relationships here.

A rod that bends back evenly on itself, along it's entire length, is not parabolic.
It describes an equal arc over any distance along its length.

A parabola, by contrast, is NOT even along its length. The curve, or arc, differs between points, in other words.

What all this mumbo-jumbo means is that all rods are parabolic.
What what we do is pick a point along the length and start describing the arc from there. That works to illustrate a concept.
But rods are constructed to have different stiffness factors along their length, - what we call "action." By this virtue, they are constructed to act as parabolas under tension.
Any rod that bends evenly from butt to tip would end up as a circle... hardly useful for our purposes.

I'm wondering if the term "parabolic" hasn't been misapplied to become more of a marketing phrase than anything really useful.

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Read this article :
http://rahfish.com/pros-view/get-rah/parabolic-shhmarabolic-what-do...
That's what I mean. You're correct that it doesn't have to be even along the entire length. It is a parabolic curve if it is even, but it can be a little different in the center. Anyway, I am talking about the sort of rods the article discusses.

[Joe Angelucci]

Andy

Thanks, I think I understand a bit better. Do these rods load from the butt to the top. Must be a blast since the rod should stiffen as you move up the blank. 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"A true parabolic bend means that a rod will load through the entire blank, not just the last third of the rod. Some may say that cheaper rods do not have a parabolic bend, but then again, I guess it depends on what you feel is cheap."

Okay, thanks. It's not that the rod describes a parabolic curve.
It may, depending in the tension force applied.
Or it may not, at by given moment.
Price has little bearing at that point.

It's that for a given applied force, the distribution of said force along the length can be plotted as a parabolic FUNCTION.


I mention the manner in which the industry creates terms and marketing phrases in my comments below. They are often inaccurately applied, at least, and very often CONFUSING. To say they are also gimmicky can also be true.


What's the old saying? "Designed to catch fishermen, as much as fish?"

[jim cosgrove]

rods of this type have been around for years.i still have a berkley lightning rod.top of the line in the 80s.it started out at 6'.not ultra light but light.caught 1000s of fish on it.even a 15 lb cat.it has really no taper to it and the tip has been replaced many times so it is now about 5'8.i dont use it anymore because the guides can handle braid but it would bend almost in half.remarkable for graphite.because of the modern no stretch lines with tiny diameter the rod is for casting not feeling these days.i can now fish 8lb line with the diameter of 2lb mono.i think the breaking point is much higher as i more often straighten or break the hook than the line if i get hung up.much easier to stay in contact with the bait as the line has no stretch and telegraphs every thing.i can use cheap whippy ultralights that launch even a tiny jig and still feel the bait at a good distance.i rarely use a float except when using minnows for crappies.to me modern line has been the game changer in ultra light fishing.