Which particular rod for distance; which for fishing?

[wjc]

I have been hearing this question all my life, and have asked it myself many times. The most common answers are:

1) It depends on how you cast

2) It makes very little difference percentage wise for relatively good casters.

Here is a very good article exploring that subject for any who are interested. 8 tournament distance casters in Europe each cast the same 8 rods (5 wt manufacturer stamp )with the same brand line 4 times indoors. The tape measured results of the 256 casts were tabulated and analyzed.

Four rods were American manufacture, the others European. The ERN number they use is the "Effective Rod Number" determined by what weight line is required to bend the rod to 1/3 deflection by using weights on each rod, rather than relying on what the manufacturers stamp on the rod. All rods in the test were stamped 5wt by the manufacturers but the ERN's vary considerably.

To me, it was an interesting, objective article. Just thought I'd pass it on.

http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/8rod.shtml

Cheers,
Jim

[flyguy66]

Ever since my late teens, I have been of the opinion that more is not better. Rather, balance is the key to success, peace, happiness, and all things good and right in the cosmos.

The common notion that a stiffer (ie. "faster") rod is better for distance casting only holds true when compared to a pretty darned slow rod (by today's standards). It is true from a certain point and up to another point. Then it falls apart. Once again, it's the balance point somewhere in that sweet spot in between that we are actually trying to find.

Folks should read the article and take note that some of these rods measured a true weight of 7 and even 8wt when tested objectively, even though the respected namebrand manufacturers stamped them 5 weights. In fact, only 3 of the 8 actually measured within the acceptable range for a 5wt.

I love the quote at the end.

[Diver Dan]

Good article. This is the website that had the guy do a 132.5' cast on video I posted a while back. I just posted a thread with the common cents system a while back also. I believe the more it gets around the more likely manufacterers will begin to rate their rods as they ought to. Right now it is not uncommon to find them rated two weights off. Once in a while even more. I don't think the problem is nearly as bad in spey rods. With the grain windows being less forgiving for spey rods it kind of forces accuracy in ratings. Thanks for the post. I printed the article.