Light line on a heavy rod?

[PMBTO]

I have recently bought a T-curve travel 5-10kg 9' rod in prep for a cape trip - on motorbike so only 1 rod (which I agonised over but now its done...) and a 4000 Stradic.

I am trying to get out and use it as much as possible with as many lures plastics baits etc. from beach and rocks.

Given the number of smaller fish in my local area I started thinking about using my 2500 Tierra with 6-8 pound line on the rod - which got me thinking:
a) initially, why would you, and then ,
b) does it work? If not, why not?

The concept of using the lightest gear possible obviously means line class, terminal tackle and rod. How much of an effect does an overweight rod have in the scheme of things?

I am probably going to just try it anyway but after searching through several different forums and googling I couldn't find any comments/articles about why its a no no - lots on the reasons for line choices and fishing light and rod strength for the line class.

What do you think?

Pete.

[NAGG]

Hi Pete

The single biggest issue will be the capability of the rod to throw smaller presentations effectively .......... can the rod load during the cast ? - If it can then you should be ok ......... otherwise it might be like casting a pea on a broom stick.
I fish lighter line on several of my rods - but only because either the rod feels over rated (not in a negative way) or it is more than able to handle the chosen lure , jig head weight ......... I also tend to fish my line class harder , which also allows me to get more out of the rod
- I might throw a 1/4 oz jig head on only 4lb line ......... My 1-2 kg T curve would not really do a good job of it - so I might fish it on the 2-5 kg T Curve with the same reel / 4lb braid.

Chris

[PMBTO]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reply - it makes good sense. Interesting about the rod loading - with 20 gms my rod (rec lure wt 15-50gm)doesn't really appear to load much at all so I think the light lures and jig heads will be plain hard work. I'm still getting used to the rod but I think it will be happier with more weight. Still it can't hurt to experiment!

Pete.

[netmaker]

hi pete. thats hard to get my head around. i use 20lb braid on 2-4kg rods which is pretty much the opposite of your scenario. i do this so that i can get a bit of movement in the plastics from the rod tip but still have enough line strength to land those bigger fish. i would be thinking that your rod would have a fairly stiff tip action in comparison and therefore restrict the amount of movement imparted to your lures. have you considered a telescopic rod as an extra?
cheers
davo

[NAGG]

hi pete. thats hard to get my head around. i use 20lb braid on 2-4kg rods which is pretty much the opposite of your scenario. i do this so that i can get a bit of movement in the plastics from the rod tip but still have enough line strength to land those bigger fish. i would be thinking that your rod would have a fairly stiff tip action in comparison and therefore restrict the amount of movement imparted to your lures. have you considered a telescopic rod as an extra?
cheers
davo

Davo ..... I hear what you are saying but your scenario creates a world of potential issues.
Particularly from overfishing the rod ...... (going beyond its limits) -- a rod breakage is on the cards! Now I too will fish lines rated well above the rod ..... but that is in a situation of barra fishing in the timber of a lake & we want the diameter of the line to be the buffer to stop us getting cut of as a barra runs between the trees - this might be 30 or 50lb braid fished from a 8-10kg rated rod .......... however it's still about a drag of 3-4kg only. The other is to cast a big heavy swimbait where we could snap a more appropriate rod.
If you want action ......... fish the correct size rod for the lure - it's that simple because you will gain very little from a rod that is locked up (maxed out) at 3kgs of drag ......... you may as well have a rod rated at 3-4 kg.

in essence you should fish a rod that is reasonably well matched to the chosen line class and drag pressure /lure weight fished

Chris

[Stuart]

All very good points above. As already stated your main issue will be that the rod simply wont load enough to cast a light lure accuretly little lone far enough. In having said that, if thats the only rod you have then it will have to do. You cant make a rod softer but you can make it stiffer.

Stu
Precision rods

[Tangles]

Stu,

whats the tip on making a rod stiffer

mike

[netmaker]

Davo ..... I hear what you are saying but your scenario creates a world of potential issues.
Particularly from overfishing the rod ...... (going beyond its limits) -- a rod breakage is on the cards! Now I too will fish lines rated well above the rod ..... but that is in a situation of barra fishing in the timber of a lake & we want the diameter of the line to be the buffer to stop us getting cut of as a barra runs between the trees - this might be 30 or 50lb braid fished from a 8-10kg rated rod .......... however it's still about a drag of 3-4kg only. The other is to cast a big heavy swimbait where we could snap a more appropriate rod.
If you want action ......... fish the correct size rod for the lure - it's that simple because you will gain very little from a rod that is locked up (maxed out) at 3kgs of drag ......... you may as well have a rod rated at 3-4 kg.


in essence you should fish a rod that is reasonably well matched to the chosen line class and drag pressure /lure weight fished

Chris

chris, i am a primitive fisho. i just ensure that my drag is set well below the rod rating. only broke a rod once before (whilst fishing) and that was a 7 foot ugly stik using a 7" alvey with 120lb mono. 10 foot bronze whaler broke it just above the first runner. was a real bugger getting him back up with the bit i had left....
i know i'm sort of breaking "rules" but i just love the light whippy rods and little reels. i just dont want to fish the light line on them. if i do break a rod i will have had a lot of fun first.
cheers
davo

[BillyT2382]

Like davo i love the light rod with a little heavier braid, but in saying that and listening to all the pro's there are good points and bad ones..myself i am now starting to love the light rod and light braid very exciting stuff!!! But what do i do when i hook up the big one hmmmm..
I use to just love getting them reeling them in with no fuss because i had heavy gear, but there was no excitement in that just the excitement of catching them, but now the light gear makes all a different ball game...
Just new to the game of placci's and hards finding it even more challenging.

Cheers
Billy

[PMBTO]

Thanks for the replies!

They certainly help me with my understanding (or lack thereof!) of rod dynamics etc.

I am going to try and push the boundaries of what I can do with the rod down here, probably with a good degree of frustration but hey - its all practice for the main game later in the year.

Pete.

[MudRiverDan]

You can just use heavier braid,like 12lb your reel.
That is within the range of the rod weight.
The reel will be pushed if you catch a good one as the drag is about 4kg from what I can tell from the net.

In saying that you wouldn't want to be casting anything that would snap 12lb even 8lb on a 2500 reel so if your plastics are reasonably weighted you should be fine, the reel will just have smaller winding distance, smaller drag, smaller spool capacity and this might be a problem If something big gets on and wants to go for it.





Other alternative is a 3000 reel with an 8kg drag.

I'm assuming the 9 foot must have a bit of whip in it for casting.

I always think rod and line first, once they are up to the task it depends on how the reel can handle it.

[Stuart]

Cutting the tip will make for a stiffer rod, not to mention making it less effective at the same time. Stiff rods dont mean its a stronger rod, just means its now a bit stiffer. Making a rod softer can be done by using heav guides, again it will look like a dog breakfast but it will work. As they say there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Stu