What is a 37kg rod???

[FNQCairns]

I upgraded to a 37kg rod to be my main stick for reef fishing because the 24kg ones I was using where being bent into and a U shape just before the trace would part at a knot or some other terminal tackle problem would see the fish set free AGAIN and me wondering what it was.

Anyway fishing this last weekend the upgraded rod, a T curve overhead jig 37kg with now 80lb trace I had one monster hooked up in 35m of water and was feeling a little confident with the drag wound right up in an effort to get him at least 10m above the reef fast and then the rest because a shark had already taken a 1.2 m shark mackerel and a 1m GT with only their heads and pectorals reaching the boat.....the T curve had a decent curve! not as big as the 24kg rods but getting to where I start thinking of the rods heath while doing it, then the hook pulled

Was wondering if 37kg is a real and true rating on this rod? I am a fairly big bloke so i can put some back into it for a little while anyway...but nearing 37kg? Can I push this rod to where the tip is hanging equal or past the reel on a 1/3 high stick like I can do easily on 24kg gear???

thanks fnq

[Noelm]

I guess what it comes down to is the manufacturers interpretation of what line the blank is suited to, a 37KG rod will take a bit of bending, especialy if you are doing it "stand up", most rods are almost impossible to break by just "fishing" it is just not possible (almost) to exert enough pressure to break it (I said almost) nearly all rod breakages are caused by an "injury" earlier on, or high sticking (especially with graphite "blends"

[Noelm]

I might just add here (and risk abuse) that 24KG fished to the max is about all you can do without a chair, and even 24KG will have you hurting for a long time.

[FNQCairns]

Thanks noelm I do wonder just what angle they have the rod on to get tothe 37kg, without harness on even standing it might be near impossible to fish it that way over the side and down, I know from mucking around with mates that I can lift 40kg directly up of the ground over the side of a boat on a trailer using a boat rod length of steel pole, rope and weights with one hand positioned as far forward as a real rod would allow, I am a bit of a lumberjack but was a fair bit younger then.

There was probably a lot left in the rod but assuming I may have been giving 20kg of hurt to the fish - which I suspect wasn't, still I have great doubts it could go another 10 let alone 20kg on that rod so it made me wonder and think they might all be bull dust ratings in normal use.

cheers fnq

[Noelm]

I find it kind of funny these days when everyone is using 80Lb braid and a reel with KG's of drag, but in reality, you just cannot put anymore pressure on the Fish/line than the Rod will allow (or you can still remain in the Boat) you could get (say) a 2KG Whiting Rod and put 50KG braid on it, you will still only be able to "pull" about 3KG if it was measured on scales!

[FNQCairns]

Ok so what do you think is going on in my instance and with this rod rating? got me stuffed just how they reach it - I just went outside filled a household bucket to the 9L mark tied my setup to it and lifted it easily off the ground keeping the angles near the same as on the weekend, the bend in the rod was not approaching that on the weekend and the drag didn't budge nor was the effort needed real high ie i could probably double it or more just free standing like i was, dunno about the rod don't want to break it nor end up on my bottom.

I dunno but I suspect most just take what people say or claim for granted without doing the experiment to see if it makes sense to them, hence the ratings.....


cheers fnq

[Noelm]

well I guess when it is all said and done, the manufacturers rating is simply a guide to their recomendations, no reason not to put 20KG braid on a Bream rod (not too sure why you would) but it is just a way to reference a rods application (sort of)

[FNQCairns]

yeah Ok so I guess in the real world take the rod rating ie line class and halve it to estimate the amount of pain that rod can inflict and still bend.

Really I thought it would be better than that, I can break a typical 24kg rod given the task so only fight them to just before the bend stops taking shape and it comes up hard, as it's then just a stick, the T curve had some left but not heaps like i had hoped.

cheers fnq

[Jeremy]

IMHO......
I reckon that for a given rating, a rod should reach its working curve at around 1/3 of that rating, and be at full loc k up at around 2/3 of that rating. So for your 37kg rod, it should be in a nice working curve with 12kg hanging off it, and be fully loaded with about 24kg hanging off it. You can test that with buckets or whatever.

Sounds to me FNQ, that you need to talk to a good custom rod builder to make up something to suit your needs. There must be a couple up your way.

Jeremy

[Dan5]

Hey Scott what reel were you using?........is it capable of 12kg of true drag pressure?........i can only get 8-9 out of my tld20 at sunset drag.

Dan......

[NAGG]

FNQ ..... What Jeremy said is pretty well spot on !

A 37kg stick is really meant to have around 12kgs of drag pressure fished through it ...... yes it should go higher - probably 20kgs .... but if it explodes - you really cant expect any warranty.
At around a 45 degree rod angle & line angle ....... you should be able to feel the lock up point as you go up on the button.......... thats about the ideal pressure & where you should consider the absolute maximum pressure in a straight up & down fight!

I did a fair bit of work on this when i used to build short stroker game rods ...... & we did see rods destroyed by going too far.............. guys were upping the button during a straight up & down fight on a yellowfin (90 Deg bends) - BANG!

Chris

PS ...... some of the new Japanese jig sticks can get a 140 Deg bend in them - but they are high end specialist rods for mega bucks

[banshee]

You have bought yourself a deepwater jigging rod,by design it is made to impart action into 300 to 500 gram jigs and have a slow taper/almost parrabolic action to give the least mechanical advantage to the fish as is possible while fighting it in a vertical plane,for any other use it is a second rate piece of equipment.I have one coupled to a Saltiga 'Ishidae',when runing high drag setings greater than 12kg it is nothing to have the rod tip pointing virtualy back under the boat while the reel seat is horizontal,in my opinion they are an excelent entry level jigging rod.

[FNQCairns]

Dan it's a penn 45 GLS (you have seen it) still set to the maximum drag at strike I felt safe using on it's usual 24kg rod, the bucket weighed 9kg minus whatever drag the runners produced in the test today, there seems to be a fair bit of setting left to go at a guess, time to find out I suppose, dont knowwhat they are supposed to be capable of.

Jeremy Nagg and Banshee, all top shelf advice thanks, it's a lot clearer now what is going on with this rod and why my old sharking rod is a broomstick.
I can now with all of your advice ramp the drag up to somewhere higher whenever needed next, probably to the maximum this reel is capable of, feel ok for the rod and see what happens.

It's all really good news because the rod is nice and easy to use on the variety of everyday reef fish + the next time I get monstered I might be able to monster it back and at least get to see what it is!

cheers fnq

[trueblue]

as far as I am concerned all manufacturers all have a different interpretation on the line class.

I have a black tiger ugly stick overhead 8 - 24 kg that I have twisted inside out (high sticked plus , plus) and not had a problem with, at over 12 kg's of drag. I definitely would not do that with a graphite rod though.

I have another rod (butterworth) that is 15 - 37 kg's that I reckon would not bend properly unless it had 25+ kg's of drag on it.

I also have a 4 to 6 kg abu ultra cast rod that I have run 6 + kg's of drag over without feeling a worry about breaking it

all different, all manufacturers have a different opinion.

cheers

Mick

[disorderly]

+ the next time I get monstered I might be able to monster it back and at least get to see what it is!

cheers fnq

Maybe Scott .....but of course then your knots,traces,hooks etc need to be up to the task and be prepared to lose some fish to pulled hooks as well..

There is also the possible back pain to consider afterwards and sometimes sharks will get the fish regardless of how fast you try to skull drag them to the boat...