Silly question ? Rod rating

[stylo]

I've been fishing so long but when a mate asked what a 4-8lb rating means, I could not answer convincingly !!

I always just assumed that if a rod is rated at 8lb rod, you do not run drag heavier than 8lb on the rod (assuming your reel can handle that much drag).

Is this right ?!?

He seems to think it means you use a maximum of 8lb test line ..

Now I am confused ... :ranting2:

[borisboga]

I've been fishing so long but when a mate asked what a 4-8lb rating means, I could not answer convincingly !!

I always just assumed that if a rod is rated at 8lb rod, you do not run drag heavier than 8lb on the rod (assuming your reel can handle that much drag).

Is this right ?!?

He seems to think it means you use a maximum of 8lb test line ..

Now I am confused ... :ranting2:

well you can use 15 lb line on a 8 lb rod as long as your drag set at 8 lb. The line rating on the rod is its capability. as long as you dont exceed that work load on the rod, its ok.
but most of the time you wont use 15 lb line on a 8 lb rod because max you can load the rod is 8 lb.

[kingyfisher]

I was thinking that rods were rated to the line B/S,because in some cases knots strength may be very close (90-95%) to that. Am I wrong?

[plastics]

I've been fishing so long but when a mate asked what a 4-8lb rating means, I could not answer convincingly !!

I always just assumed that if a rod is rated at 8lb rod, you do not run drag heavier than 8lb on the rod (assuming your reel can handle that much drag).

Is this right ?!?

He seems to think it means you use a maximum of 8lb test line ..

Now I am confused ... :ranting2:
It means thats what line the rod is suited to handle , so if you run 4-8lb line through the rod. the rod will perform at its best on 4-8. line.
the amount of drag you set should be 1/3rd of the breaking strain of line you use ,so if you where to put eg. 6lb line on you set your drag at 2lb,
if a rod was rated for 24kg (50lb) you put 24kg line on and set the drag at 8kg, you get the rod bending to its best and the line wont break at 1/3 rd of its strength , combine the two together and your gota V8 that runs like a V8 , to use that eg.:fishn:

[plastics]

I was thinking that rods were rated to the line B/S,because in some cases knots strength may be very close (90-95%) to that. Am I wrong?
knots have nothing to do with it.
if you have a light rod say 2kg , you would not run 10kg on it cause the rod would snap before the line would if you where to fully load it and go beyond, . cause the line hasn't snaped ,
U would run a max of 2kg line and set your drag to 1/3 rd of breaking strain of 2kg line this allows the rod and line to work in unisen to each other . rod wont break neither will the line .
Unless you get done by a fish on a reef :nopity:and line parts then you get the ****s and throw your rod down in discust only to relise it broke on inpact:rolling laughter:

[stylo]

yer, plastics, that makes sense ..

so you would not consider using 10lb line (1/3 strain at 3.3lb), on a 2-8lb rod - although it would obviously work and not stress the rod out too much ?

i use really light line so it never really tests my rod/reel .. so i have never really questioned this !

[Dog Catcher]

stylo not a easy Q to answer cause there's so many variables but in general practice a rods rating is a safe guidline to what manufacturer's recomend you load the reel up with as far as line class goes.

Now on a not so general note !

You can put 1/2 doz peeps who know what they want in a rod & none of them may agree.

A rod is determined by it's taper & action, that's why there's so many variables.

Prob a good example to try to explain is my Game rods

Now the rods I troll with are a hell of alot stiffer than the ones I say cube for YFT with.

Both are the same blanks but the difference is I cut anything up to 3" off the tips of the trolling rods when building them up.

When I'm trolling lures I dont like the rod tips bouncing the lures about + the stiffer rods make for a better hookup success rate in my opinion than the tippier rods.

Cubing ?? well your on your own there so the lighter tip allows you better control over the fish.

You cant apply that logic to your lighter flick/bait sticks cause if you cut from the tip you'd be depending on the blank turning a 2 kg stick into a say 4 kg stick.

Cutting from the rods butt , well that dosen't effect the rods action.

[leelee]

Its is the line rating the manufacturer recommends.

Just to give a few examples of what I use -

2-4kg rod with 20lb braid
18kg rod with 50lb braid
20lb rod with 17kg braid

There are heaps more I use as well but you can run whatever line strength you want, just make sure that the reel doesn't have more drag than the breaking strain of the rod and always use the rod for what it was intended for e.g. : Don't put a tld25 on a bass rod and go fishing for tuna.

If you have a warranty claim on a rod and say you use 10kg braid on a 2-4kg stick, the manufacturer will not warranty the claim ad some manufacturers can tell now days due to the break patterns in graphite rods.

Cheers

Lee

[kingyfisher]

Your explanation is so succinct & makes perfect sense :headbang:

[stylo]

leelee, that's my question/confusion. I always thought it meant on a 4kg rod, no more than 8lb load on it ?

say that for your first rod, 2-4kg, no matter what line you use, you would set it (at most) at a max drag of 8lb?

NOT 1/3 of 8lb as plastics suggested ?

[kingyfisher]

Yes I think you are right Stylo

[stylo]

awesome .. now to catch something that can take 8lb of drag off me on my bream rod !!!!! LOL

[leelee]

Really the rods are manufactured for an specific use.

When the manufacturer states 1-3 kg its not always a true 1-3kg rod. You need to load it up and see how it will perform for the task you want it to. I have a 2-4kg that has more grunt than the same manufacturers 3-5kg and this was tested in the tackle store.

At the end of the day the specs on the rod are what the manufacturer deems no matter what the actual rating may be.

Here is a link of what I would class " Using the rod not for its indented use " -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sttl2IGB_vk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sttl2IGB_vk)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs-A9tpfa9E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs-A9tpfa9E)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDXMW23nXw0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDXMW23nXw0)

This is what not to do with your light gear

Cheers

Lee

[catchnrelease]

Yeah, but you gotta admit, jigging with light gear would be sh*t loads of fun. :lol:

[stylo]

nah you're right mate

i run really light line on my rods, as you already know, so it's not an issue for me

just wanted to understand the rod ratings and whether the '4-8lb' rating meant max line rating or max drag rating

[catchnrelease]

If your rod's rated 4-8lb, run 4-8lb line to avoid warranty issues, but you can run whatever the hell rated line you want really, but I would say your average 4-8lb rod can take around 3lb of drag depending on the angle of the rod when the lines being taken off and the grunt of the rod as lee described.

[Dog Catcher]

Really the rods are manufactured for an specific use.

When the manufacturer states 1-3 kg its not always a true 1-3kg rod. You need to load it up and see how it will perform for the task you want it to. I have a 2-4kg that has more grunt than the same manufacturers 3-5kg and this was tested in the tackle store.

At the end of the day the specs on the rod are what the manufacturer deems no matter what the actual rating may be.


Cheers

Lee


Yep they are manufactured to a specific load & not all blanks are the same action & that's the key word & reason some peeps think one rod is heavier than another.

With glass blanks you'll find the rods are rated by the no of wraps used to make them the more wraps the heavier the line class that rod can handle & prob the reason why you see some real odd ball ratings on rods.

Graphite are a wittle bit different & can hadle a wider scope of line class's

There ratings go by the IM factor [eg] a IM6 which is a lighter graphite can handle anything from 1 kg line up to 5 kg line no probs but it's the rods action which determines what a angler wish's to use that blank for.

IM8 naturally is a much stronger graphite thus lifting the rods line class from say 4 kg up to 8 kg etc etc