some of the folks around here use 5wt rods for school blues and strippers - this is generally in backwaters -

my question is does a rod being high speed also mean that it is stronger and better suited to take one of these small fighters

Don't you have any easy questions?

If your talking about a fast action rod, it can be very good for fighting fish. It can also be very strong provided you take good care of your rod. The Fast action rods have higher modulus ratings than the slower rods. This modulus can ding and break much easier than the slower rods. Its this modulus that give a fast action rod its snap and action. The rod can cast and fight large fish just fine provided the rod in not damaged before fishing it. Some of the main things that can cause rod damage leading to breakage is car doors, hiting the rod on a hard object, and a fast moving beadhead on the cast if it were to hit the rod. Although you might not be able to see damage with your eyes, this doesnt mean that the modulus fibers inside are not damnaged. If these fibers are damaged it could directly effect a fight with a nice fish. Hope this helps.

-Chad

Ayerloom,

To add on to what chad said:

For accurately rated rods, fast rods typically have more power overall relative to moderate actions of the same line weight. That is because you need more power further up the rod to make the action fast. Then you need a little more power lower in the rod to support the power in the mid section. With a more moderate action, you can let the middle of the rod be a little less powerful and make up for it in the butt.

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. One company's 5 wt is another's 6 wt. Rate the rods on the common cents system. I've seen '5 wt' rods that would be more appropritely labeled as 7 wt rods.

Also, don't confuse the terms action with speed. Action tells where the rod will primarily flex when loaded lightly (as in casting). Speed is the recovery rate of the rod, i.e. how fast the rod tip will return to the standing position from a flexed position. Action is determined by a bunch of factors including the cut of the graphite fabric, the mandrel taper, the wall thickness and blank diameter, and the graphite used. Speed is mostly the graphite used.

As Chad said, higher modulus graphite rods typically have thinner walls. They don't take as much abuse as thicker walled blanks. This is called toughness in materials science terms. Typically lower modulus graphite blanks are tougher.

Thanks,
Casts

So, if I understand correctly XP & TCR bend further towards the tip, but Xi2 has more "LIFITNG POWER" ???

Thanks!

jackster -

i had no idea that i was opening up such a can of worms !! - it might make a good question on the SAT's !!

seriously, i really had no idea how complex rod making was/is - i understood the concept of modulus, but - -

that's the great thing about this site - there sure is an accumulation of outstanding knowledge here !!

That is the idea, to make this "e-place" an accumulation of outstanding Fly Fishing knowledge.

Welcome.

Hi,
No, there aint such rule! a fast rod could bee weak, and a slow rod could bee fast. Thoug there are a tendence that faster rods can absorb higher pressure due till its means in casting. And moreover, rods classed fore lower lines are in comparison with rods classed for higher lines, slower, shorter, and are more flexiable. This affect our belive, as it is easy to make the conclusion, that long stiff(relative fast) rods classed for heavy lines are stronger than shorter rods classed fore low weigted lines(the softer ones). Anyway, I seen soft rods fore tuna-fishing_where the lineweigt was under five, and we all head the stories of very stiff rods as suddently, and way before anyone schould have thourght, broke. Today we have learned from those broken rods, and often more reliable materials are used to produce faster rods, but still, it aint no major rule, more a trend fore the newer generation of rods like fore an example the techna from Fenwick..

this complex is what I belive, please correct me when wrong.