SRG 2008 Rod Evaluation

We evaluated three rods with the corresponding taper and stress charts at SRG this year. Volunteers were divided up into small groups led by some of our best casters (many of which are CCIs). They cast the rods, reviewed the charts and shared their evaluations with everyone Saturday morning.

Note: When convex and concave tapers are mentioned in the following discussion, I will be referring to the overall shape of the taper relative to the diagonal line from the tip top through the action length (10 inches from the butt), not the sectional shape of the butt or tip unless specifically noted.

About the rods:
• They are 7.5 foot 2 piece rods.
• Each of the three rods has the same convex tip up through station 20.
• The ST2 has a slightly concave butt. The ST3 and ST4 are progressively more convex.
• All three rods weigh the same (i.e. the volume of the butt is reduced as the volume of the mid section increases from one taper to the next).
• The reels used for the evaluation weighed the same and the lines were identical WF5s.
• The blanks are blond (not flamed) and heat treated at 390* for 12 minutes and glued with Tightbond III.
• Ferrules are Super Z size 12 on the ST2 and 13s on the ST3 and ST4.

Here’s a summary of the evaluations:

ST2 – Significant tip bounce originating in the butt. We could see the ferrule bouncing from across the lawn…not good. The rod was over lined as a 5wt. It could be fished in close, but any more than 25 feet would not be practical. Downsizing to a 4wt eliminated the tip bounce. The rod settled down and performed very well up to 35 feet. This would be a good short distance 4wt rod.

ST3 – A little tip bounce originating near the ferrule. Some casters could dampen the tip bounce but most could not. The rod performed well up close but doesn’t have enough butt power to push much over 35 feet. It was over lined as a 5wt. Downsizing to a 4wt eliminated the tip bounce and improved overall performance. This would be a good compromise rod with some of the close in characteristics of the ST2 and the longer line of the ST4. It performed well as a 4wt but might be a little better as a 4.5wt.

ST4 – No tip bounce. This rod has to be pushed a little to load at short distances. The sweet spot for this rod starts at about 30 feet and performs at distances well beyond what would be needed for a 5wt rod. The convexity of this rod is almost “parabolic”. That was evident by the fact that the rod loads and unloads smoothly throughout the casting stroke without the “hinge” feel characteristic of more convex designs. It seems to have some the positive characteristics of a “parabolic” design with the smooth load of a linear taper. This was the favorite taper of all the groups. This taper would be great at 30+ feet.

Conclusion:
This was a great learning experience for me. I designed the tapers to see how three rods with the same volume of bamboo would perform with different levels of overall convexity. I had assumed that they would all perform well at the same line weight. That was not the case. The line weight increases with the convexity of the taper. But that might not be the case at the extremes. I hope to have the ST1 and ST5 done next year. The ST1 is more concave and the ST5 is more convex than the tapers used in the evaluation this year. It will be interesting to see how they compare.

Here are the rod evaluation slides...or download the PowerPoint file here - http://www.mediafire.com/?xj4nka4y53i