Fishing trout lake rods have had an important evolution in the last 10 years. New materials, field tests and increasing anglers’ technical competences.
We’ve seen a great growth of different actions and models of rods.
Tremarella rods
Those rods have a soft action, weight less than 5g, and are used in small lakes or in short distance fishing.
Rods for Bombarda
They are perfect in medium- large lakes so whit the leads between 8 and 12 g. During the hottest period of the year they can be used with drop shaped leads.
The Spingarda rods
Those rods are used with heavy bombardas (more than 15g). They are very resistant but extremely sensitive at the same time in order to detect a bite even at great distance.
Rods Action
Soft action rods are not more than 4 m long, medium action rods have a length of about 4.20 m.The heavy ones vary from 4,40 and 4,70m.
There are two kinds of action: parabolic action and tip action. The parabolic action belongs to light/medium rods.
The rod is continuously solicited giving the bait the tremarella effect. When hooking a fish it bends with a parabolic effect.
The tip action, instead, is typical of the bombardas rods where you need a rigid rod to cast heavy leads. In this case just the tip will bend.
The Module
The module you have to consider is the capacity of the rod to come back to its initial stadium. When the module increases you’ll get a higher sensitivity.
The Reel seat
The position of the reel seat is very important when gripping the rod, it has to be in the right place to make you fishing comfortably.
Usually it is better to put it at the same length of your arm. Make some tests before fixing it. Getting the best position on the rod is very important.
Handle
The handle of a rod is extremely customizable. Many anglers prefer it to be naked, others love it colored. It is up to you.
The most important thing is the anti-slip effect and a good grip action.
Which guides?
There are many different guides on the market. Good quality guides will give a fluid sliding line and a greater line resistance.
What makes the difference are the materials. The most precious and expensive one is the SiC (silicon carbide), which is hard, smooth and extremely light.
Their price can vary from 0,50 cents to 20 Euros each. When changing the guides the effect will be completely different. Short leg guides keep the line closer to the rod and on axis. The long leg ones, instead, keep the line detached and avoid it to stick on the rod shaft in case of rain.
Regarding the position of the guides on the rod, only one rule has to be followed: they have to be placed in descending order from the bottom to the tip. That makes the line swivel and gives it a better distribution of the weight. The size of the guides can vary from 6 to 16 mm according to the rod.
Regarding the distance among the guides the right solution is to decrease the distance when approaching the tip. There are no rules concerning the number of guides on the rod.
It could be from 11 to 14. There are both fixed guides and sliding guides. The latters are bounded to carbon tubes that scroll on the tip and can be placed at the desired height.
That is very important to get a balanced effect.
What does it mean to set a rod on the Blank?
That means to follow the natural curve of the rod, so the rod will bend following the carbon fibers.It is absolutely necessary especially in the first sections.
The set up
Pre-impregnated lines are the best because they conserve their color even after the lacquering.
The ring has to be put on the blank and fixed with glue. And in the end it is linked with a filament.
If you don’t use pre-impregnated lines you have to tape the section between the carbon of the rod and the guide to avoid the color to become dark and loose its brilliance.
Once the rod is set When you’ve done the links, they have to be glazed and finished.
You can use a bi-component glue, applied with a small brush. It has to dry up in a dry room on a dedicated rotating tool to avoid the glue to form clots. Nowadays people use a sort of oven with a blue light which is able to dry the resin very fast.