If you have a carbon rod you have heard of modulus. The modulus (correctly elastic modulus) is the measure of the stiffness of the material. The higher the modulus, the less heavy the rod will be with the same stiffness. A high modulus rod (almost all modern fishing rods) can achieve the required stiffness with the use of less material.
What is phenolic and glass fiber?
The phenolic and the glass fiber are often mistakenly used to indicate the same thing while it is important to know that they are two different materials and used in a different way. Fiberglass looks like a fabric similar to carbon fiber while phenolic is a resin. Today there are no longer rods completely built in phenolic, but the phenolic resin being very cheap is still used as a matrix of cheap glass fiber rods, while for the realization of most of the shells the most used matrix is the epoxy resin.
What is a fishing rod plug?
There are numerous methods for making the barrel of a fishing rod, and some processes are quite complex or covered by trade secrets. However, without going into too much detail, think of shells as cones made by rolling sheets of fiber (carbon fiber, glass fiber or a mix of both) around a mandrel and other fibers arranged longitudinally. Everything is held together by the matrix, that is, by a resin that hardens and makes compact the fiber sheets that otherwise would have the consistency of a more or less rigid fabric. By rolling up some sheets of fiber, an overlap point of the material is necessarily obtained.
This point is called SPINA and runs longitudinally along the stem. If you bend and rotate a blank between your fingers (for example the tip of your rod) you will notice that in a certain position the blank snaps and does so due to the “thorn”. The pin also affects the action of the barrel and is used above all in the assembly phase of the rings to increase or reduce the stiffness and bending of the blank. The pin is essential to know where to mount the ring and the rings, if not mounted correctly, introduce a torsion of the shaft which jeopardizes its correct functioning. Even in ringless rods it is important to know where the plug is and many builders indicate it by showing the angler how to align the various elements in order to obtain the expected ACTION.
Which rod to choose? Slow, Fast or Extra Fast?
The choice of rod action depends on many considerations. From our preferences, fishing style, fishing spot, type of fish we wish to target, etc. A rod with a soft action (SLOW) is a rod that forgives more mistakes in the catches (too early or too late) and if you use live bait it decreases the possibility of losing the bait in the launch or due to a wrong strike. A rigid action rod (FAST) offers better sensitivity by allowing you to feel the vibrations of the lure better. For fishing with very fine lines or over short distances it is advisable to use a rod with a SLOW action.
Over long distances a FAST rod is ideal. An average soft rod has a more parabolic curve, stores more energy and returns more in the cast. In fact, to launch the blank it must be “loaded”.
A stiff rod requires more strength, therefore heavier lures to be properly “loaded” and return energy in the cast.For this reason many rods have indications on the optimal weight of the bait . A soft rod uses almost the entire blank to energize the lure during casting. While a stiffer rod uses a smaller portion. Obviously everything must be considered with the same characteristics; barrel length, module, etc. To understand each other, a FAST Bolognese is not comparable with a FAST casting rod, or with a MEDIUM FAST platform rod. The comparison must be made with the same category and length