I know we harm feel or sensitivity when we add to much weight in components. Emory Harry\'s article showed some of that I think. But what about things we can add that will actually make a rod more sensitive than it was in blank form. Is this possible?

Also from an earlier discussion on the BFHM, do some blanks have tricks or designs to enhance sensitivity? Can fibers be placed to transfer more feel to the fishermen? What can we do as builders to enhance feel of our lures and fish strikes?

The issue may be what can you remove. Remove all useless things that dampen! Split grip - foregrip - excessive seat material - too many oversize guides - too much thread and finish come to mind. Read Rich Forhan's information it is really sound information. Get more hand contact with blank. Balance within reason. I have some popping rods with the heavy Bad To The Bone encapsulations on the butt for balance that feel absolutely weigthtless in hand. To increase sensitivity take class to diminish anger feelings. Fish lighter line with less stretch. Hunt bigger fish!

Fsh No Mo

Okay, to start, the naked blank is as sensitive as it’s going to be. As soon as you add anything, you reduce its efficiency and “sensitivity.” (I still don’t like that word - but I know what people mean when they use it.) At any rate, your goal should be to create a functional tool that will undermine efficiency and sensitivity by the least amount. You will not increase either, but you can take measures to keep any reduction to a minimum.

Fiber alignment, in terms of blanks with perfectly linear construction (or as close as you can get to that) results in a structure that offers the same stiffness per less weight, or more stiffness per the same weight. So linear alignment of the fibers is preferred if you’re after the maximum structure modulus. However, once the prepeg has been heated, flowed and cured, the individual fibers no longer transmit anything - at this point you are dealing with a unit; the sum total of the parts; a single structure, not individual fibers. Be careful of claims to the contrary.

So in short, if you select a blank with a high stiffness to weight ratio (created by higher modulus fibers in a mostly linear alignment) and add only those components needed, in as lightweight form as possible, you’d be on the right track. Do keep in mind that any additional weight is the enemy of efficiency and sensitivity, but particularly that added nearer the tip of the rod. For this reason, very small and light guides near the tip and short thread wraps with the minimum of finish that will do the job. Seat and handle components should be very rigid, but very light. Everything we do here is a compromise - we have to add guides, seat, grips, etc., or we’re not going to be able to use the blank for fishing purposes.

I have an article on my desk right now from a guy who built a rod aimed at keeping the maximum efficiency and sensitivity intact. The rod isn’t pretty, but he’s done a good job. Interesting article. I hope to run it in the next 2 to 3 issues.

Beyond that, you also have to weigh what you’re going to be doing with the rod. I like a lightweight, highly efficient and sensitive rod, but in some cases adding wood handles, decorative thread wraps, plastic seat inserts, etc., is not going to ruin the rod for the purposes for which it was intended. I often add wood trim hosels to my offshore trolling rods. That extra weight reduces efficiency and sensitivity, but so what? For the puspose at hand, it’s not going to affect what I do with those type rods. Just something to keep in mind.


.............

Johnathan,
I agree with almost everything that both Tom and Bill have said with a couple of caveats.

1. The first being that added weight has exponentially more effect on sensitivity as it is added closer and closer to the tip of the rod. The equivalent weight of an extra guide or two has little effect on sensitivity at the butt of the rod but will have a major effect if added near the tip of the rod. You can prove this to yourself by just taping a couple of extra guides on the butt of a rod and then taping the same guides on the tip of the rod and in each case just shaking the rod to feel the difference. The added weight of the guides will have much more effect on the tip of the rod then they will have at the butt of the rod, exponentially more effect.

2. The second is that how much in the way of the vibrations, out at the lure, are transmitted to the fisherman are as much a function ot the line as the rod. In both cases, line and blank, how much vibration is transmitted to the fisherman is very complicated but simplified a little is a function of the molecular structure of the material, the line and the blanks material and how the molecules are linked together.

3. The third is that sensitivity is subjective, varying for each individual. Frankly, I do not know how this piece of sensitivity can be measured or quantified.

If you look carefully at the measure that has been used in the past for sensitivity, rod efficiency, which is stiffness divided by the weight, you will find that it is over simplified and has some serious problems. First stiffness is not a number it is a curve. If you plot stiffness by plotting force on the vertical axis and deflection on the horizontal axis you will get a curve. As you apply more and more force to the rod it deflects more and more. It gets stiffer and stiffer. Stiffness is actually the first derivative of this curve. Weight has the same problem. The important weight, for efficiency or sensitivity, is not the total weight of the blank or rod but the distribution of that weight, what is called sectional weight. So rod efficiency or sensitivity is actually a curve plotted against a curve. Sounds like differential equations to me.

There have been some posts on other sites recently about vibrations being amplified by different handle materials. This is in a word, or actually two words, in my judgment, @#$%&. Different handle materials may reduce the attenuation or reduce the damping of vibrations but they do not amplify the vibrations. The research to determine how much the vibrations are attenuated by different materials and different structures has not been done and no one knows as yet what the effect of these materials and structures are.

As far as the graphite fibers in the blank are concerned, the modulus of elasticity will be the highest when the fibers are aligned straight up the blank. The effective modulus, modulus is actually a property of the material not the blank, will fall off rapidly when mis-aligned. But the alignment of the fibers to increase the sensitivity or feel is, other than how it affects the stiffness and the weight, is again, in my judgment, @#$%&.

Have you tried the throat vibration test? Also, while doing the test just hold the butt section of the rod and have someone place the tip of the rod against their Adams Apple and speak softly, while you just hold the butt section of the rod.
Good Wraps Bob

Bob,

A broomstick will pass the "throat vibration" test with flying colors. I used to do work for a shop where the owner would use this tired, old gimmick to show how sensitive certain rods were. We put that to an end the day I took a broom handle and had the customer try that. In his opnion, it was even more "sensitive" than the graphite rod he had just "tested."

..........

Yep, I've even seen them blow on the tip while a customer held the butt end to show how sensitive a particular rod was.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

Tom, If that was the case with the broom. How can shaking a rod test sensitivity? Ever fish for Steelhead with eggs while drift fishing? This is one case where a sensitive rod is a must. Emory if you read this! Please comment.
Good Weaps Bob

I've read a bit on those different handle materials; what I'd gotten from it was that the "strike" was changed from an instantaneous feeling to a longer lasting sensation?

I doubt it could ever be amplified in any way, but I'm a Mikey anyhow, I'll eat anything ya feed me... until I take the time to check it out for myself.

Putter
Williston, ND

Bob,
I agree with you about drift fishing with eggs requiring a rod with as much sensitivity as possible but If you think that I am going to get in the middle of an argument between you and Tom you're crazy!

It looks like you replaced the fuse on your spell checker. I will bet that it blows again.

Tom, I appreciate your input, but I do not think we are on the same wave length. Please explain where sensitivities come in to play when using an offshore trolling rod, jigging rod or a Bass plug casting rod? I can see the need for sensitivity when casting rubber worms for Bass. What we need is a definition for the word sensitivity. Please explain how shaking a rod you can test sensitivity. My wife says if I touch her broom, my new job will be sweeping from now on. So Tom I will let you play with your broom all you want, NO way am I touching my wife’s broom, I have enough honey do's already. JUST KIDDING TOM. Seriously I did try the throat vibration trick. It does work! But I had to use a stronger voice to feel the vibration Emory I am saving my CRYPTO spelling for the Woodland Show. LOL
Good Wraps Bob

Shaking a rod can tell you quite a bit about a rod if you do it scientifically. In fact, when you pick up a rod and shake it, you discern certain information that your brain can easily process, as long as you understand what it is that you've just felt.

Emory's article on frequency is a good case in point. Rods that react and recover more quickly should be more sensitive. If you haven't read that article, you should.

As far as sensitivity on offshore trolling rods and the like, read my first post again.

........

Tom, I agree with the basic concept in your first statement. Whatever is added to the blank should be fitted snug to the blank. Guides should be wrapped securely, to the bank ( not so tight that the wrap change the circular interior design of the blank). Arbors and reelseat must fit firmly to the blank Grips fit tight against the blank, no interior gaps. With all this taken in consideration the sensitivity loss, will be minimal. I believe I understand, what you imply when you shake a blank. I look at the recovery time it takes a blank to go from a static form to an oscillating from and back to at static form. I think I just put my foot in my mouth. You need oscillation to transmit sensitivity. I stand corrected
Good Wraps Bob