I have a question that I hope you guys can answer. When planning a pole, do you take into consideration the style or form in which a person casts? A friend of mine would like me to build him a pole, he is the one who taught me how to use a baticaster. When he casts, he casts two handed over his shoulder and turns the rod so the reel ninety degrees off. Does this effect the way I should build his rod?

S D M F

Not really, no. Most casting reels are designed to be cast so that the handle is pointing up. The human wrist doesn't flex in the casting direction with the palm to the side, it must be turned so that the palm is facing down. Even then, most fishermen use all sorts of casting motions to do what they need to do during a day's fishing.

The only thing that really remains constant is the position of the rod when fighting a fish. The thing I think you'd want to consider is whether or not to spiral wrap the rod so that it will be stable while fighting a fish. Putting the guides on the bottom of the rod is the only way to create an inherently stable rod (no, you can't make a rod stable with any particular spine orientation). If he simply doesn't want a spiral wrapped rod, that's fine too. It will still work, albeit with just a bit more effort on his part, with the guides all along the top of the blank.

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I don't really adjust to how they cast with one minor exception. If I have a guy/ gal that side arms their cast, I'm very careful about building a longer rod (over 7 feet) because 2 or 3 people in a boat all side arming 8 foot rods with crankbaits can be a recipe for disaster. I really warn them about the extra length and make sure they understand that even in a 20 foot bass boat, there's not more than 15-16 feet between the guy in the front and the guy in the back.

I am to the contrary here. I do watch how my clients cast and adjust the rod to fit their casting style.

I know one builder here, who may chime in (been awful quiet lately), who is advocating on top guides for overhead casts and spirals for sidearmed, etc casting.

Here are a few things I look at as well... if it's a split grip, is he actually gripping the bottom or just bracing the butt and creating a pivot point? If he's gripping, he may want a little extra cork on the butt. I have a customer who casts two handed with both hands behind the reel. His grips are thicker further down so both hands have plenty to grip. So I do look at the nuances of a customer's mechanics and try to build a stick that works better for that customer. I know I hit it right when they say they need the exact same grip on more rods.

As for position fighting a fish, I agree with Tom that if you are playing a fish, yes position remains constant. However I've really been watching how a rod is used while winching in fish, both myself and coanglers, and it really depends on what is happening. Keep in mind I'm watching bass anglers fishing for a check.

Here's what I see a lot of... High hookset, rod drops to waist level and has a lateral bend as the angler fights the fish down (stopping him from jumping) and drags him to the boat. I don't see a benefit with of spiral vs. on top here. The rod is bending sideways, backwards, upwards, etc. It's not the traditional view one thinks of. I see a lot of rod tips down in the water to stop lively fish from jumping... this causes the rod to bend out towards the fish, not the traditional downward arc caused from the rod being around a 45 deg upward angle. Watch a bass fisherman fight a fish and you won't see them pulling up on a fish a lot... don't need him jumping.

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AD

No doubt, the rod is flexed in several positions when fighting certain fish. Generally, however, the reel remains on top of the rod with only a few degrees tilt to one side or the other. Most of the time, excepting some fighting techniques, the load on the rod will come from below it.

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When using tight line techniques I tend to point the rod down toward the water at an angle away from the fish when fighting, but as the fish runs left or right I naturally rotate my rod with the reel pointed in the same direction he is headed or from which I am pulling.

I do this with out thinking about it. But it’s the strongest most comfortable angle for me to fight the fish, as far as the pull on my wrist is concerned.
Positioning the rod this way also allows for the rods handle to be pulled into my forearm increasing my leverage advantage as opposed to having it pulled away from my forearm.

Based on my style; having my guides on the bottom gives me a definite edge.

Makes sense. This shows more importance in building the rod for a particular angler and weighing trade offs.

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I'm not sure how this went from casting style to fish fighting style-but I find myself turning my body to a point that puts line and rod at nearly a 90 degree angle to one another and because I fish with reel palmed in my left hand that turn is almost always to my right. I find that I naturally put the fish on my left even if that puts me facing the back of the boat. From that position I keep the side of the reel facing the fish, not the bottom of the reel. The leverage or pulling power comes from pushing away from the fish on the side of the reel while the butt of the rod is against my body. That rod butt against my body becomes the pivot point. Your wrist is not very strong moving up and down when palming a reel but it is when pulling inward toward your forearm because you are using the muscles in your forearm and not your wrist. In most of my bass fishing the only time a fish is pulling downward is when it is close to the boat. Even when fishing "deep" bass tend to come to the surface and the resulting pull is sideways, not downward. My point here (and there is one)-styles are different but what occured to me when thinking about this is that when doing it like I do- it doesn't matter whether the guides are on top or on the bottom-they won't be facing the fish either way. And it occurred that using smallest, lowest framed guides still are working in keeping the rod from twisting. Other species of fish pull differently- many downward almost all of the time. Spiral wrapped rods for those seem to be without question better.

I think you better described what I was getting at Chris.

But to tie this back to handle styles... some of my customers like a rod handle they can tuck under their arm, into their side, or run alongside the length of the forearm when fish fighting.

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AD

Thanks a lot guys, you not only answered my question, but taught me a lot more. Just from reading your post, what it seems is that casting is not as quite as important as fighting style, or how you land a fish.

Fishing rods are used for many different types of fishing.

Some rods are set up for other things than casting distance -

A custom builder understands the advantages and disadvantages of each set up for the conditions of use.

A flipping stick (that word is the closest I can come to pole) / Rod set up for close in pitching

What does a fisherman expect of this style rod?

Ask them and they will tell you flat out!

Fisherman:

Accuracy hit my spot - low trajectory for soft water entry - vertical lure fall - and most importantly bite detection with slack or semi slack line, hook set and fish recovery!

I want to fish with it all day without tiring out -

At the end of the day I want the rod to be in the same number of pieces that I started with!