I've been watching quite a few fly fishing videos recently. I'm surprised by how often i see an angler, "accomplished" anglers fighting a large gamefish and placing there hand on butt section above grip and also high sticking the rod. I've been always taught not to do that for one; because you give up the power of the butt section by placing your hand on the blank above grip and also increase your chances of breaking the rod. Same with high sticking; good way to break the rod. Am i wrong? Am i missing something?...... Mark

"High sticking" only happens when the rod is being used to lift something close to the butt of the rod. This pulls the tip of the rod down, parallel to the butt, in an upside-down "U" shape. Most rods are not built to do this, and they will break. Fighting a fish some distance away bends the rod in a rounded "L" shape, which it is built to withstand. Grasping the rod above the grip simply increases leverage and is not "high sticking" until the fish (or snag) is within a few yards of the angler.

You're not wrong, in fact, you're correct. Just because you see somebody on a fishing video doing it doesn't mean it's okay. High sticking can easily break a rod in the upper third, and grasping the rod above the grip in an effort to reduce the leverage advantage the fish has places a greater load on an area of the blank not designed to handle it.

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I work for a major outdoors chain.. What I find is that most broken rods break it two place because of two different things. "High-sticking" the rod when the butt section of the rod is pointed straight up in the air while the tip section is forced to bend down towards the snag or fish breaks the rod usually three guides down the blank from the tip.. and reaching up the butt of the blank, above the grip will break a two piece rod just below the ferrule or about half way down the blank. This is not every case, but the majority of broken rods that come in where the guy claimed he was fishing, and the rod just broke, can be traced back to this. Just sayin'..

As long as the front 1/2 of the rod does not bend past 90 degrees, it should make little difference where the blank is grasped to achieve this.

Just don't grab the rod at the mid point of the rod and have the rod bend try to bend to 160 degrees. This is the perfect storm for a broken blank.

Be safe

p.s.
This is exactly the reason why many very heavy action blanks and very very heavy saltwater blanks are shorter. A shorter blank lets the angler exert more pressure on the fish with the same amount of force at the reel.

Good luck

If the pros paid for all their rods they would be more careful.

They never show you how many they break
But
They are fishing for a NICE deal of money

Bill - willierods.com

make sure that you don't watch any Bill Dance stuff. He is notorious for placing the butt of the rod on the deck with the tip straight up while he brings in the "big ole girl". I cringe every time that I see it.

I don’t think it’s so much the “angle” configuration of a rod that makes it susceptible to failure as it is the “bend radius”…..especially within a given length, where stresses could exceed the elastic limits (I.E., tweaking a rod tip between thumb and forefinger). If a rod was long enough, it could easily accommodate a 180 degree angle or more, so “high-sticking” wouldn’t be so much a problem as the rod being unwieldy.

The 90 degree rule may be applicable for most rods, but it may be too much for a short stiff rod….or in some cases of “grasping the rod above the grip”. A rod will accommodate a certain amount of bend/flex per inch and since the blank is tapered, the amount is progressive. Length is a factor in how much load it can carry and although increased lengths will inherently increase “power” (load capacity), it also decreases leverage. I’ve extended rods to improve castability and saw a gain in power, but for me, they also felt more flexible and unwieldy. Another example would be “crankbait rods”, which many anglers prefer so as to prevent ripping out treble hooks. These rods don’t necessarily lack power, and their flexibility is purpose-driven, but they feel like buggy whips to me.

I think a rod’s “power” and/or length can sometimes be confused with “leverage”. I typically shorten all my blanks to gain (my) preferable attributes (agility, lure control, accuracy, stiffness, sensitivity, leverage) and I’m aware that doing so decreases the “power” rating (load capacity), so it’s factored into my applications and use.

In a situation where maximum force or load is needed, such as freeing a snagged lure, the rod itself may be the “weak link” in the power train. We all know that pointing the rod in the direction of the load would exclude it as a factor and the line strength determines the applicable force.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2016 11:25AM by jim spooner.