The Basic Physics Behind Fishing Rods

[corndog]

He said stiff rod!!

[Milkjug]

lol...

I don't need a rod with more backbone. Sharp hooks and braid will do it all for me, and it is harder to maintain tension on a fighting fish and more tiring to work tops on a "boat rod".

[scumLORD]

use braid and you wont have to guess on thumps, a stiffer rod is good for corkys, and I know where you are talking about I caught a 20lb+ cat there not to long ago and almost sank my crappy yak along with a 28 in red. If you go there on a really low tide, you can see where they are hiding pretty good knowledge.

[Swells]

Action, power, and modulus are all different things. Backbone is not a scientific term but usually means a resistance to bending in the lower part of the rod, so fast action usually means "backbone" and slow action is more whippy like the old Lamiglass rods - I have some old Fenwick rods with very slow action but very high power.

http://philangler.tripod.com/tips/Rod trends.htm

That's an old website that explains some of it. By the way, some of y'all might be trying to set the hook too hard after a "thump." Fish will often chase a bait or lure and tap it, and you can see that in clear water. That's when you slow down your retrieve and wiggle it instead of trying to rip its lips off, lol.