So let’s take a look at each rod action and when you should use them in your fishing.Ī rod that has a super fast or responsive tip is usually best when you need to move the lure with your rod and you need to drive a hook fast when a fish bites. Where a slower action is preferred when you work the treble hook lure more with your reel like with a crankbait for example. The fish loads up on the bait when it bites, and the hooks drive under the loaded pressure not a hard hookset.Ī faster action is nice when you need to work a lure with the rod like a worm or a jig. So a slower rod is better when you’re talking about straight retrieves and treble hook lures. A slower rod is going to load up more and the hooks grab under pressure. It will set a hook a lot better, so it’s more for techniques where you need to drive a hook more on the hookset, like with a worm hook that is buried in plastic. Generally speaking a fast rod is a lot more responsive. Parabolic bends are when the action blends with the power of the rod to bend further down into the backbone of the rod where the power forms. So it’s a lot slower to get back to straight. More of the rod moves, so it has to travel more distance to get back to straight. The slower the action, the more the rod bends into the backbone. So it has the least distance to travel to return to normal. On this chart, you can see that the fast rod doesn’t bend as easy and has a lot less tip movement. So the easiest way to show the differences in actions is by charting them. So it’s a slow action or a moderately slow action compared to the fast or extra-fast action.Ĭharting Fishing Rod Actions for Easy Understanding Whereas, when I bend a moderate to moderate slow rod, and release the pressure, the rod moves back to its normal state a lot slower. That means the rod will return to its normal state the fastest. In other words, when I bend a rod with an extra fast or fast action these are the fastest actions. When you release the pressure, this is the action of the rod. As the rod loads, it takes on a bent or loaded state under pressure. So your fishing rod is straight in its normal untouched state. What the the speed nomenclature is actually measuring is the speed in which rod returns to its normal state. So you would think you would have a scale from “stiff” to “limp” right? Because the Extra Fast Action is the stiffest action and the Slow Action is the limpest action. When you think about the action of the rod you’re talking about how much tip movement there is in the rod. So the terminology for rod actions confuses people. It can be an overwhelming prospect, so we’re seeking to help you understand not only what matters when choosing a fishing rod but also some of our favorite options among all of these choices.

How take screenshot on rigs of rods