Buying Quality Fishing Tackle
Buying Quality Fishing Tackle
The more you move around diverse fishing circles, and think about buying quality fishing tackle the more you’ll hear about something the professionals call balanced or matched fishing tackle. This means nothing more than fitting the fishing line to the reel and the reel to the rod. Anyone can walk into a fishing tackle shop, and walk out with a rod. But is it a good rod? They will probably never know until they have several years of fishing under their belt and become an old hand at the sport. Then they will see the advantage of owning quality fishing tackle.
Most fishing tackle manufacturers have several rods made to go with each of it’s reels. Which rod you want to purchase is dependent on the kind of fishing you want to do. When shopping to buy good quality fishing tackle, steer your way to a quality rod that’s matched to the reel of your choice. This will guarantee better handling, better action, better casting, better retrieving . . . better fishing. Of course, you can also match your reel to made by manufacturers that do not produce their own fishing reels.
It is best to stick to the reputable brands and if you are a novice here are some of the things to look for:
Ferrule
The joint where the tapering end of the rod meets with the butt end. One part of this joint should fit snugly and firmly into the other. It should call for a little bit of muscle, with the emphasis on little, to take them apart. There should even be an audible pop as the nearly airtight fit is broken.
Handle
Hardwood is good material for a handle but the best and most comfortable is made of cork, good cork. “Specie” cork is the best. The less costly cork is “mustard” The kind of cork and the price of the rod can be a key to the craftsmanship that’s gone into the rest of the rod. The specie grain runs parallel to the rod, the mustard grain is perpendicular. A lot of holes in the cork indicates mustard cork, fewer holes mean specie cork. If the holes are round and deep it’s safe to say it’s mustard cork. If, on the contrary, the holes are oval and shallow, it’s specie cork.
Material
The tackle industry has tried, tested and experimented with every possible kind of material to find the one best suited for spin fishing in salt water. The unanimous finding was hollow glass. Split bamboo is expensive and is subject to breaks, it bends and and suffers with wear. Solid glass is stiff, less helpful in casting and weaker than hollow glass because it will break before it will give. Hollow glass needs no protective coating against the elements and it won’t soak up water, and it bend out of shape if left standing in the cellar. It is Umber and every inch of the rod works for you when casting. A hollow glass rod can last a lifetime.
Reel Seat
The reel seat can consist of sliding rings, or the entire seat can slide. Still a third device, the best for attaching the spinning reel to the rod so it will stay firmly in place, is the fixed reel seat. A screw-locking mechanism provides the anchor that keeps the reel where it belongs while you’re reeling your catch in. The seat will be in your hand every second of the time you hold the rod; make sure it’s properly rounded for comfort and make sure the seat fits your reel before you buy.
Tiptop and Guides
Tiptop and guides are the rings through which the line passes. The one on the very end is called the tiptop. The largest ring, the one closest to the handle, is called the gathering guide because it gathers the loops of line as they uncoil from the reel and reduces their size before passing them on to the succeeding guides. The tiptop and gathering guide take the greatest beating. Therefore they should be made of the toughest, most non-corrosive material possible. Good materials are stainless steel and tungsten carbide.
Now about the action? That word “action” means different things to different men. It’s probably best to use the words “stiff” or “limber.” A limber rod is more flexible, its tip moves faster with less effort. Speed of tip movement puts whip in the rod and the better the whip the better the cast.
Fortunately for the beginner, the limber fishing rod is easier to control and therefore easiest to master.
