River Tips
Part III
How to pick your rod...
THE RODS
Since my start in carp fishing, I’ve been fascinated by the rods. I
started with some 14-footer fiberglass telescopic as heavy as I was
at the time. In the mid-80s a new wave of carp rods coming from
England was making their way to France, shorter and lighter, what
a blessing for the skinny teenager that I was. Since then I had a
lot of sets of rods from 1.75 to 3.5lb, from 11ft to 13ft, from tip to
progressive action, I tested them all, and that was the only way to
know exactly what I needed then and now 35 years later.
Now everything is easier for the carp angler. You
can watch videos or read reviews on the internet
about the rod of your interest but still, you must
know what you need, and it can be different from
what you want. What do you have to take into con-
sideration to choose the right rod? There are many
different criteria that the angler should consider be-
fore opening his wallet or click on add to cart to buy
a carp rod. Where do you fish? What is your average
fishing distance? How heavy of lead are you using,
and finally, your budget?
I’m the type of angler that thinks that one set of rods
can’t cover all the situations that you can encounter
on the bank, even if you’re like me and fish pretty
much the same venue all season long.
What do I expect from a rod for the river?
THE ACTION
There are three types of action: fast, medium and slow,
also called tip, semi-progressive, and progressive action.
The fast or tip action is more suitable for long distance
casting due to the stiffness of the blank. I’m expecting
a progressive action which means a rod that bends and
doesn’t lock up. This type of action is suitable for fight-
ing the fish in the current and avoid hook pulls at close
range due to their flexibility. Let’s not forget that a rod
that bends will keep putting pressure on the fish. The
stiffness of a rod has a lot to do with the action. For ex-
ample, if you take two rods with the same test curve, one
progressive action and the other one is a tip action, even
though they have the same TC power the tip action is go-
ing to be stiffer. The progressive action rod is not made
for long distance casting but in the river, it’s rare that you
must cast 100 yards to reach the fish, the current making
the long-distance fishing a lot more difficult and not as
precise than in a lake. A progressive action rod is ideal
for short to medium range fishing. What I mean by that
from under the tip up to 30yards. If your fishing distance
is in between 30 to 70 yards, a semi-progressive action
will be more suitable. Last, if you target the fish further
than that 100+yards a tip action is what will allow you a
long-distance casting, not that you can’t reach a long dis-
tance with the other type of action, but a stiffer rod will be
more appropriate. My explanation of the action is basic,
just to give you an idea on the subject.
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