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    • Re: Long and short rods.

    Walter...

    Great answers.

    So far, nobody thought of one simple advantage of short rods as being easier to carry in the woods.

    Short rods are much more efficient for fighting very large salt water fish, too.

                                                                          Gordy

                                                                              




     

    From: Walter Simbirski <simbirsw@xxxxxxx>
    To: Gordon Hill <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
    Subject: Re: Long and short rods.
    Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 17:20:21 -0700

    Hey Gordy - here are my answers for the long/short rod quiz.
     
    Walter
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Walter Simbirski
    To: Gordon Hill
    Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:36 AM
    Subject: Re: Long and short rods.

     
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    Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 12:07 PM
    Subject: Long and short rods.

    Hi, Group....

     A mini-quiz:

    1.) List as many advantages and disadvantages of long vs. short fly rods.

    Longer rod advantages /short rod disadvantages:
    - Longer rods provide extra leverage and casting arcs for longer casting (subject to effective rod length discussion
      later on)
    - A longer rod increases your reach when you need to reach around or over something or you
      need a high back cast to avoid obstacles behind you
    - Longer rods provide greater magnification of hand movements for improved specialty casts
      such as curve casts, roll casts, spey casts.
    - The magnification of hand movements also applies to more pronounced mends.
    - Longer rods require less physical effort to cast (again, we will discuss the effective rod length later)
      so are less physically tiring during a long day of fishing.
     
    Short rod advantages / long rod disadvantages:
    - Easier to handle in tight situations (e.g. small streams, overhanging brush conditions)
    - Greater leverage for fighting fish
    - Due to the fish eye effect a short rod may be much stealthier depending on the fishing situation.
    - For short to medium distance casts short rods are more accurate because there is less magnification
      of had movement as viewed from the rod tip.

     

    2.) Lefty once wrote, " The longer the fly rod, the more it helps you make the cast."

         a.) List any thoughts you may have in support of that statement.

    A longer rod gives you more leverage and allows a longer arc making it possible to cast farther. You
    can also make shorter casts with less body movement (i.e. less physical effort required) than with a
    short rod.

         b..) What, if any, are the limitations of that statement.?

    First, there is a basic assumption that all other things (such as rod weight, stiffness, etc.) remain equal as the
    rod length increases. This is not necessarily true since the rod taper and material have a significant effect as
    well. We will talk about the effective rod length later but it applies to this discussion - a longer rod may actually
    have a shorter effective rod length than a short rod.
     
    Another issue to consider is that as the rod length increases the angular momentum of the rod increases
    significantly which makes it more difficult to make a sharp stop. As rods get very long we require two hands
    to make effective casts. The second hand supports the wrist of the first hand by controlling the amount that
    the wrist is opened or closed during the casting stroke and by allowing for a controlled stop.

         c.)  Give a fishing circumstance where a 10' single handed fly rod might be preferable to an 8 1/2' rod.

    People who use float tubes will prefer the longer rod because being low in the water reduces their casting
    distance.

         d.)  Can you think of a fishing circumstance where a 5' long fly rod might be best ?

    Lefty talks about tunnel conditions - small creeks with overhanging trees. The short rod will work best here.

         e.) Lefty taught us a trick to solve the problem of the angler out on the stream in just such a, "short rod circumstance" as in, d.) who finds himself with only a 9' rod at his disposal.  (His short rod is 2 miles back at the car !)

    What is Lefty's trick ?

    Choke up on the rod while casting, i.e. move the rod hand up to the first stripping guide while casting. After the
    cast move your rod hand back to the rod handle.

     3.) Can you come up with an accepted definition of, EFFECTIVE ROD LENGTH ?

    Vincent Marinaro describes it as the chord which subtends the arc of the rod when it is fully bent.
     
    I would qualify this to say it is the chord from the hand position to the tip of the rod. This fits in with Lefty's
    trick of choking up on the rod or with Tim Rajeff's description of moving the hand to the lowest possible
    position on the rod in order to increase the effective rod length for distance casting.
     
    The term "fully bent" is somewhat subjective as this is subject to the caster's style and ability
    but I can't think of a better term without getting excessively wordy. Let's just say that one man's (or woman's)
    "fully bent" may be different than another's.

    4.)  Who first described this ?

    I don't have a copy of this to confirm but Don Phillips references J.C. Mottram's book, "Fly Fishing,
    Some New Arts and Mysteries", which was published in 1915.

    5.) Name two books in which this is described.

    In the Ring of the Rise - Vincent Marinaro
    The Technology of Fly Rods - Don Phillips
     
    Jason Borger in the Nature of Fly Casting references Marinaro but uses the term "pragmatic rod length".

                                                                   Gordy