There seems to be a lot of talk about the advantages of parabolic rods. The new craze in vertical jigging has really created a demand for these blanks. Most are fairly costly. I have read claims that seem counter to my understanding.

For example, claims that they store more energy for casting and are more accurate casters. On the other hand I do understand reduction of lever arm, and I can see how it could allow a higher drag setting. I can also see how the rod wouldn't "lift as much line" per pump as a fast action rod. I suppose if you ride the rail and use your reel as a winch parabolic's work great but if you pump and reel down they stink? Then I hear claims like a parabolic rod is lighter for the same stength because the rod's load is spread over a larger area. Or comments like fast action rods have a concentrated load at the point of lockup that leads to failure.

Anyhow I could go on about some of these claims but I'd rather hear what you guys have to say. When I hear parabolic I conjure up memories of solid glass IFGA trolling blanks. The only newer parabolic rod I touched was a shimano trevala. There were some things about the way it felt that I liked. On the other hand I thought the ratings were a total joke and if you ever caught a serious fish they would fold up like a wet noddle and offer no lifting power at all. So I admit to never fishing one and being both curious and skeptical.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

If you ever get the opportunity fish one. Yes they bend in half but with a high speed retrieve reel the short pumps are not so bad. The reduced lever arm makes it easier to fight the fish. I feel they get to the boat just a quick if not quicker. You do need to adjust you gimbal belt a little differently though

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Explain this to me. So you sit there with a big parabolic rod and you are hooked up to a 300lb yellow fin. You want to sit there and hold the rod and let the reel do all of the work. It just doesn't add up for me. The other day someone mentioned to me that it "tires the fish out" quicker because it has more constant pressure. But if you have a faster action rod with more balls, you can pull the fish in because when you pull, the rod doesn't keep bending, THE FISH ACTUALLY MOVES! How could the parabolic bend aid you in getting the fish in faster if the more pressure you put on the fish, the more the rod bends????

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Gabe
(N.E.R.B.S Mascot)

If your talking a J curve as opposed to a c curve in the rod The J will be faster on the cast because primarily the upper 3rd is bending making it a fast rod but more difficult to fight the fish -the C curve is just the opposite ,a little slower on the cast but good for fighting the fish because of the bend going much farther down the rod

The effect of the fish pulling on the rod is multiplied by the lever principle . The shorter the lever the less the effect. The amount of blank that is pointing straight at the fish is taken out of the equation. I'm sure most have grabbed a rod higher up the grip or even on the blank to get an advantage on a big fish after its on the line for a while. The fish wears down quicker because he has les help fighting you from the rod.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

That's right - you can't get something for nothing. What you gain in mechanical advantage on one end you lose on the other. To be able to apply more pressure, you give up some recovery distance and vice versa.

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Gabe, Have you ever hand lined a fish? When the fish is close to the boat and is leadered the fish has no advantage other than it can more easily snap the line due to no shock absorption. At this point it is a tug of war, the fish don't have the advantage it had on the rod. With a rod that is parabolic the fishes advantage is reduced greatly therefor it tires quicker.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Fred, how do they do when a fish wants to run under the boat, towards the props, or into the rocks and you need to turn him NOW?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

The amount of pressure exerted at the hook bend in the fish doesn't care whether you are pulling the line with a pool cue or an egg noodle - or how long the pool cue or egg noodle is. That's at the fish-end, where ten ponds of pull are ten pounds of pull, no matter what's at the other end. At your end you exert as much pull [energy] as you exert energy [pull], no matter the composition or your rod. The best "action" rod for you depends upon your physical strength and/or that indefinable and immeasurable quality known as "feel."

But to get that tens pounds of pull requires a different amount of effort from the fisherman depending on the length of the rod he's using.

The load times its distance from the fulcrum is equal to the effort times its distance from the fulcrum.

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