'HB' tapers vs 'SP' tapers, discusion

[Drew]

There seems to be a lot of different veiws on the matter of whether, a 'HB' rod has a differnet taper/action to that of a "SP" rod........

It might be a good idea to set up a poll on this to find out what taper rods, the members of 'BM' like for different applications.......

for agrument sake, i like slower tapers for my 'HB' lures (especially-surface a shallow minnows), and a fast taper for my 'SP' fishing (unless fishing surface unweighted's)........

they are my personell views, and are completly open to change if i can be convinced other wise..........i like the stand point chris L put forward to me in the thread "has anybody got or used a heartland-Z", he stated that he likes the vice virsa of what i described above ......... his explaination was very sound and therefore i shall try it (especially on deep diving cranks-using a fast tapered blank), i can see many advantages that chris has suggested .......the main thing being a deeper diving plug/minnow is going to get closer to snaggy cover and there for a quick hook up and pull is in order......... rather than a slower hook set and less butt power........

so please send in u're thoughts on differ types of fishing situations and the "WEAPON OF CHOOSE", best suited to that particular need........:confused:

things like :

1. flats fishing,
2. deep snags(fallen tree's/pillons/jetty's/rockwalls),
3. shallow snag's(high tide flats/oyster leases/rocks/tree's),
4. vertical presentation,
5. long cast (open fishing) or others u can think of

cheer's drew-ps i don't know how to set up a poll so if anybody knows post that too.......!

[Bear]

Drew,
Personally I like the butt power of the Reapers for the snags. For hards I use the 6'6" and the 6' Reapers. They load up at the top third of the rod so you don't feel like you're fighting the rod as well as the fish. It also means you have a lot of pulling power.

I've really only just taken up plastics a bit more and have been using a 2 piece 7' Reaper. The action is very different to the HB rods and casts a plastic a mile. It's softer than the HB rods and lets you load up really well.

These are very different to a lot of the rods I have seen, so I think talking about a single style of rod can be a bit misleading. Different manufacturers do the job in different ways.

As I tell every guys. Get your reel first and head out with guys who have rods you're interested in. Guys like Geoff and myself are more than happy for you to have a flick and see what you prefer.

Make sure you're happy with the reel seating. Make sure it feels balanced with your reel on it.

TAKE YOUR TIME.

Women have nothing on men and impulse buying tackle.

Stick to a budget and if needs be, save a bit more for what you want.

[Drew]

thanks for that reply bear

i haven't tried the reapers yet there not huge yet in the east .....

i still working on that bear drawing and have sum promising logos but nothin i really like yet .......... still need s work and i need sum time off .....lol

i trying to put together a chart of uses for rods a catologuing them into brands and models........

i will take my time to fully way up which rod i buy as i can't afford to buy to many $300 rods

cheer's drew

I personally am a fan of fast tapered rods for HB's, and a slower taper for SP's. The reaper is a perfect example of a Hard Bodied rod (6ft). I would prolly go a Bluestone for SP's though.

[Ravin]

I like fast tapers for both SP's & HB's myself. I use 7 footers for both whether I'm land or boat based. Distance with soft or hards has never posed a problem for me & I would rather have some guts in the rod than an extra 3 metres in cast length. If I'm a little out of range of a fish or structure its not hard to take a few steps or hit the button on the electric. I know many will disagree with me but sacrificing stopping power for a couple metres of distance seems a bit silly to me.
Thats my 2 bobs worth anyhow.

[Cindy]

For those in WA interested in the Bluestones, Warren (Breammaster) has some in his shop.
Cheers,
Cindy

[Mick]

Once again it all comes down to personal choice, for crankbaits I wouldn't use any thing but a quick taper as I want it to load up very quickly for a positive hook set. In general the same goes for softbaits but recently I have been using a 7ft BWS struddie 2-4kg which has a more moderate taper, than what I have been using.

The rod has been perfect for softbaiting when the fish are very finicky and only tasting the lure, with the quicker rods I have been pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth or only getting light lip sets which pull out easily during the fight, but with the struddie the setting of the hook is much softer and finds the mark more often. The 7ft slower action also allows for longer casts which comes in handy on some occasions.

I have a couple of heartland Z's which I love and I have found them to be excellent fighting rods, but only average casting rods(Distance), but as most of my fishing is from a boat it doesn't really matter but I could see it as an issue for a lot of land based guys.