What makes a good....

Superduperman · #1 30-10-2007, 08:52 AM

Hard Body Rod and Soft Plastic rod?

IMO I prefer a Hard Body rod to be softer as whenever I hook bream on HBs they are more likley to be pinned alot lighter than with a soft plastic. SO therefore I prefer a HB rod to be softer so it absorbs the headshakes more.

With Plastics i find that the bream is more likley to be hooked deeper inside it's mouth and therefore is less likley to pull the hook, there fore for plastics I prefer a stiffer rod.

Plastic caught fish

HB caught fish

What are your thoughts? agree or disagree?

Bear · #2 30-10-2007, 09:08 AM

Not for me, I have a bit of a different approach.

For plastics I prefer a softer rod with plenty of feel. A LOT of my plastics fish have been lip hooked, plenty of feel means I can get in a quick set as bream mouth the plastic. I fish I don't often get deep sets with plastics, maybe because I can feel them and stick them quicker.

For hb's I prefer a stiffer rod. I find they hit a hb much harder and will tend to hook themselves better than a plastic. Giving them a bit of drag means then can turn but also get the second treble in the side. The stiffer rod is also much better for twitching and getting the lure down quickly IMO.

I may vary this a little depending on conditions. If I feel the softer rod isn't setting quick enough or the fish are just plain snag crazy, then I'll plastic fish with the stiffer rod for turning the head quicker and getting the fish out of cover.

I virtually never fish a softer rod with hb's.

Brad Y · #3 30-10-2007, 09:44 AM

Haha this will be an interesting one.

Im caught in between. At the end of last year I had a good talk to Szarn about rods. What the general consensus between us was that a plastic you need to feel more and therefore a more sensitive rod is better. Plus we found that bream actually like a decent amount of movement and the best way to jerk a plastic was with minimal effort from a stiffer rod, than a lot of effort from a softer rod which would end up in fatigue. When fish hit hards, they will do it with a fair amount of gusto and a softer rod will act as a bit more of a buffer if you like- a safeguard in case the worst happens and they just bust you off on hookup. Sillier things have happened.

Our rods are by no means rigid, but we will fish plastics with stiffer rods that have fast tapers, and hards with softer and slower taper rods. I do use a HLZ jerkin special for in tight hards work and that is the opposite to my arguement, that thing is awesome for fishing hards but there is little give in it. Again it works well twitching down deep snags. I use a softer 6'6 for vibes that can load up a bit. Fish will either smack them whilst slowly rolling them under some rod load, or they sit on them during a pause so when you lift you arent ripping hooks out or snapping leaders. On the flats my hards rod is a softer rod too as fish tend to just whack things and i dont need to finnesse twitch. My regular 7' plastic rods are stiffer to impart more action on a lure with less effort. I have been fishing grubs alot more this year and they have worked really well in quick hookups when you feel the doonk of a bream. Using gulps I can understand a softer rod, but then how many rods do you carry to suit different lures. I have enough already...

Brad Y · #4 30-10-2007, 09:50 AM

Forgot to add, I dont take it gently gently on fish either so I guess fishing hards with the impact of a fish hitting, me setting hooks and a very stiff drag with 6lb line and leader almost everywhere could see alot more ripped hooks. A soft rod is really my only way of easing the stress on the whole situation. Bream are better off in the well than they are turning their heads and going for home. With plastics, fish are generally hooked further down so Im not as concerned about ripping hooks.

JMO but what works for one person aint always going to work for another. Best bet is to use whats comfotable.

Timmah · #5 30-10-2007, 10:01 AM

Sorry guys off the subject, who makes that soft plastic lure your using superduperman.

Cheers
Tim

Superduperman · #6 30-10-2007, 10:05 AM

First Pic is a Megabass Hazedong ($19.99 per pack of 10

) and the other two are Ecogear Bugants 2". Both fished on 1/50th Nitro Torpedo Jig Heads.

Dowelly · #7 30-10-2007, 10:18 AM

hey guys,
i presonally prefere both stiff ended rods, i fish both hards and softs very alike and feel more comfortable with stiff rods.
although its great fun fishing with my microlight which is awsomely flexy, the comp seen shows me fishing longer stiffer tipped rods.