Can Someone Please Explain Rod "Action" to Me?

[kailor]

I've never really understood what information the "Action" of a fishing rod was conveying to me. I've never spent more than $50 on any rod my entire life. So what does the "Action" (Fast, Medium, X-Fast, etc.) of the rod mean. I only fish Guntersville and it's always (90%) with some type of plastic. I just went to Gander Mountain a few minutes ago and put a Lew's Tournament Pro on a 7' MH Veritas and it felt superb! What "Action" should I be using in a fishing rod, or does it really matter? Thanks, Keith.

[Hawkman]

Here you go. This helped me out.

http://www.allstarrods.com/sub_actiontaper.html

[scrockett88]

my wife says i have good rod action

[Crazy D]

It's where and how the rod will bend , or where the rod will start to bend , between the handle of the rod to the tip .

[bilgerat]

The link Hawkman gave you is excellent

As a general rule (nothing in fishing is written in stone) you want a fast action rod for plastics, jigs, and other baits in which you fish slow and need to feel what is going on.

For crankbaits and other moving baits, you want a slower type rod which will allow the fish to take a treble hook moving bait without ripping the bait out of it's mouth. The extra flex of the rod can act as a "shock absorber" when fishing fast moving baits. These are what are known as reaction type baits.

Some rod builders, such as Falcon, sell single rods that are suitable for many techniques. I myself like these as I fish from a kayak and don't have the option of bringing 6 rods with me.

[haveme1]

http://www.allfishingbuy.com/F...n.htm

I like this link.

Also allot of them have gone to using numbers and letters instead of the norm description. MH/M is a good all around rod, IMO. But some are stiffer than others marked the same.

In the link it's explained how to check the action while looking in the store.
"How to Check the Action of a Fishing Rod"

I'm at the 100.00 limit on a rod. It seems the ones I like are 90.00 Abu Garcia

[cubswin]

as for what you should be using, it really depends on what you are fishing. Fast is a nice all around rod action. X-fast is better with plastics in my opinion. Medium, or even slow is better for crankbaits.

Fast action rods, will work for most everything. May not be the best rod for a technique, but will get the job done.