What’s written on the rod and what you can do

[DavidMoxhe]

Hi everyone 

i hope I’m in the right section 

so I was wondering when you have a rod that says 5-7 kg line. Is that the strongest main line you can put on your reel, the strongest you can have as a leader or is it more related to the drag you can set to your reel. I have seen some very experienced fisherman with 20pounds line on 5-7kg rod. How do you know the limit of your rod. Thanks a lot. 
david

[savit]

This might help:

 

 

[kingie chaser]

8 hours ago, DavidMoxhe said:

Is that the strongest main line you can put on your reel, the strongest you can have as a leader or is it more related to the drag you can set to your reel.

Both, also coupled with the casting/lure weight.

It also depends a bit on what the rod is designed for & what its made of as to how its affected by line & lure weight & action.

High stick even a decent graphite rod on a small to medium sized fish & the tip will snap.

Everything has a breaking point, if your not using what is recommended then somethings got to give right, even big gear can fail if its being over extended.

But thats what having a drag is for, if you catch a big fish on a light rod your only chance is to try to tire the fish while using the drag, line & rod as close to its limits, sometimes it will work, sometimes it will end in losing something.

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by kingie chaser

[JonD]

This shows the danger zone where you could come into trouble with rods.

 

 

[DavidMoxhe]

Thanks a lot for the extra information. That helps big time. 

[Oscarthebeagle]

The line rating on a rod refers to what is recommended breaking strain main line for that rod.

You can use 6kg line on a rod that is rated 2-4kg but you will not be able to fish the line to it's full potential. The heavy line will be affect your bait/lure presentation and you won't be getting the strength advantage of heavy line as the rod won't handle it. Fishing above the recommended range is a good way to break a rod.

For most of my outfits under 15kg line I have them set up on rods at the lower end of the rating e.g. 2kg line on a 2-4kg rated rod, 4kg line on a 4-6 rated rod etc. these outfits fished at 1/3 breaking strain of the line with the educated use of fingers on the spool at times works for me.

A good idea with a new outfit is to get a set of scales and test the drag, easier to do with a second person but can be done with the rod in a rod holder. One person holds the rod, other person hooks the line to the scales and and pulls back on the line taking note of what the scales pull down to, tighten or loosen the drag on the reel and go again until line pulls off the rod at about 1/3 of the line breaking strain. Pull line off at the reel to get a feel for what 1/3 feels like, you can go heavy than that during a fight depending on conditions but 1/3 is a good starting point.  

Hopefully that made sense.

Ash

[Rebel]

Welcome aboard.