Do short rods give less control over a hooked fish

[sam vimes]

It's not remotely clear cut. Everything depends upon the action and power of the rods in question. A soft long rod can offer far less control than a much shorter rod.

I'm not a great fan of rods shorter than 11' and won't use them unless a situation (encroaching vegetation, narrow rivers/becks) demands their use. However, I can acknowledge that some of my misgivings aren't entirely logical. At least some of my dislike stems from the fact that when I was a lad, the only sub 11' rods were either spinning rods or rubbish starter kits. Only old boys (mostly long in the tooth carpers and cane enthusiasts) and numpties seemed to use short rods when I was starting out. All of my mates and contemporaries aspired to 13' match rods. Only the odd one had shorter 11/12' rods. I only remember one having a 14' rod and that was a thing of wonder. However, it did prevent him fishing a few swims on the local farm pond.

 

[Philip]

The action will of course make a difference but all things considered if I had to pick one length from a playing point of view it would be 11 foot.

I have a few shorter rods down to about 6 foot but at that length if you hook a better fish its almost like you starting to play the fish off the reel. I have an 8 foot Darent valley rod and some 9 foot lure rods and its is noticeable the difference between 6 and 8/9 feet…the extra 2/3 feet do make a difference and you start to feel like your playing the fish with the rod. However its still not playing a fish on a 11 foot rod. Over 11 feet and I dont think you so much lose control but I start to feel a little more « disconnected » with the fish if I can put it like that.
Of course the physical aspects of the swim as well will play a part as to the best rod to play fish on. Just recently I had to crawl into a tiny canopy swim and the only rod I had with me was 14 foot…what a nightmare….but I didnt have any other option. Thats one time when I would have been happy to have had the 6 foot rod !

 

[108831]

Agree with that Philip,plus obviously if you need to cast long distances some of the preferred playing and handling qualities have to be given up,as a compromise,action,length etc.