Rhino Rods?

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Ron Clay

Guest
I am sure some of you have seen the tackle test on these unbreakable rods in Angling Times.

I'm old enough to remember similar comments years ago when fibreglass was concieved. They said you could beat down nettles and drive cars over them, just like these new abortions.

Don't they understand that a fishing rod is meant to be used for fishing? In over 50 years of angling I have never had a fishing rod broken when I have used it for fishing. To see a "fishing rod" bent into the most ridiculous shapes to prove how good it is is an example of how stupid some people can be. The better a rod is for fishing , the more likely it can be broken by actions that have got nothing to do with fishing!!!

I have felt one of these rods and the action is awful, much like a piece of spaghetti. A top class carbon rod will beat these lengths of decreptitude any day.
 
C

Carp Angler

Guest
I was going to post something up about these.
Whilst the things they were doing seemed incredulous, I began to wonder why you would put 10lb+ line through a match float rod.
If it's to exert enough pressure for 10lb line, then you not going to be able to do much with a sloppy rod that bends in half to the butt section.

I haven't picked up one of these rods, but the specs strike me as strange.
 
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Richard Drayson

Guest
Can I assume that these rods are Zebco's equivalent to the Carbonactive rods by Preston Innovations or the Carbotec rods?
Surely, someone out there must have used one of the above rods. If so I'd love to hear a review.
Just in case someone from Zebco is reading this, if you'd care to send me a rod I'll review it for free ;-)
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
Richard, I think they are more likely to be like the Shakespeare Ugly Sticks. Going back 20 years, Ugly sticks have been shown in the same way...with the tips being bent round etc. The carbon content is on the low side, and glass fibre being on the high side. I find Ugly sticks horrible. Very soft and whippy....but they are right...u cant break them.

I get the impression that the Carbotec's etc are just a carbon rod that does not lock up...so can be really bent ito a fish with little problems. Please correct me is i am wrong.
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
Rick, what would alarm me if I was a carp angler was reading the bit where it said you could fish really light and get away with it. Fine on snag-free commercial fisheries, good recipe for fish trailing hooks and line anywhere else.
 
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Paul Tubb

Guest
I bought a Zebco Rhino 6'6 spinning rod this summer in Canada. Yes, a real through action but unbreakable (even in the hands of an eight year old). What decided it for me was the luminous tip - weird, weird, weird.....
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
Rik, Graham, Rob, could you all define what is meant by a rod "locking up"?

I have heard this term on several occasions now and quite honestly I don't believe such a thing happens. Still, it would be interesting to hear your comments.
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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A rod is locked up when it reaches that point where the round tube of the blank begins to go oval, and the rod won't bend any more. It locks up solid. Of course, if sufficiently more pressure was applied the rod would break.

This is why rods with lots of rings lock up more quickly than rods with few rings, because each foot of the ring creates a flat spot. It is also the main reason why rods perform better with single leg rings.
 
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Gerry Castles

Guest
I think to some extent you are all missing the point. The Rhino rods have been around a long time and were conceived as starter rods. Sure they not as light and as efficient as a top class carbon rod, but you would not compare a Skoda with a Bentley, not unless Bentleys were available at Skoda prices. Just remember that there are anglers out there with small children and kids with just pocket money who are looking for a start in the sport, that's the market for these rods. They are not what you and I might aspire to now, but then I don't recall as a kid being handed a split cane Mk4 carp rod as a first rod. As for the Ugly Sticks, the Howald E-glass process is as good and as relevant now for some types of fishing as it was when it arrived, over thirty years ago. Cabelas still sell the full range and some of those rods because if their peculiar soft action and price are perfect downrigger and trolling rods. The blanks are also still used on top of the range big game trolling rods and my Ugly Stand-up Stik is still the best weapon I ever saw for getting big conger and skate off the bottom. Yes they bend a bit, but in this age of no-stretch braid that aint no bad thing. They may not be the greatest as top of the range coarse rods but I doubt I doubt if they were promoted as such but then it's horses for courses.
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
How's the boat going Gerry..? Had any Thames zander yet..?
 
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Gerry Castles

Guest
Shhhhh ! I expect to see you and Andy sometime in Feb/Mar to show me how it's done. I'll just sit back with me book.
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
Ron..graham summed up "locking up" perfectly..although, with the addition of other materials, this process can be changed to meet demands.

As for Rhino rods being for brginners...at ?114 I would have thought a beginner would pass this up as being bloody expensive.

Gerry..the Ugly Stick Lites spinning rods are bloody awlful..but there 12 pound boat road is still the best for pollock.
 
G

Gerry Castles

Guest
The Rhino range that I know, starts around $25 for a baitcaster/spinning rod and that was their market. I'm surprised that they have moved up a notch. But without trying one for size it's difficult to comment.
Has anyone had one for the weekend ?
The Ugly Stik lites are not to everyone's taste but clearly someone likes them otherwise they wouldn't sell. I think the current US price is about $27 for which nobody should expect state of the art kit. In the 'unbreakable' stakes whilst it is not necessarily a requirement for todays high income tackle tart, I recall a recent article somewhere about a guy who takes his kids and their friends fishing and that a regular part of the proceedings is a mock sword fight on the river bank. you could have a jousting tournament with an Ugly Stick but don't try it with a modern IM8 carbon rod.........and yes I have broken a carbon rod with a fish on that ran into a reed bed and sat there. In 'coaxing' it out, the rod suddenly snapped just above the butt, too sharp a pull in entirely the wrong direction. Carbon is strong but is not impact resistant and not at all difficult to break. Catch it with the edge of your boot, bring it down to sharply on the gunwhale, pick up the rod by the tip, pull the rod tip down at a too sharp angle and 'bang' you have an expensive pile of carbon shards in your hands. If any one doesn't believe me and cares to meet me with their pride and joy I'll show you just how easy it is. So there is a place for the soft action, built to last rods that may be just a bit too heavy for the likes of you and me, just like the Rhinos and the Ugly Sticks.
 
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John McLaren

Guest
Perhaps we've all missed the point on this! Maybe these rods are aimed at the growing sport of Rhinocerous Catching - I wait to hear AT are going to introduce them to the Severn Valley!
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
I could uderstand it if the Rhino rods were cheap, but they are not.

I have used Uglystiks in the past. Great for sea fishing or any kind of boat fishing were the rod could be damaged.

Now this business of rods locking up. If you bend a tube it will tend to go oval as soon as it is deflected. When this happens the cross section modulus changes making the tube progressively weaker as it is bent more. Well that's the theory without getting too technical.

In practice the tendency to ovular is minute, due to the complex structure of modern carbon blanks together with other fibres of kevlar for example that strengthen up the blank. In practice I think it is very difficult to bend a rod up to the point where it "locks up". I can't, I'm not strong enough. What does happen is that we bend the rod to the extent of our strength when it "appears" to lock up.

Maybe all you gorilla gripped youngsters can do better than me.
 
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Richard Drayson

Guest
Ron says "In practice I think it is very difficult to bend a rod up to the point where it "locks up".
Quite right Ron. But take a look at those tournament casters, sea-anglers who practise and compete putting a lead sometimes over 300 yards (270m) in competition.
I think they use a minimum 80lb (38kg) shockleader with a standard 5? oz (150g) lead. That will give some idea as to how much energy you have to put into the rod, and those distances can only be acheived by fully compressing the rod blank, ie locked up.
I tried it a few years back and 'only' managed to cast my lead 198 yards (178m).

OK, I realise this is the coarse forum but I'm just making a point.
 
R

Ron Clay

Guest
Thanks for the comments Richard.

Another point worth making is that far more demands are made of a rod casting a concentrated mass than playing a fish. Some years ago I took a series of photos showing a powerful beach casting rod and multiplyer throwing out a 5 oz lead. The casting was done by a South African who at the time held the local distance casting record.

The carbon/glass composite rod bent into the most incredible curves imaginable. Far more than what could be put into the rod by playing a fish.
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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I think we might be doing a bit of nit-picking here. Okay, so the rod doesn't 'lock up' 100%, simply because the angler has the sense to ease off before that crucial point is reached, for there is only one way to go following a complete 'lock-up' and that's a broken rod.

I had 'lock-ups' happen to me on the Dove this year, through unwisely using a line that was stronger than what the rod was capable of handling.

'Lock-ups', in the practical sense, which means as far as angling is concerned, simply mean that you've reached the point where the rod is in danger of breaking unless you ease off. It means there is no more shock-absorbing bend left in the rod at all - in angling terms rather than technical terms.
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
Ron, with a modern beach casting rod (i use a Zziplex Dream Machine GS Match Special) as you start to power out of a pendulum cast, you suddenly feel an increase in weight. This is generally put down to the butt having reached its maximum curve and "locking up". There is no more shock absoption and therefore the lead accelerates as all the power is now being transfered to the lead rather than being takin up by the flex of the rod.

Also, I wish I could let you use some of my lighter carp/lure rods and you would see what I mean by locking up on a fish. It is a rare occurance, but on rods that have external meshes and spirals, it is possible for all the "spring" to be taken out of the bend of the rod until it will bend no more.

As for the original Rhino thread, what worried me was the fact that they clearly state you can put 10lb line through it, stick the rod in the water and crank away until a suprised carp is in the net!! Surely on this principle alone, these rods are infact a danger to fish. How many fish will have ripped mouths using this method?
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
"Put 10 lb line through it, stick the rod in the water and crank away until a surprized carp is in the Net!!!!"

How big a carp?

When you examine such a statement, it makes you concerned of the mentality of the pratt that wrote it.

I truly despair.
 
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