rod recommended line thickness

I am often bemused ( is it an age thing) by manufacturers stipulating the recommended maximum line bs for a particular rod. Drennen for example on their ultralights recommend line to a maximum of 4lb bs or .16mm. This can be a contradiction in that some line is one but not the other ie 4lb bs but not .16mm!

I initially thought that it was the diameter of the eyes which determined this and recognised you wouldn't use 15lb bs line on an ultralite rod designed for Roach.

What would be the diasdavatage in having line which was say 6lb bs and .20mm ie marginally greater in the above example?

I struggle with really thin light lines; i cannot see them for a start!

The main issue would be the danger of overloading and damaging the rod if say you were fishing straight through or using a hook link lighter than your mainline but still heavier than the rod's rating.

I ignore any manufacturers line recommendations they are a cover all i use what I think I need for the job my CP has 6lb Maxima on it I use it with my Shakespeare mach 3 and I change the hooklength BS as needed, I always use a long hooklength when float fishing anyway so as long as I can cast to where I need to be reel line BS/Thickness doest seem to bother the fish.

Line ratings on rods are just an approximate guide so don't worry about it too much.

Taking the Matchpro as an example, 0.16mm line will be easy to cast and fish small floats with. 0.20mm line, on the other hand, will be much more difficult to cast small floats with as it will be much stiffer and, if loaded onto a small diameter reel, come off in coils making it very difficult to manage and work with. It would be a royal pain in the bum.

The other thing is, with a soft actioned rod like a Matchpro why would you need 6lb line ? If you need to use 6lb line then surely yuo need a slightly beefier rod anyway. Even 4lb line takes some breaking.

Am i right in thinking that diameter is more important than bs? Most of my lines are between 4 and 6 lb but the diameters do vary quite considerably even for the same bs!

If i end up with a very light rod with small bs/diameter line requirements, i shall need to look at a lighter line!

As stated its just a general idea. What manufacturers are afraid of anglers putting too much strain on a blank with fatal consequences.
Standard line dia are used because that's what most anglers use at least as a reel line.

In the absence of any standard system for denoting the action of a rod - how it bends under load and the shape it assumes etc - manufacturers use line rating as a way to indicate some things about it.

Traditional match rods with light actions tended to have ratings of say 1.5 to 3 lbs. I have several like this, and they are great for situations where finesse and light tackle is needed, and transmit "feel" well, making catching smaller fish a sporting pleasure and giving you a good chance of getting occasional bigger fish out thanks to their shock-absorbing flexibility. You can put a stronger line on such rods and not damage them, but the balance of the set-up is rather lost, and the risk is there if your line overpowers your rod by too much.

More modern rods often have wider range of rec. lines, reflecting amongst other things the stronger gear used to fish for the ever-growing carp in the burgeoning commercial sector, the increasing popularity of floatfishing for the bigger river species like chub and barbel, and technical developments that give us rods that don't "lock up" (stop bending at a certain point) so can accommodate a wider range of lines.

I'd suspect the Shakespeare has its roots in the first type, and enough of the second type to make it good for waters where fish are a decent average size. The holy grail might be the rod that does everything, but I can't imagine that. My float rods divide up into roach and skimmers/2-2.5 lb lines, tench, bream and chub/3 -5lb line and barbel 8-10lb line. I'm sure others have their own take.

This piece by a pretty successful angler puts things succinctly:


How to choose the right river rod — Angling Times

Cheers Kev and well put! A light rod and light line beckon in the near future! I think the tackle i have is up to those elusive tench!

Sorry Mike, just realised I've pontificated about rods without regard to your question. Unless you're in the market for some ancient classic, I'd say you will be fine to use 4lb line with a modern light rod. You will probably bump into this question, though: which 4lb line? As you said, they vary a lot.

At one extreme you have, say, Maxima - 0,17mm or so (micrometer-wielding anglers will tell you it's even thicker) - relatively thick and tough, and suitable as a reel line for snaggy, weedy swims with rough bottoms and strong fish. It offers a wide margin for angler error.

At the other, a pre-stretched 0,13mm line designed for use as a pole hooklength, protected from shocks by elastic, and with few or no line-weakening shot pinched on, and unsuitable for use on a reel. This stuff can be fragile and leaves little margin for error. Both are "4lb line". In between are lines that are more or less suitable for reel lines, depending on the type of fishing.... Done it again - start off trying to simplify things only to complicate them a bit later on.

You must use your own skill/arm to judge a rod's limitations,immaterial of what line you have on,i've used 7.9lb silstar matchteam on the pin for chub,on my 12ft Normark Titan 2000,just knowing the limitations of your tackle is the main thing(especially on the pin).

nottskev said:

..... I'd say you will be fine to use 4lb line with a modern light rod. You will probably bump into this question, though: which 4lb line? As you said, they vary a lot......

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Good points Kev,
Anticipating a further post on this subject -
Mike,

Don't know if 4lbs Sensor is any good - ask Tigger! mg:

greenie62 said:

NWAC currently have had a large stock of 4lb Sensor bulk spools, but no 6 or 8lb, I'm guessing they haven't got the space for the 6 or 8 'cos

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...the 4lb now comes on 200 mile spools!

binka said:

...the 4lb now comes on 200 mile spools!

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Very handy for towing barges up the Trent.

If you need a soft action rod why would you want to fish with a strong line.
I'm of the opinion that there are more than a few anglers that are too concerned with losing fish, so much that they fish too heavy to hook them in the first instance.
On commercials especially.

Now now stop upsetting my mate Tigger! I have just found some clear Sensor in 6lb which hopefully will be more visible to me! I will get 200 miles of 4lb as it will last me forever

---------- Post added at 17:12 ---------- Previous post was at 17:09 ----------

rayner said:

If you need a soft action rod why would you want to fish with a strong line.
I'm of the opinion that there are more than a few anglers that are too concerned with losing fish, so much that they fish too heavy to hook them in the first instance.
On commercials especially.

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I don't! I was just curious that's all about rod line rating. If I succumb to an ultra light rod a light line of 3lb or thereabouts will follow!

S-Kippy said:

Very handy for towing barges up the Trent.

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I'm far too polite to comment on whether or not the line might be thicker than the rod and wouldn't dream of bringing the angler into the equation...........

binka said:

...the 4lb now comes on 200 mile spools!

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....Baggies a couple of spools!

---------- Post added at 21:43 ---------- Previous post was at 21:42 ----------

S-Kippy said:

Very handy for towing barges up the Trent.

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Now that shows just how good it is .