Rod Rating

[Lundman]

Friendly Debate Question....

After watching some of Kent's Sturgeon videos and noticing the rod action during the fight, I was wondering why are you using 80 pound dacron when your pole's line rating is at most 50 pound test?

I believe your rod would preform the same even if you only used 50 lb. mono. since your rod is what is putting the pressure on the fish.

So why use a heavier main line than your rod is rated?

As Kent knows I also chase the big Gators up north and my rods are line rated at 20-50 & 30-50 and I fish with 40 & 50 pound test mono on my main line. From watching the video clip I believe I can put equal or more pressure on the fish with my setup virus 80 Ib. test and a rod rated at less line strength.

I also have seen & know for a fact that 50% or more of the fight when battling a large fish is up to the fisherman - he needs to take the offensive and get the fish in. Some fisherman just are wimps..!!

What are your thoughts on rod line ratings & line strength?
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[Kent]

[#000080]Probably ignorance/stupidity on my part. Some of the rods are rated up to 60 pounds. I have decided that 50 pound Dacron would probably be about right. (That said, because I still have a large roll of 80 pound Dacron, I probably won't be making the switch anytime soon.) The primary reason I believe 50 would be better is that this would allow me to put more line on the reels and thus give me a few more seconds to toss the anchors before a large one spools me. I have had a couple close calls with getting spooled and I believe one sturgeon, that I hooked a couple years ago, would have spooled me had it not first rubbed me off on the lava rocks.[/#000080]

"I also have seen & know for a fact that 50% or more of the fight when battling a large fish is up to the fisherman - he needs to take the offensive and get the fish in. Some fisherman just are wimps..!!"

[#0000bf]I agree, I like to get them in quickly and get everyone fishing again. That is also the reason I put measuring stickers every 6 inches from 24 to 132 inches on the side of the boat, so that we could quickly measure them and get them released. Also, getting them in and released quickly cuts down on the stress on the sturgeon, which is especially important with the water being warmer this time of year.
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[Ktrout]

The sturgeon really don't care what size line you are using so one answer for using 80 is for added assurance so that the line does not break, although I was using 30 to 60 on that trip which is what my rods are rated for. I also have 200 pound dacron that I could string up but don't because it is not as easy to work with and I don't think I will get much out of it on the spool, although I did use it for leader on some of my catches.

Another thing is that the rod rating is not entirely equal to how much pressure you can put on a fish. the bigger the backbone the easier to maneuver the fish, but the drag is what keeps the fish from running with the line, not the rod. The main thing I like for sturgeon fishing is a rod with a moderate action in the tip and heavy backbone. My rods set up for larger line ratings are like 2 x 4s and that just does not bode well for seeing a lighter sturgeon bite. They are also only around five feet which is hard to use on a boat like we were on because you have to get around the prop in some cases.

Kent's and Randy's rods are like 12 feet or something and I did think that they would break on a couple of the fish since they had their drags all the way tightened down during part of the fight. But they never did. My rods are much shorter, typically in the 6-7ft range because these were used for tuna fishing and having a 10 foot plus rod on a big tuna boat just won't work out. I think Kent and Randy can only put so much pressure on the fish because of the size of their drag system on their reels. I have huge tuna reels that you can put a lot more drag on these fish, but I still did not use all of the drag pressure. One of my rods has a lifetime guarantee so if I break it on a fish, then I will get it replaced, although I don't think that will happen unless the fish gets into the rocks.

I did bring to the boat one of my 70 plus inchers with 30 pound line and spinning gear. It only took me probably less than five minutes to do it but a quick snap of the tail broke me off because we all thought it was a 40 inch fish.

I actually like the idea of 80 pound line and a rod with a rating of 50 will typically do just fine with this size line with the types of reels most anglers use for sturgeon. Kent and Randy might be a little more nervous tightening down their drags if they were only using 50 pound line. You don't have to necessarily bring the fish in right away and a big rod helps with that. But you do have to stop it from getting into the rocks and big line and drag system are both helpful in this.
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[thebug]

To start off i spool one rod with 100lb power pro and the other with 130lb tuff line with a 96lb braided nylon leader that is about 2.5 ft long so i don't cut the fish. of the two sturgeon rods that i use one was bought in 1981 and for the past 6 or so years has been spooled with 80-130(current) lb test supper lines lines although only rated for 20-40. I personally have landed over 60 fish with this rod sense my uncle gave it to me two years ago. So line test vs rod "test" i think makes very little difference its the back bone in this rod that is what i love. My first trip out i tail hooked a 7 ft fish and bent this rod double but was still able to boat the fish. It all comes down to the drags on the reels my penns both the 220 and the 330 i hate and will probably never buy a penn again but the diawa i stole from my uncle has the ability to stop a 6 foot fish dead in the water and i feel that that is when i need that line strength. Im limited to the bank 95% of the time so the ability to keep fish out of rapids or running up into a turbine tail race i feel warrants big tough lines tthat can take that kind of abuse. I have landed a 5 foot fish on my salmon set up with 30 pound main line and a 20lb floro leader one year in hells canyon. that was a battle i hope to never relive i was really worried about killing that fish when i saw that it was a sturgeon because i played it to exhaustion thus the other reason i love the big lines i can hoarse the fish around get them in and released before they start turning red and i get worried about killing a fish

my thoughts also i don't consider myself to wimpy on friday i caught and landed 5 fish from 3 to 6 ft all between 1230 and 330
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