PE rating versus breaking strain for setups

[Carl Hollis]

Apologies in advance if this is novice, however if PE line is equivalent only to the lines diameter then wouldn't the PE line breaking strain be more useful in describing a given setup in general? For mine, PE line measurements are useful for determining reel capacity only, and depending on the braid manufacturer, and hence quality, the capacity will change.

Specifically, I have a Zenaq Fokeeto 83-7 rated PE6-8 and currently run 65lb Tuffline on a 10000SW - great casting outfit and can get ~250m on the spool. Does the rods PE rating mean 60-80lb or, if using higher end lines eg YGK Castman PE6-8, 80-100lb?

If the rods rating means 60-80lb then in theory I should be able to load the reel with YGK Castman PE4 (and have a heap more spool capacity) and still have a 60lb setup. On the other hand, I may be currently under doing the rods capacity and could load it up as a PE8 (100lb) setup.

I've just got my hands on a Saltiga Dorado 80TN rated PE4-6 for a lighter stick bait rod and the same questions apply, ie 40-60lb or can it handle PE6 that has a breaking strain of ~80lbs?

As I started, apologies if this is all too obvious for more experienced bods, but any further explanations and advice would be great before I purchase new PE line and extra spools. The bigger plan is to run these setups over in NZ nth island chasing his majesty....

Carlos

[Brandon Khoo]

Carl
It is actually a good question that you have raised.
The best way to approach this issue though, is to use the ratings provided as manufacturers as a guide and no more than that. There are some ratings provided by some manufacturers which in my view are almost nonsensical. I've seen rods rated PE10 and rated to take 20kgs or even more of drag when a curve on the blank tells me that the rod is going to be pushing it for anything more than PE8 and about 10-12kgs of drag. Conversely, I've seen PE12 rods rated with less drag than what a PE8 rod should be able to take.

With the rods you are referring to, I personally think the Fokeeto 83-7 is closer to PE6 than PE8 so I'd say about 80lb is best with it. It will handle 100lb braid if you know your rod angles and fish it sensibly. On your Dorado 80TN, I think PE6 is pushing the rod to it's limits but again, if you fish it sensibly, it will be fine.

[Carl Hollis]

Thx Brandon for the info.

I wonder if high end casting rod makers will change from PE rating to line class weight over time?

Carlos

[Brandon Khoo]

No, I can't see that happening

[Vasko Dimoski]

Carl
It is actually a good question that you have raised.
The best way to approach this issue though, is to use the ratings provided as manufacturers as a guide and no more than that. There are some ratings provided by some manufacturers which in my view are almost nonsensical. I've seen rods rated PE10 and rated to take 20kgs or even more of drag when a curve on the blank tells me that the rod is going to be pushing it for anything more than PE8 and about 10-12kgs of drag. Conversely, I've seen PE12 rods rated with less drag than what a PE8 rod should be able to take.

With the rods you are referring to, I personally think the Fokeeto 83-7 is closer to PE6 than PE8 so I'd say about 80lb is best with it. It will handle 100lb braid if you know your rod angles and fish it sensibly. On your Dorado 80TN, I think PE6 is pushing the rod to it's limits but again, if you fish it sensibly, it will be fine.

Hi Brandon isn't most PE8 line rated at around 100lb or even a bit higher so shouldn't you be able to run at least a 1/3 of that on a true PE8 rod 15kg of drag. Maybe the rod manufacturers should stop using PE ratings which IMO can be very different for eg YGK nitlon PE10 is rated 100lb when ygk ultra PE8 is rated 110lb might be ok with line because i look at the PE rating as a guide of the lines DIA not the breaking strain but when it comes to a rod PE rating  don't meen much at all , A PE10 100lb rod could also be PE10 130lb rod big difference maybe they rod companies should state what LB line class the rod is best suited to not a PE rating it would help the Angler know more on what the rod is capable of ,most people don't see what they buy until they get it at there front door and when the specs say PE10 and you cant use more then 10-12kg of drag its not what you payed for .

[Brandon Khoo]

If you went back a number of years ago, many of the four strand PE lines were closer to a 10 x PE number breaking strain. Today, premium lines do tend to be more like 100lb or more for PE8. I can't think of a PE8 rod from an established manufacturer that is rated at 15kg though.

I would also suggest that you would be better off thinking of a rating for your drag around 20-25% with PE lines due to it's susceptability to shock loads. I actually start off with a lighter drag these days and wind it tighter through a fight to avoid any problems on strike.

I think you can rest quite assured with the established manufacturers that when they tell you a rod is PE10, you can fish PE10 with confidence. The difficulty for manufacturers is that some anglers seems to think that if a manufacturer says a rod can handle a drag of 15kg, it can handle 15kg at any angle for the rod. That simply isn't the case. If you fish decent rod angles, you can fish heavy drag even on a lighter rod. I've used PE10 hard with a Coral Viper in the past without problems.

[Peter Childs]

Brandon, I think you're right, that rod angle is the crux of it, and it relies on a bit of common sense.  Very few anglers are going to set their drags to the maximum allowable for the rod and fish that drag over all rod angles throughout the fight.  That would just be silly.

You can fish 30kg of drag if the reel, line and the angler can handle it.......and the rod is pointed straight at the fish!......go your hardest.

If you watch the jiggers that really know what they are doing, they will point what seems to be impossibly light rods straight at a hooked fish in the early stages of the fight and use additional thumb pressure to create drag (the same can be done poppering) as the fish and the fight starts to settle down, then and only then will the higher rod angles start to come into play. 

Many anglers will fight a fish from the under arm position (so as to minimise rod angle) until it is safe to place the rod in the bucket - often it will need to be returned to the under arm if the fish starts to play up during the fight. 

Whilst rod rating are helpful in guaging the power and design intent of a rod, the real capability of the rod lies in the hands of the angler!  I reckon recommended casting weight (if its accurate) is an equally good measure of a rod's capabilities