PE Rating of Rods

[braddrew]

Hi Guys,


Great site, thanks for the time you have all taken to help people out

I have a question that has been bugging me for a while - how can you assign a PE rating to a rod when there is so much variability between the breaking strain of same thickness PE lines? Take PE3 for example - by the old "rule of thumb" (PE multiplied by 10 gives lb) you're talking about 30lb line, however there are plenty of PE3 lines that are ~50lb (eg Avani Casting SMP). Now the way I'd fish 30lb is very different from the way I'd fish 50lb so if I picked up a PE3 rod, how would I use it? And if I was after a 50lb spin rod, what would I be looking for?

In a similar vein, I just read Brandon's great report on the TBL80/40 (which sounds like an amazing rod) and he makes the comment that it works nice as a heavy PE8 or light PE10 rod. With PE8 up to ~120lb and PE10 up to around ~150lb, would I read this as good for ~130lb (partway between these two maximums) or as good for ~90lb (halfway between 80lb and 100lb)?

Thanks again!



Brad

[Mark Harris]

It's a very good question Brad and I will be interested to hear other member responses to this.

You are quite correct that PE is a measure of diameter and nothing else.

Personally a line poundage rating and a VERY importantly, a maximum drag rating in pounds, makes most sense to me.

The physical diameter of the line that balances best with a rod is surely a lesser consideration.

[Carl Hollis]

Brad, I hear ya. Since I posted the link below I now assume that PE = lbs, ie PE6-8 = 60-80lbs. I personally think PE ratings, ie line diameter ratings, are a completely useless methodology of describing a rods strength, especially when you are dealing with very thin and very strong PE, but that's just me. Wouldn't it be better if they were weight rated?

The mystery continues....

"The Reef's Edge" - General Popping & Jigging Discussion / PE rating versus breaking strain for setups

Carl

[Mark Harris]

Carl, it used to be that PE x 10 = approximate lb rating.  With the technological advances in the Japanese lines especially, that is no longer a valid guide.

For example I regularly use PE6 that is 80 lb rated, PE 8 that is 100 lb rated and PE10 which is 130 lbs.

A poundage or kilogram rating for rod certainly makes most sense to me.  Also many rod makers do not state at all maximum drag ratings. That is really not helpful.

[Mark Gwynne]

Yep, it's about time it changed. Can keep it for reels to give a guide on line capacity but it serves no purpose for rods IMO.

[Tak Otsuka]

Hi Brad

It is best to keep it as PE x 10 = lb. That is how most of Japanese manufactures still work and you can safely work out max drag around 30-35% of it if there is no drag rating written on rod (depending on rod taper, line system etc...).

Breaking strength has been improved a lot on latest PE lines but it is when straight line and doesn't mean how they break on guides or roller are equally improved compare to previous generation's.

Cheers,
Tak

[braddrew]

Thanks Guys,


That's exactly the sort of information I was after I completely agree that drag rating (and the corresponding rod angle for the drag rating) is a great way to rate a rod - much more objective than the "30lb spin" type ratings.

So Tak, taking that idea, you could expect the TBL80/40 to handle around about 30lb of drag as a "normal" fighting pressure? I'm assuming as well that this would be a "90 degree" figure?

Thanks again,


Brad

[Mark Gwynne]

It should be a 45 degree figure in my books. That's around the maximum angle you should put on the lifting motion before you go into 'high sticking' country. So that would be the weakest part of the stroke and all other rod angels are within that so would be capable of higher drag 

[Brandon Khoo]

No Brad. 90 degrees is asking for a catastrophe!
I would urge people to be careful with getting too caught up with drag pressure at 45 degrees. During the course of a fight, most anglers get their rods to everything ranging from 0 - 90 degrees. They don't maintain it at 45 degree ever.

[Mark Harris]

Brandon's 2nd point there is why folks might think that some max drag ratings seem conservative...... but they are not really when allowing for the parts of the fight where the rod goes a bit beyond 45 degrees.

[Tak Otsuka]

Drag rating on Carpenter GT rods are based on 45 degree angle and 12-13kg will be fine for TBL80/40 but as Brandon mentioned, rod will never stay in one angle during fight and you will need to adjust it based on line angle or where the fish is. (it doesn't always mean you will need to loosen the drag as you can often control it by rod angle)

[braddrew]

Thanks guys - this makes sense to me now

One more question - what circumstances would make you choose to fish this rod as PE10? From a line strength perspective, I'd be happy to fish 120lb anywhere up to 60lb drag (obviously situation dependant - this is the absolute max under ideal conditions) but I reckon I'd struggle to hold 60lb of drag for any length of time (the only 130lb braid I've used is eBay special for bottom bashing and I doubt I pushed that past 30lb drag - plus it was on an overhead reel). Wouldn't PE10 of the same/heavier breaking strain just mean more in water line drag (thicker line), less capacity and no extra "top end" drag?

Thanks again,


Brad

[Tak Otsuka]

Hi Brad,

Most people choose PE10 when they need heavier drag  - e.g. when they fish for large fish in shallow or rough bottom area where they can't let fish to run much but I'm not sure how many people comfortably fish 60lb drag though

Cheers,
Tak

[braddrew]

Thanks Tak - that's cleared it up for me


Brad

[Brandon Khoo]

The only people I know fishing 60lb of drag are sitting in a gamechair!