Norwich ev FLY ROD MODELS AND PERFORMANCE .

B2+ B1 A3 C3

                                                        

 

Code and Feel Factor	Recovery Rate
A Medium. Middle to tip but with plenty of feel through into the butt section.	1  Fast
B Middle to tip, stiffer butt generates extra power, during long casts, and when playing larger fish.	2 Extra fast
	2+ Extra Super Fast
C Spey action. Rod flexes fully through into middle & upper butt.    Butt does not go soft however, or lose power	3  Medium fast

 

What is Rod Action?

Let's try and get to grips with rod action....every fly angler uses the term...so does every fly rod manufacturer. What does it actually mean though - this term we all use..."rod action?"

Try this simple test. Thread a line - any line will do, through the rod guides, then anchor the butt section of the fly rod horizontally by clamping the handle in a vice or even by simply laying the rod on the edge of a table and adding a few heavy books on the handle to hold it down. Leave about 6 -12" of line hanging outside the tip guide, then tie a weight on the line (let's say 8ozs or 227 grms.) enough weight to give the rod a good bend - and let it hang from the tip.  Stand back and examine the bend or curve which the rod takes under the load of the that weight - what does it tell you?

Does it tell you that the rod has a more pronounced bend in the tip (middle to tip?) Or does it have a bend in the middle (medium?) Or does it show a pronounced bend in the butt (butt action?) Or does it have a combination of all these. How do you describe that combination with the simple often used terminology the tackle trade uses - ''Middle to tip, medium, butt action and so on.....''?

It doesn't tell you much about the construction of the rod or wall thickness either. Nor does it tell you much about how the rod recovers from being bent once the weight is removed. Therefore using a simplified term such as middle to tip is a very limiting, innacurate way to describe the rod's actual action or give any insight as to how the rod will perform during the cast.

Rod blanks can be made with a huge variety of tapers.  Fast - slow - compound... If you add into the equation that the diameter and the thickness of the tube wall can be varied at any point, and that varying the design taper along with the material will change the perceived curve of the rod...... then throw into the equation the different elasticities of the carbon fibre materials which could be used i.e. stiff, moderate-stiff, less-stiff etc, and that these can be varied and mixed throughout the rod length and effect the recovery rate from any given action curve or bend of the rod shaft, the subject then gets even more complicated!

For instance it is possible to use a very low-modulus (less stiff) carbon or glass fibre to make a rod blank and come up with exactly the same curve under the 5oz load, as a rod using extra-high-modulus (very stiff) carbon-fibre. The less stiff blank would be considerably larger diameter than the other very stiff one. The rod blank built using the stiffer material would also be an entirely different and much lower diameter. Think back to the different diameters between glass fibre rods and carbon fibre and you are getting the idea..... Strictly speaking the action would be the same (ie the curve they describe under the weight hanging from the tip of the rod) - but the recovery rate (and by this I mean the time taken from the release of the load from the tip to the unloaded position) would be entirely different - and this is crucial. The extra-high-modulus would be very much faster in recovery every time.

As you see, it really is a very incomplete and unsatisfactory system to label a rod as middle-to-tip, or medium action etc without taking into account the design taper, material type and the recovery rate of the rod.

Performance Factor.

My Performance Factor allies a description of the curve that the rod takes under load to a rating of how fast the rod takes to recover from this load. This recovery rate is measured in my workshop using the bare blank and a further measurement is taken once the blank is fitted with guides and the rod finished. The rod is then cast with a fixed length of accurately rated lines of the correct grain AFTM weights. I then give the rod a general casting/fishing workout before giving it the final Performance Rating, action, recovery figures. By using this system my customers have a much more accurate idea of how a rod from my production range will perform. This is particularly important when the majority of my rods are sold mail-order without the customer actually handling the rod. Undoubtedly this does go a long way to taking the guesswork out of buying a rod by mail order.

 

Rod purchases can now be made with confidence because you then have a mental image of the fly rods general performance and feel without actually handling the rod.

Please do not be intimidated if you are a novice, I am more than happy to offer advice by phone (best) or email to explain rod performance to you. Please take a moment to read my line rating notes below before contacting me. I have for the last 27 years made my sole income from rod building. The continued success of David Norwich relies on you being entirely happy with your choice of rod.

Performance Factor & Custom rods.

 

This system also gives customers the opportunity to discuss the modification of production tapers and action to construct a custom-rod to their ideal specifications - the Performance Factor gives us both the benchmark from which to develop a rod to meet their needs. There are very few if any rod makers in the world offering a true custom service in carbon fibre.

For more information on my Custom build service please go to this page.

Fly Rod Handle Code

1

ULTRAFINE

11

REVERSE HALF WELLS

111

FULL WELLS

111

SALMON DOUBLE HANDED

A YouTube snapshot on how Norwich fly rod blank is made.

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