What does "Fast Taper" mean?

[Dre]

I just got a new Shimano Clarus rod and it says "Fast Taper" on it. What
does this mean and what advantage does it give me?

Thanks,

Dre

[smiles]

I am not an expert but it seems to me that it means that the tip of the rod
tapers off from large to small quite quickly near the end of the rod. A
slow taper would mean that the rod goes from large to small closer to the
handle and slowly tapers smaller to the end. A fast taper will mean that
the rod will have a fast snappy action. May even be a bit on the stiff side
too. Great for walleye where you need a fast quick rod to sink the hook
into the fish's jaw before the fish has a chance to spit out the hook, yet
sensitive enough to feel the light bite. For walleye, you don't want a
heavy action rod that would give you lots of heft but loss of sensitivity.
A heavy action rod would be good for fish like pike or muskie. There will
be a little loss of casting distance with the fast action rod due to the
fact that not all of the rod will "load up" and help to catapult the lure.
A slow action rod is good for casting bait you don't want small fragile
baits to fall apart. You will see lots of slow action rods in fly fishing
using nymphs and sinking lines. The rod loads up and helps to pull the line
and fly out of the water, make the back cast and slowly make a smooth
forward cast. A fast action fly rod is great for dry flies and floating
lines. Using such gear, you want to remove the line and fly quickly from
the surface of the water to quickly get the fly into the air where the
faster action will flick off the water from the fly during the cast.
Some companies like a parabolic action. Meaning a fast action tip for a
good hookset yet with a good flex in the rest of the rod to help in casting.




"Dre" > wrote in message
...
> I just got a new Shimano Clarus rod and it says "Fast Taper" on it. What
> does this mean and what advantage does it give me?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dre
>
>

[Sam Salmon]

Try http://www.mudhole.com all kinds of rod/rodbuilding info
Also http://www.rodbuilding.org for same