what are the different actions on rods for?

[KaGeraci]

when i was looking at some new rods, i noticed that diffrent rods had different "action" like:
UL = Ultra Light
L = Light
ML = Medium Light
M = Medium
MH = Medium Heavy
what exacly is the difference between all these?
thanks for your help

[Rebbasser]

Welcome to the forum!

That tells you how stiff/limber a rod is, with UL being the most limber and MH being the stiffest. Certain baits work better on different action rods. For example, small jigs like a curl tail on a lead head work best on light action rods since they are so small and light. Worms and jigs work better on a MH or H action rod since you need a stiff rod with a lot of backbone to set the hook.

[KaGeraci]

ok, thanx rebbasser appreciate it.

[KenDammit]

BTW..thats not the action rating, thats the power rating.

Action would be fast, medium, slow..that sort of thing..which refers to how much of the rod actually bends..ultra-fast being the tip, slow meaning that the bend is spread throughout the entire rod length. Generally, faster tips are good for single hook lures, slower tips are good for treble hooks, things like that.

When thinking of action..just think of it as "how much rod I'm gonna have to bend before I get the power I need to set the hook".

Power is simply just how much weight a rod can lift. Its also a good measure of how fast a rod will be able to move a fish. A stronger rod will pull a fish out of cover much, much quicker than a really light rod like a UL would. Theres less overall bend so its essentially a stick instead of a piece of grass...if that makes sense to ya.

The two are intertwined and it seems more complicated than it should be.

I also want to say that i wasn't harping on you..just felt it was a good chance to throw out some information.

[mymomisbecky]

I basically use a MH for my topwater frog and gunk fishing... Need the backbone and the line diameter to horse em out of hte weeds.
For 90% of my setups, I use Medium fast.

[Rebbasser]

Good point, Ken. It can get a little confusing, especially since there really are no standards-One rod maker's MH may be another rod maker's M action.