03: Kaizen Rod Action Explained
The most important attribute of any fishing rod is its action, as that largely dictates both how it will perform, but also how it feels to use.
When we created the Kaizen range, both aspects of this were important to us, as we wanted all the rods not only to perform to a high level, but to feel good whilst doing so and be a pleasure for the angler to use.
For example, you can easily create a rod that will cast a rig incredible distances and which very much ticks the performance box, but at the same time is absolutely horrible to use and especially to play fish on, taking all of the pleasure out of using.
So, when designing the type of rod blanks that we wanted to use for both the Kaizen Platinum and Kaizen Green ranges, it was essential to give anglers something that performed exactly as they wanted it to, whilst also providing you with a rod that is actually fun to play carp on, which after all is why we all go fishing in the first place.
We are pretty sure that we have managed to achieve that – feedback from our customers, and how popular these rods have quickly become, certainly suggests so – and the type of action that we have chosen for all of the Kaizen rods, regardless of length and test curve, across the range was carefully selected. You can find out more here about Choosing rod length and test curve.
As far as Danny Fairbrass - who was instrumental in designing all the Kaizen rods and whose vision this was – is concerned, the best possible action for a modern carp rod is a fast taper, and there is good reason for that belief.
A fast taper profile means that the rod blank changes in diameter rapidly from the thick butt section to the thin tip, giving it a specific range of attributes – the type of carbon used does of course also make a difference to performance, but generally rods of this type will share the same properties, to varying degrees.
This fast taper profile means that the blank has plenty of flex in the tip, something that is essential and especially so with higher test curve models where this provides enough of a cushion - and plenty of feel as so much is transmitted back to you through the blank - under the rod tip to prevent hook pulls from being a problems, and this covered in more detail in this section about Playing fish on Platinum rods.
That bend doesn’t go far down the blank though, and stops fairly high up near the tip, with much more load or force required to bend it further, which gives the rod a noticeable ‘backbone’ and leaves plenty of power in reserve for when you really need it, such as during a fight, or enables you to really wind it up when casting.
What this all means in practical angling terms is that this type of rod is very good when it comes to power transfer during casting and when you are really trying to wind it up to hit the horizon, and also generates much faster tip speeds as well.
A fast taper, and the action that comes with that, also means that your line picks up much faster when you lift the rod, as the movement is transferred straight to the line, rather than the rod folding over, and this allows you to get your rig up off of the bottom faster, thus reducing the chances of it becoming snagged or blunting the hook on something.
The types of carbon chosen for both the Kaizen Platinum – a very high grade – and the Kaizen Green – a more affordable grade but one that still has a high level of performance – complements this action and is of a type that enhances this power transfer, as well as reducing twist in the blank under loading, which can be much more significant than you would imagine, and affects the accuracy of the rod, with the less twist the better. These properties are enhanced by using as little resin as possible in the carbon cloth to bind everything together when the blank is formed, and that also increases power transfer, as well as making the rod lighter and even easier to build up faster tip speeds as a result of that.
Fort a more detailed look into the performance that this type of action gives to a Kaizen Green rod, you can read all about it in the Kaizen Green performance explained section.
Whilst reading about the action of the Platinum and Green will help you to make a decision, the best way to choose the right rod for you is to handle it in person, and you can do this by using our store locator to find your local Korda stockist.