Curve in rod?

[M-Flora 0]

So I decided to take a closer look at a few of my rods sitting in their tubes and assembled one of them and noticed looking down the blank there is a curve in the rod going to the right. Never seen that before in any of my rods (or at least havent noticed). Should I have any concern for the rod? Anyone else seen this before? Its a redington classic trout 4 weight and I've never had a chance to fish with it.

[Steeldrifter 0]

A lot of blanks will have a slight curve in the tip section. I'd say as much as 50% of bare blanks have it, just the nature of the beast with the way thin graphite blanks are made. There's two ways to build a rod when you wrap the guides, one is to build on the straightest axis which means putting the guides opposite the curve which in turn helps pull the curve down into a straighter line. The other is to build on the spline which is thought by some to be the strongest side of a round material. The downside to that is the spline is not always in the same plane as the curve so it becomes more visible. So just depends which way they built the rod. Long as it is just a slight bend then it will not be a problem. If it is a real noticeable bend then it should not have been built on obviously.

[M-Flora 0]

Oh okay that makes sense, thanks for the info steeldrifter

[Dave G. 0]

I'm thinking the best thing is to just go fishing with it LOL ! A rod you never fished needs to be fished, you might love it and it might become your favorite rod.. I had a favorite 6 wt. rod, the bend was down rather than to the side. Then it got crushed when a spare tire jumped on it in the back of my old pickup truck. Same series rod replaced that one, never was the same, it just wasn't.

 

I can't recall off the top of my head if it was Loomis or Redington who built a series of rods reversed spine ( maybe 15 years ago now). Either way, as Steve mentioned, that would not take into account any curvature in the blank ( unless the curve fell on the spine of course, which can happen and quite often does). But the theory of building on the reverse spine is it puts a little extra energy into the back cast by default. Probably 90% of casting flaws start with a poor back cast technique and some people find this reverse spine to aid correcting that, or that was the theory, supposedly.. I could get cynical right now about corporate motives but will skip that part !

[Saltybum 0]

I bought a nice 8wt blank off ebay and after splining it and wrapping it I discovered a slight curve to the right. Cast fine but it just bugged me, so I stripped the tip down and re-wrapped it so the curve was down, not right or left. I think it may have been a second or blem ( due to the curve ) St. Croix legend ultra blank judging by the action and color.

Still casts very nice.

[Dave G. 0]

I bought a nice 8wt blank off ebay and after splining it and wrapping it I discovered a slight curve to the right. Cast fine but it just bugged me, so I stripped the tip down and re-wrapped it so the curve was down, not right or left. I think it may have been a second or blem ( due to the curve ) St. Croix legend ultra blank judging by the action and color.

Still casts very nice.

Mine was a St Croix 8-1/2 ' Imperial grey iM6 blank. They since are made red or brownish colored and cost 3 times more, and to me at least, don't cast as nice for the type of fishing I did with it . I caught a lot of fish on that grey blank for the time I had it, even more on the red, if not quite as enjoyable to cast..

[ihang10 0]

I have a rod with a bend right at the tip. It casts great and the fish don't seem to care.