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I've been think about this for some time. Obviously a rod and reel give us a mechanical advantage for landing a fish. Can anyone tell me how many levers there are in a rod and reel? My high school physics and what I've picked up over my lifetime give me an idea but I doubt I have it all figured out. Come on you engineers, this is a chance to show off what you know. And please explain what each is and how it functions.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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All I remember from my physics classes is that some guy named Archie Meaties or something like that said "Give me a long enough lever and I can fulcrum the whole world." Not sure what that has to do with fishing but it sounds pretty rad.
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Craig you must have free time on your hands, I see your point, but I have too many other things screaming for my attention to figure it out, but I just watched that new Bloodline show on Discovery last night where Phil's son was deep sea fishing off Hawaii and catching the big Ahi, (not John) anyway they sure needed some mechanical advantage dragging those big boys in... Looked like a lot of fun... new twist on Deadliest Catch... Anyway I'm assuming your gear ratio you are implying as a lever and some reels have a lot more advantage than others, that's for sure... I've been using a 8.5' rod on my cats and carp lately and that extra length and flexibility is pretty nice on some fish... So interesting question to think about... Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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Yes and no on the free time. I'm trying to catch up on the archiving and I need a little break once in a while.
Yes, I was thinking of the gears. Is the crank another one?
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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Okay, Ron, here goes.
My cat rod has a long butt. I hold it against my body when fighting a fish. I guess my rod hand is a fulcrum but I'm not sure whether both the butt section and the rod itself are each levers or not. The reel handle/crank. The gears. The spool. That makes 4 or 5, not counting my arm but that wasn't really a part of the question. Can you explain which of the three types each one is while you're at it? I'm open to learning.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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Craig,
I'd say that the rod is the same lever, to balance the equation you have your body as the pivot point about which you apply a force at the point where your rod holding arm reaches the rod. The fish applies a force at the tip, but it has two components one is down the line as a tension the other is balanced by your rod arm. The tension force goes into your reel and your other hand applies a force to the reel handle, which is a short lever, but magnifies your strenght as it creates a torque into the primary shaft, which is transferred to that gear, which mates with another gear and difference in diameter or number of teeth gives you another mechanical advantage, hence if you want to call that a lever... (now some reels have multiple gear reduction, hence the ocean reels that give you more power to wench in big fish) but for your purpose let's go simple single gear set, so the next transfer of force is between the spool and bail, and the bail redirects most of the tension to the spool, where the two forces are balanced. (torque from reel handle to tension from line) That's my take of the system...But I didn't draw out the free body diagram so who knows maybe I missed something... There are some other components of force that are applied to your hip as you use it as a pivot point... but anyway I think that is close to covering your system... Now what if you put an electric motor on your reel, how are the forces changed? I still want to put a simple electric reel together similar to the old style spring take up fly reels... I think they would be a blast for ice fishing and as a fly reel... Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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Thanks, Jeff, that was just the kind of info I was looking for. It's clear you know your business. Hey, I've got one of those old fly reels around here somewhere--should dig it out for next winter.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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Dang, I had to break out my engineering handbook and an old abacus to work on this differential equation -- but fortunately Jeff came to the rescue before I had the graph paper out and slide ruler out.
Remember: keep the lid on the worms, share your jerky, and stop by to say hi to Cookie and the Cowboy-Pirate crew
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Interesting. Does that mean it would be easier to land a big catfish with my 3' rod than my 8'er?
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
