Concept
A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an angle, hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with a line attached to one end (as seen in traditional Tenkara fishing); however, modern rods are usually elastic and generally have the line stored in a reel mounted at the rod handle, which is hand-cranked and controls the line retrieval, as well as numerous line-restricting rings (also known as line guides) that distribute bending stress along the rod and help dampening down/prevent line whipping and entanglement. To better entice fish, baits or lures are dressed onto the one or more hooks attached to the line, and a bite indicator is used, some of which (e.g. quiver tip) might be incorporated as part of the rod itself. Fishing rods act as an extended lever and allow the angler to amplify line movements while luring and pulling the fish. It also enhances casting distance by increasing the launch speed of the terminal tackles (the hook, bait/lure, and other co-launched attachments such as float and sinker/feeder), as a longer swing radius (compared to that of a human arm) corresponds to greater arc speed at the tip under the same angular velocity. The length of fishing rods usually vary between and depending on the style of angling, while the Guinness World Record is . Traditional fishing rods are made from a single piece of hardwood (such as ash and hickory) or bamboo; while contemporary rods are usually made from alloys (such as aluminium) or more often high-tensile synthetic composites (such as fibreglass or carbon fiber), and may come in multi-piece or telescoping forms that are more portable and storage-friendly. Most fishing rods are tapered towards the tip to reduce the gravitational leverage front of the handle that an angler has to overcome when lifting the rod. Many modern rods are also constructed from hollow blanks to increase the specific strength of the design and reduce the overall weight.