It’s easy to think that bite alarms with rubber inserts and a deep recess for the rod make snag ears redundant, but besides the cosmetic appeal of carbon fibre snag ears, there are more scenarios where snag ears can save a fish from being tethered or save your rod from going in the lake. One of these scenarios is rod bounce.
Rod bounce is when your rod tip bends downwards during a take, and the tension on the line is momentarily released causing your rod to snap back straight and bounce up off the bite alarm. Snag fishing is the perfect recipe for this scenario because:
- We snag fish with tight clutches, which allows for incredible tension to be built up in the line during a take. This can bend a powerful carp rod deep into its curve when it's on the rests, storing a lot of energy in the rod.
- When snag fishing the carp will often get hooked and then change direction rapidly, this is when the line plucks over scales or gets yanked by the tail, causing this line tension to release and all of that energy in the rod to be released.
- There are often underwater branches and stumps in the margins that the line can snag on and then release suddenly under the tension.
- There is little line between your rod and the fish so the stretch of the line does not absorb any of the energy.
- We all love a rod with rapid tip recovery because it allows us to cast long ranges, but fast action springy rods are the worst offender for jumping off alarms when fishing at close range.
Sure, if you sit right next to your rod with your hand hovering over it ready to pick up from any bite, all problems are solved. But we’re only human, and conversations with passers by, cups of tea, or any other distraction can easily take your eye off the ball, so it makes sense to de-risk the situation with snag ears.
Snag ears stop your rod from coming off your alarm under the harshest rod bounce situations. The height of the ears is the primary factor but consider also that the tips of the ears close the gap at the top, making it nearly impossible for the rod to bounce out from between the ears. The rod can bounce out of the recess in the alarm and then any following sideways pressure acts directly on the snag ears, which is why our snag ears are designed with strength and durability in mind, using ultra stiff woven carbon fibre, durable stainless steel and brass threads and the toughest carbon filled polymers we could find.