Action on a lure

[Manxfishing]

Has anyone else noticed there's 2 different actions on a lure

I've been running Reef Runners allot this year

And I've noticed that the lures have a softer action on inline boards
were straight lining has a harder action

At first I thought the fish were just boat shy
But I troll with a elec. motor and now day's I'm trolling 20' down
so there's no way in Lake Erie that the fish could see the boat

Seems on the nice calm days the fish like the harder action.
(and you would like they could see the boat easier)
On the days with 3'+ rollers they like it softer on the boards.
And there are days that it really doesn't matter.

[perchjerker]

I think its because of the rod tip pulling on the lure when there is no board on there and it has a direct line to the lure. The board dampens this action.

[Chad]

Yup....Board is a big shock absorber and basically averages out all the herky jerky actions.

Rod does this too but just a fraction of what the board does. The further out the board the more it smoothes out.

ChadM

[cc]

Yep. I've noticed too, the lures I pull, seem to be affected by
how much line is out (or type of line mono vs braid)
Seems like long let-backs damp down the action some. I've considered
maybe some of this is just that the longer line is stretching more,
and I just SEE less action at the rod tip. Not sure, but thinking
it does affect the action though.

Have you ever been catching all the fish on one rod out of six,
all supposedly identical rigs? Last time this happened to me,
I swapped the hot rod from one holder to another, other side of boat - the bite followed. Then I swapped lures with another rod,
and the bite stayed with the rod! I just wrote it off as unexplainable, but got to thinking later, I've got one of the six
rods (ugly sticks) that is a little softer on the tip than the other
five. All same model no. and action, but it's like whoever built it
missed a wrap or two of blank material right in the last 8" or so
of the tip. Next time this happens, you can bet I'll be looking and
seeing where that rod is.