Quiver tip
Quiver tip — The replaceable tip section of a feeder rod, usually supplied as a graded set from soft to stiff, marked by colour or by a line-weight rating. It is a bite indicator first and a casting aid second: the rod body casts, the tip reports.
Tip action
Tip action — How far the tip bends before it resists. A soft tip registers a fish that only leans on the bait; a stiff tip keeps a straight line through wind and distance but demands a fish that hooks itself. Between those two sits every fishing decision the ladder exists for.
| Bite strength you expect today | soft tip for shy bites, stiff tip for committed ones |
|---|---|
| Wind on the surface | stiffer tip, or the bow moves constantly |
| Casting distance | longer casts need line tension, which needs a stiffer tip |
| Bottom composition | weed and snags blunt soft-tip movement; stiffness compensates |
| Trim of the line bow | set the tip so the line bends it about 45 degrees at rest |
The ladder is a bite-strength dial, not a power rating
Every supplier ships three to five tips with a feeder rod, and the set is not spare parts — it is the instrument. The soft end catches winter carp that mouth a maggot and put it back; the stiff end holds a two-pin bow in a crosswind so a summer bream shows as a lift, not noise. Fish the wrong rung and you get the corresponding failure: a soft tip in wind strikes itself all day, a stiff tip in slack water never tells you the fish was there.
Trim after you tip
The tip choice only means something with the line trimmed to it. Cast out, wind the slack, and set the reel handle so the line pulls the tip to roughly a right angle minus half — the classic 45-degree bow. From there, bites read as more bend (backing away), less bend (lifting toward you), or a straight line (running). Change the tip and you change that rest position, which is why experienced anglers trim twice: once when the tip goes on, once when the wind does.
Is a stiffer tip better because it is stronger?
No — strength is not the axis. The rating exists so you can match resistance to bite strength, and a tip too stiff for the day shows you nothing: the fish picks up the bait, the tip barely moves, and you strike at a memory. The softest tip that still holds a usable line bow through the wind is the correct answer, every time.
Why do tips come colour-coded instead of only numbered?
Because you change them at the water with cold hands and low light, not at a desk. A colour ladder you memorised at home — soft to stiff — is readable in four seconds on a grey morning; a number on a glossy blank is not. Check your own set once at home so the colours mean something before the first session.