I've been trying to figure this out for a while, how come you can't cast much over the rods reccomended weight without risk of breaking the rod, but you can pull up a big bass onto the bank without any issue?

I don't think the risk is so much breaking the rod, it's more not having any control of your cast. If a rod loads too much or too little, it's going to be hard to cast accurately or efficiently and hard to work the bait back with any control. 

 

That said, I'm sure if you go way over, like ounces over, the rods limit and try to power cast you could definitely break a rod. When fighting a fish you aren't whipping the rod tip section back and forth rapidly like you would on a powerful cast. You should always use a lob style cast when casting heavy baits, especially on rods that might be a little light. 

Ok thanks!

13 hours ago, Devon B. said:

but you can pull up a big bass onto the bank without any issue?

You'll shatter your rod doing this if you dead lift the fish. Dragging it up the back so that the weight of the fish it mostly supported by the bank is less harmful to the rod but not fun for the fish.  Better to get down to the ground and reach for the fish to lip land.  

 

13 hours ago, Devon B. said:

I've been trying to figure this out for a while, how come you can't cast much over the rods reccomended weight without risk of breaking the rod, but you can pull up a big bass onto the bank without any issue?

You absolutely can cast lures over the range, quite a bit so if you know what you are doing. You can apply more force when fighting a fish, again, if you know what you are doing, because you load the rod in a steady fashion lower down the blank where more of the power lives. When you cast most lures with most rods, you are loading the rod much more dynamically and usually higher up where the diminished diameter has less strength, and often a stress riser can be found there on rods with fast and X fast actions. STOP READING, GO FISHING.

19 hours ago, Devon B. said:

I've been trying to figure this out for a while, how come you can't cast much over the rods reccomended weight without risk of breaking the rod, but you can pull up a big bass onto the bank without any issue?

Get a net !!!! Never drag fish it wears off the slime coat !!!

5 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

Get a net !!!! Never drag fish it wears off the slime coat !!!

Or at least grab the line and lift it that way...never with the rod.