[CaptMac]

I have a nice fly rod that I got from my late father. The label on it is illegible but other than that, it's fully serviceable. Is there a way or formula I can use to determine the proper line weight to use with it? Thanks in advance for your help and good fishing.
Alexander "Sandy" MacKenzie
Vancouver, Washington

 

[Mumbles]

Welcome Captain Mac. Without being able to read the model and line rating on the rod it might not be so easy. There may be some who could recognize the rod make/model based on its length, number of pieces and if it is bamboo, fiberglass or graphite. I would recommend you seek a local shop that would have demo lines that you can go and try so that you can find the one or two line weights that best load that rod to your feel preferences. I had to do this with lines that I had in my collection for two older and unlabeled rods. Both are pretty fun to cast, one prefers a WF5 and the other was best with a WF6. Enjoy that rod from your father.

 

[Jake Smulkowski]

I would recommend the "Common Cents System"...the system is based on determining how many pennies it takes to deflect a rod a certain amount. You can then compare with other rods that are deflected by a similar number of pennies to determine action and "Effective Line Number".

http://www.common-cents.info/

 

[Tom Bowden]

There are a lot of variables, including your casting style and distance. I no longer write the line weight on my bamboo rods, since you have to experiment under actual fishing conditions to find what line works best for you.

The best example of this was an 8-1/2' rod I made a few years ago. I used stress curve analysis to make sure the rod would work with a WF6, and confirmed this with a deflection test similar to the common cents system, plus an oscillation test developed by Dawn Holbrook. The rod did cast and fished well with a WF6, but one day I forgot the reel with 6wt line, and had no choice but to fish with a WF7. It was amazing how much better the rod performed with the WF7! I was beach fishing with little back-cast room and larger flies, and the WF7 gave me more leverage to get the distance I needed and turn over the leader.

So, my suggestion is to take your rod to the local fly shop, ask for their advice, and try some different lines.

 

[Jon Bial]

Sandy,

There is an easy way to objectively tell what your rod is. We use the CCS system in checking to make sure our fly rods are labelled appropriately. There is plenty of info out there on CCS, but if you can't figure it out, drop me a line and I'll go over it with you.

Jon
North Fork Composites