[jakesmylab]

I found this Wonderod at an Estate Sale yesterday and was wondering if anyone had an idea what line wt would be appropriate. The markings tell me Year, month and model but not line wt. I was thinking it might be nice to keep in the car as a lunch time smallie rod. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - John

 

[tackleman]

I'll SWAG it at a 6 wt.

 

[Tom Bowden]

Out of curiosity, I looked up your model number & found that it's a combination spinning rod made in 1961. The 1958 version was just a spinning rod, so it's likely that they used the same blank in 1961, and just put a fly reel seat on it. The model isn't listed in the fiberglass fly rod wiki for Shakespeare, which likely confirms that the blank was designed as a spinning rod. I listed links to these references below.

So, I'd experiment to find a line weight that works for you. For a 7' rod designed for spinning, you're fishing range is probably only 10-40', so you want a line that will load the rod for short casts.

I think this is a really cool historic rod!

Tom

http://mpf.shakespeare-fishing.com/antiques/rods.pdf
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/wiki/Shakespeare

 

[jakesmylab]

Thank you both for the responses. My on line searching this morning leads me to the same thought. 6 wt built on a spin rod blank. I found an older thread about a Fenwick FF74-4 that looks to be the same rod design. Time to look for an old Pflueger Medalist and possibly an old Mitchell spin to keep in the car.