"Derek.Moody" wrote in message
...
In article , Smudge
wrote:
Hi Derek,
Wouldn't using a high # line risk breaking the rod?

Casting a *weight* of line too great for the rod will do damage but at
short
range you're only casting half a line - so the rod works best with a
heavier
line. If you are aerialising a particularly long length when false
casting
you may need to go down a size or (better if delicacy is not vital),
switch
to a shooting head.

The correct answer is to work out how much line you need to cast, find
out
what weight of line the rod really wants (by false casting a length of
too-heavy level line until you find the point at which the rod is
working
'right' and then measuring and calculating) and then buy a line to
meet
the
spec.

How is this calculation done, and is it accurate, come to think of it,
how

Take a level line and weigh it. Say you have 20 metres and it weighs
40grams (this is roughly a #11, arbitrary value chosen for simplicity of
calculation) or 2 grams per metre.

Carefully false cast extending a little more each time until the rod is
working as you want - in other words until it feel 'right', if you are a
beginner you might get someone else to check this. *DO NOT TRY TO CAST THE
WHOLE LINE* or you will stress the rod.

Measure the length of line outside the rod tip. For ease of calculation
we
will assume it measures 4.5 metres. So the rod casts 9 grams. Look up 9
grams on an AFTM scale and you find it equals a #5 line (the weight of the
first 10m of a #5 is 9gm by definition)

BUT

You are fishing at 20 - 30 feet (7 - 10M) By the time you take off 2m for
the length of the rod and 2m for the taper and leader you have only 3 - 6m
of line outside the rod and you will be shooting some of this. Let's say
you never false cast more than 4m of actual fly line.

The *ideal* line for your specific requirement, one that weighs 9gm in the
first 4m or about 2.25 gm/m is a weight forward #12. Of course if you
cast
any more line with it you risk the rod.

In practice the better bet would be to buy a cheap mill end #7 or #8 and
cut it off at the 9gm mark so that it gives you help with the short casts
but can be used as a shooting head without straining the rod if you ever
need to throw farther.

do the rod makers test the rods for line weight.

The manufacturers test a typical example with a full line and then (I
think
some subtract one to leave a margin for abuse) mark the whole production
run
with the same number.

It would be nice if shops had a selection of all their lines ready for
test
casting to see which brand and # suits the buyer.

Some do. Often angling booths at game_fairs/agricultural_shows have such
a
facility with an attendant instructor.


Thanks for your help Derek, although I have fly fished on and off over the
years, I never paid much attention to detail, so I am fairly new to the
technical side and find this information very useful, I got a few fly reels
with lines off of ebay, 5s 6s 7s and one 8 or 9 line, so I am ready to go.

Going by my past experiences, using any old rod and line, and half killing
myself trying to cast, I have come round to thinking that the key to fly
fishing must be to use the right gear, properly matched lines and rods are
critical, then again, I could just be useless at casting a fly, time will
tell.

On my last trout fishing fiasco, some old boy, about 80 yrs old, was casting
further than I was, so it must be down to the gear to some extent, some
joker told me he could cast further with a broom handle. LOL.

Cheers Derek.

PS