"Jarmo Hurri" wrote in message
...

Wolfgang Um......I don't suppose it has occurred to anyone that
line
Wolfgang standards don't mean **** if they aren't matched to
Wolfgang stringent rod standards?

Well, we can still hope that at least the one standard that has been
well defined would also be applied (in reality). It would be (has
been) a starting point, if nothing else.

Intuitively, it seems undeniable that standardization in any aspect of
equipment HAS to make it easier to make sound decisions about how to
match components to achieve optimum performance. Intuition sometimes
fails. Casting dynamics are just too complicated for a fixed line
weight to be the ideal solution for even a small number of casters
under a highly restricted set of circumstances. Far better, I think,
to go in the opposite direction......to offer a much wider variety of
weights and tapers than is currently available and simply label
accordingly. Let the user decide which suits him or her best.


Wolfgang Anybody here ever tried to cast identical rods matched
with
Wolfgang identical reels and identical lines side by side? And, I
Wolfgang don't suppose it has ever occurred to anyone that line
Wolfgang standards based on gross weight of the first thirty
Wolfgang feet......or whatever.....don't mean **** unless the
weight
Wolfgang is distributed EXACTLY the same in ALL of those lines?

True to some extent. The split shot experiment is probably too
radical
to prove that the weight distribution has to be _exactly_ the same.
My
guess would be that If I take two identical 5wt rods with identical
reels, and rig them up with two different true 5wt DT lines - which
have the exact same weight at 30' - they're going to feel _very_
similar. The differences in DT tapers are probably not the same
order
of magnitude as the difference you get when you attach a split shot
at
different positions. Haven't tried it, though, but I am willing to
place a small bet. :-)

The split shot experiment IS radical, but deliberately so, to
illustrate the point. But your counter-example illustrates that too
much emphasis is being placed on this matter of standards. If the
differences among 5 wt. DT lines aren't sufficient to demonstrate what
the split shot does, then what is the problem?

As for betting, I'd be willing to wager a goodly sum that very few
people, if handed a fly rod and told that it was either a four or five
weight and that it was strung with either a four or five weight line,
could consistently tell you which combination it was. Complicate the
experiment just a bit by repeated trials with different brands of rods
and I think no one would get results much better than random guessing.
Under actual fishing conditions the complexity of the problem is
increased by orders of magnitude. By the time you add in leader
characteristics, length of cast, type of cast, fly characteristics,
environmental considerations, individual casting idiosyncrasies and
others, the mere gross weight of the first thirty feet of line pales
to insignificance.

Wolfgang