Judging the line weight of a rod with no makers info?

[tagnut69]

Hi I have been given a bunch of fly rods, nothing special but one rod appears a cut above the rest. It does not have the makers info on the blank, it is 10' and of a similar thickness to another 10' #8-9 rod I have. The previous owner does not know either.

 

Some where in the back of my mind there is some thing telling me it is made on a Harrison blank, (unground blank, carbon spigot).

 

How can I judge what weight line to use?

[Worms]

Hi I have been given a bunch of fly rods, nothing special but one rod appears a cut above the rest. It does not have the makers info on the blank, it is 10' and of a similar thickness to another 10' #8-9 rod I have. The previous owner does not know either.

 

Some where in the back of my mind there is some thing telling me it is made on a Harrison blank, (unground blank, carbon spigot).

 

How can I judge what weight line to use?

Try a selection of lines on it, see what feels "right".

[tcman]

Hi I have been given a bunch of fly rods, nothing special but one rod appears a cut above the rest. It does not have the makers info on the blank, it is 10' and of a similar thickness to another 10' #8-9 rod I have. The previous owner does not know either.

 

Some where in the back of my mind there is some thing telling me it is made on a Harrison blank, (unground blank, carbon spigot).

 

How can I judge what weight line to use?

[tcman]

Try a selection of lines on it, see what feels "right".

Hi,although i am still a learner at fly fishing i was told if the weight was not known of a rod then try lifting the weighted section of a certain line off the water( say the first 10 yards) if this is easy,then try a heavier one until it starts to drag (floating line ) hope have explained ok.

[Worms]

Hi,although i am still a learner at fly fishing i was told if the weight was not known of a rod then try lifting the weighted section of a certain line off the water( say the first 10 yards) if this is easy,then try a heavier one until it starts to drag (floating line ) hope have explained ok.

I'd suggest that the drag of the line on the water could vary between makes of line of the same weight. The correct weight line will 'load' the rod and make casting easier, i.e. the weight of the line and the flexibility of the rod work with each other allowing minimal effort in the cast. A light line on a heavy rod will tend to flop and 'knot' in the air. A heavy line will tend to come off the water sluggishly (perhaps that was what you meant) and will feel heavy in the air. It will drop quickly and be difficult to control on the backcast particularly.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Worms

[tcman]

I'd suggest that the drag of the line on the water could vary between makes of line of the same weight. The correct weight line will 'load' the rod and make casting easier, i.e. the weight of the line and the flexibility of the rod work with each other allowing minimal effort in the cast. A light line on a heavy rod will tend to flop and 'knot' in the air. A heavy line will tend to come off the water sluggishly (perhaps that was what you meant) and will feel heavy in the air. It will drop quickly and be difficult to control on the backcast particularly.

Yes Worms,think you have explained a little better,