Overloading A Rod

[rcsloan]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts/experiences are with overloading a saltwater rod. I'm thinking of loading my 6-weight with my 8 weight bonefish line for little extra distance on the cast. Possibly putting a 10-weight tarpon line on my 8 weight. Anyone have any pros/cons with doing this?

 

I can see there may be some pick-up issues but the rods are stiff and I don't really see the extra weight being a problem.

 

thanks!

[DaveJensen]

Shouldn't be any different than overloading any old fly rod, should it?

We often cast an 8 line on a 6 @ Fortress.

The obvious, general results of overloading are:

- Great for distance with less effort if you know how to load and shoot (1 false cast will shoot the entire line if you get the feel)

- Not good for finesse, soft landings without a good amount of time to learn the feel.

Cheers

[maxwell]

overlining a rod slows the blank down. i find with some people they purchase fast action blanks and over line then to better fit there casting stroke. were a medium actions rod woudl be better for that casting style... it can be hard if you dont lengthen your casting stroke and apply more power through the stroke with a double haul. but if you just add more weight (heavier line) it will force the blank too load deeper naturally allowing you more of that slingshot feel.. same can be said for underlining a rod.. i have a few sticks that i am actually going a line size down so i dont hit it to hard and through a tailing loop later on near the end of the cast or cause the loop to collapse in the air... its worth a shot for what you want to do but your not exactly making your rod a 8 wt or 10 wt rod per say but somewhat in my eyes.. you might have a fast action 6 and 8 and now your making them behave more like a medium action 8 and 10.. hope that helps...

[Conor]

Good for shooting line. A lot of saltwater fishing starts from 10-20ft off the tip with a single haul and shoot. I bet overlining will help with that, but accuracy may be an issue. Your rod is rated to load 30ft of line, so if you are only loading with 20ft...

 

I wouldn't try to aerialize 50 ft of a line 2 wt over. You'd be begging for a broken blank, especially with high modulus.

 

I'm not sure what your after here, but keep in mind that with saltwater fly fishing, the weight of the rod is based more on the size/power of the fish than the size of the fly (as with freshwater FF). An 8 wt seems a bit light for anything but baby tarpon, and a 6 wt a bit light for bonefish.

[rcsloan]

Good for shooting line. A lot of saltwater fishing starts from 10-20ft off the tip with a single haul and shoot. I bet overlining will help with that, but accuracy may be an issue. Your rod is rated to load 30ft of line, so if you are only loading with 20ft...

 

I wouldn't try to aerialize 50 ft of a line 2 wt over. You'd be begging for a broken blank, especially with high modulus.

 

I'm not sure what your after here, but keep in mind that with saltwater fly fishing, the weight of the rod is based more on the size/power of the fish than the size of the fly (as with freshwater FF). An 8 wt seems a bit light for anything but baby tarpon, and a 6 wt a bit light for bonefish.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try them overloaded this weekend on the lake and see how they cast, On my past trips I've used an 8 for the bones but I recently got a new setup and on the last trip I found it to be almost too much rod for them so I'm stepping it down to the 6 fo r bones, a little extra fight won't be a bad thing. I'm probably not going tob e hooking into any 50 pound tarpons but I'm sure the 8 weight will be fine for the 15-25 pounders.

 

I'll assess the casting of the rods this weekend thens ee if I need to breakdown and buy more lines!

 

Thanks again

[albertaflyfishing]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts/experiences are with overloading a saltwater rod. I'm thinking of loading my 6-weight with my 8 weight bonefish line for little extra distance on the cast. Possibly putting a 10-weight tarpon line on my 8 weight. Anyone have any pros/cons with doing this?

 

I can see there may be some pick-up issues but the rods are stiff and I don't really see the extra weight being a problem.

 

thanks!

Hi There ... it dosn,t matter if it is a tarpon rig or a trout rod .. if the rod handles the line and the amount of line necessary to do the job is half the equation .. some rods tend to fold when they reach their limit .. the other part of the equation is can the rod land the fish effectively ? It dosn,t matter if it says 8 wt. on the rod handle if it takes a ten wieght line to load it ... I get to cast a lot of rods during a guiding season and I am constantly changing my lines for clients or just taking thier rod out of thier hands a letting them us mine .. I have seen 5wt. Reddingtons that I would gladly take stealhead fishing and throw a 8-9 wt. line on .. and I have a 8 wt. St. Croix steal head rod that I have to throw 25 ft. of lead core trolling line on just to bend the dam thing... bottom line is the rod has to have power in the design or it won,t hadle the over loadig .. I over load all my Loomis fly rods 1 line weight and they realy flex and fling that line out there and are a pleasure to cast ..and I only use double tapers...try some lines out ... if it dosn,t handle over loading a line weight it,s probably not much of a rod .. gotta Go! Al B.