And Lynn Says

[DonAndersen]

Lynn says "This may qualify as a threadjack, but it's been brought up so I'll throw it in. I bought a 6 weight floating line and loaded it on my 5 weight rod. I could never really cast the rod well before (it's an 8 foot), but with that 6 weight on it just flies out there. It's almost effortless. So I guess the question is - doesn't a heavier weight line than the rod you're using help you cast farther (or better, even?)"

 

Lynn,

 

You just stumbled on what the graphite rod manufacturers are not telling you. Their rods are intentionally 1>3 line weight underrated for a whole host of reasons.

 

Enjoy your discovery.

 

regards,

 

 

Don

[toolman]

Don,

Have you ever built or casted a split cane two hander?

ps. How's your season going?

[esleech]

Overlining is almost always a good thing. I don't always do it, but I like slow action rods and they do all the work for me, can you say slingshot!

[DonAndersen]

Toolman,

 

I haven't but a friend in Port Moody has built a bunch of them. Mostly about 12'. He uses them for steelhead. Catches them too!! Another friend in Invenmere has built several. He uses them on both salmon and steelhead.

Me, I'm chicken. No way I want to hook a 40lb+ salmon. I have trouble enough with 6" rainbows.

If you are interested in such a rod, I can supply you names via private email.

 

Don

[toolman]

Thanks Don,

They sure sound like sweet rods from what I have read about them, but I haven't had the pleasure to cast one yet.

I will someday, hopefully with a nice DT line.

[Taco]

AND FISHIN' A PARABOLIC IS EASY? ;) Never really could get on to it and by the end of the day I wanted to see how well it would burn which woulda been a damn shame for a 25 hundred dollar rod :D

[Brownstone]

Lynn says "This may qualify as a threadjack, but it's been brought up so I'll throw it in. I bought a 6 weight floating line and loaded it on my 5 weight rod. I could never really cast the rod well before (it's an 8 foot), but with that 6 weight on it just flies out there. It's almost effortless. So I guess the question is - doesn't a heavier weight line than the rod you're using help you cast farther (or better, even?)"

 

Lynn,

 

You just stumbled on what the graphite rod manufacturers are not telling you. Their rods are intentionally 1>3 line weight underrated for a whole host of reasons.

 

Enjoy your discovery.

 

regards,

 

had this disscusion over the weekend, my uncle fishes with a #10 WF line on a 8 wt rod and really enjoys it, he can load the rod lots to get out a long line but says the presentation is terrible..good thing he onlt swings wets and does'nt fish dry flies much..

 

 

Don

[DonAndersen]

Taco,

 

So you fished a Parabolic. Which taper. Always wondered about parabolic rods. Seen them defined a whole lot of ways. What is your take on a para. I use a Paul Young Para 15 8'0" 6 wt. for all my lake fishing. Plotted and fooled with the graphs for this taper comparing it to other "parabolic" rods. None of them seem to fit the same footprint.

Maybe it's like the definition of good fishing. To some it's catching fish, to others its a day away.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

[Taco]

Taco,

 

So you fished a Parabolic. Which taper. Always wondered about parabolic rods. Seen them defined a whole lot of ways. What is your take on a para. I use a Paul Young Para 15 8'0" 6 wt. for all my lake fishing. Plotted and fooled with the graphs for this taper comparing it to other "parabolic" rods. None of them seem to fit the same footprint.

Maybe it's like the definition of good fishing. To some it's catching fish, to others its a day away.

 

catch ya'

Don

 

It was some yrs ago but I believe it was a Payne, very stiff in the tip. I couldn't get myself to wait long enough for the rod to load and throw the line for me. I am or was a kinda big muscle bound SOB with a corresponding quick wristy casting stroke and tend to like progressives with stiff butt end . One very frustrating experience.......kinda like play golf. :D

 

Funny thing though... I recently bought an old 7' 3M/Phillipson glass and kinda enjoy the feelin' of the rod flexing down through the cork, fishes real nice on little creeks. Kinda fun...........think I'm gettin old B)

[troutlover]

most fly lines are weighted and rated to load a rod best with 30' of line out so if your fishing small streams and not often casting 30' putting one higher weight on helps your cast alot a good trick is to pull 30' feet out the tip of your rod mark your line at the reel and it gives you an idea when your fishing if your in the "sweet spot" or not. iv'e found that somtimes if your casting to a spooky fish your better off to back off to 30' (give or take 5) to get in that "sweet spot" and you can get a better cast and a softer presentation.

[DonAndersen]

Taco,

 

Never cast a Payne rod. Seen them though. I tend to like para rods for casting a sack full of line. The Para 15 taper I use is capable of casting a whole Cortland 444 DT6 through the guides. With a silk line - add 10>15'.

Know what you mean about progressive tapers though. For most fishing, I prefer such a taper. The 7'9" I've used for years is a progressive taper.

And getting old has it's advantages - you are no longer capable of believing rod manufactures adds.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

[LynnF]

.....very interesting......thanks Don.

[bhurt]

I have also been taught that overlining your rod can breed bad casting habits. Also if the grain weight of the line is not correct you can also put unnessasary pressure on your guides that can cause them to break over time.

 

I just recently put on some 8wt line onto my 7wt reel/rod, and man can I cast but when practicing my casting with my 4wt I noticed that my casting got very sloppy, and could of been much better then what I was casting.

 

My suggestion (same that was givin to me) is try underlining for a bit then balance, then overlining and find which line is best suited for you. I am doing this myself and doing it for a season at a time, that way I do not waste my money on a line that I will not use.

[Brownstone]

my opinon -- if you want to cast long..learn to cast long... your rod & line are matched for a reason...if you want to throw 50 feet off line into the middle of the river go get yourself a spey rod..or..overline and have a whole differnt set of challenges appear..ie roll casting will be near damn impossible with a +2wt line, presentation will suffer tremendously, picking up alot of line downsteam of you--forget about it...and im sure there are lots more....seems like a large price to play for an extra load on your rod..again just my opinon...

[LynnF]

I dunno...I'm gonna throw this in there about bad casting.

 

I had some casting lessons with Lynda McLennan when we used to do Casting for Life. She told me that, in her opinion, women make better casters because they don't do one thing that men do: muscle the cast. She said that most men believe the power of the cast is in the muscle, when, in fact, we all know it's not. She told me this when she saw me cast because she saw how I tend to muscle it as well. I know when I do too - my wrist, arm and shoulder are sore halfway between 22x and McKinnon's (and my rowing abilities seem to wane as well ). When I cast properly, I could hold a rod for another 12 hours. I've found that with this particular setup and this rod being overlined, I never catch myself muscling the cast - I don't need to. I think that's a hard mental habit to break for me, but I seem to have found a way now. I fished the Livingstone a couple of weekends ago, roll casting, casting dries and I actually found the line easier to mend when nymphing and I can present a dry way better with this setup.

 

To each their own - I guess it's a YMMV type thing. But it works for me - on this particular rod and I'm just happy to be able to use it again because it was a gift - my first fly rod from my husband.