I'm looking for tips on choosing the proper line for my fly rod builds. I don't really have a system for that other than trying to match grain ratings. A couple builds ago I think I got lucky and nailed it and ended up with a sweet casting rod. That's not the case with my most recent build so I'm a little disappointed. Love the rod but it has the wrong line on it which I wasted $100 on. For example; I just finished a pacbay quickline 11 foot 8 wt switch rod and got a Rio 8wt switch chucker line which is 520 grains. I had difficulty finding a grain rating for this blank but 520 is way too much for it. It's clunky and makes it difficult to do simple roll casts etc. Any tips on how I can do a better job of selecting the proper line for my fly rod builds? Even still, I did catch a nice king on the rod last week so it has good mojo but needs a proper line! Thanks, Mark

The weight of the line changes as you move more or less of it beyond the tip of the rod. I would suggest the CCS system. The ERN power number is key, although its important to remember that the ERN itself is not a fly line number. But you can use a factor to determine a pretty close match of a fly line to the rod. For instance, if you have a rod now that you have a line nicely matched with, take an ERN measurement and then put it up against the line you have on that rod. For instance, let's say you measure a rod and find an ERN of 7 or so. And you find that the line that works best for you on that rod is a 5. From there you can formulate an equation of ERN-2 = fly line number. If you're using, say, a #9 line, then your equation would look like this ERN+2 = fly line number. This should work right on up and down the line at least if you're using the rods in similar fashion.


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Mark,
Do you have any specs for the bare blank ? Not finished rod specs.

Butt diameter ; Tip diameter ; mid- blank diameter (both ends tip and butt if at a ferrule) ; blank weight ; material

I've a spreadsheet that I apply to get an optimum casting weight. This I convert to fly line weight and will generally get you within a line size.

Gene

I returned from a fly-fishing club meeting an hour ago. We had casting practice before the meeting. A friend was having trouble casting an 8wt. line on his new 8 wt. rod. It didn't load the rod, even with a long overhang. I took a reel loaded with a 9 wt. Triangle Taper off my rod and he put it on his rod. It loaded and casted very well. There is no substitute for hands-on. Join a fly-fishing club. Sharing information, experience and tackle really shortens the learning curve.

I think that blank would do better at 450 grains or a bit more on a short taper line. The tip is a bit light I think to anchor your heavier line on the forward cast.

X2 Phil. Nothing like loading the rod yourself with different grain lines.

Thanks for the replies. I fished the rod again today and used a 410 grain switch line with longer head and it was much better. This chucker line looks like it has a 12wt head!

In my experience, If you have a 5/6 wt. rod I always used a 7 wt line. I was always told from old timers that you should go 1 wt higher than you rod is rated for.

Brad, part of the problem is that fly rod weight ratings are not that accurate. All 6's are not 6's. The last three fly rods I've built were at the high end of their rated weight ( 8 wt rated rods were actually almost 9's) when CCS tested. Those rods like lines heavier than normal for their ratings. For example, my Quickline 8 wt (almost a 9 by CCS) didn't like the 8 weight Sage line I had on it, but with a Rio Quickshooter Bonefish line in 8 wt, it performs very well. The Quickshooter is a heavier line than a normal 8.

I think higher skilled fly casters can handle just about any line, but for those of us less skilled, the line has to be right on for what we are trying to do. Our local fly shop has reels with different lines for prospective buyers to try, and that is the best way to get the right line.