![]() We often lament the time of reconning when we step on the scale at the doctor’s office. Bamboo fly rods are no different. Assigning a line weight may be a bit too personal. At the 2023 Catskill Rodmaker’s Gathering, noted fly fishing historian, John Shaner, suggested that makers may want to consider leaving the line weight notation off of their bamboo rods. Rather, Shaner went on to recommend that a given line weight is best determined by the end user. Shaner concluded that line weight notations are just a suggestion. ![]() I am blessed to have many things in life, one on of which is my casting area. Exiting the back door of my shop, it is surrounded by woods and a stone all. It is long and reminiscent of a meandering stream, providing the perfect attributes to test cast bamboo fly rods. It is a great place to spend time and to allow a given rod to provide valuable feedback as to its performance characteristics. When test casting, I experiment with a variety of line weights and reels. More than once I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the results. Noted fly fishing author, Dave Hughes, has recommended a good way to slow a rod down is to simply go up a line weight. This is wonderful advice. With the variability of fly lines on the market, it is virtually impossible for a 4 weight rod to perform the same with any 4 weight line. But to Hughes’ point, one may also choose to take an active role in a rod’s performance. I’ve certainly done this in my own fishing. One of my main fishing rods has been a 7’ for a 4 weight. It is a medium action rod that gracefully places a 4 weight double taper line on the surface of my tailwater when targeting selective browns. However, when on my canopy laden small streams, I find the action a bit slow and a need for tighter loops. Thus, I fish it with a 3 weight double taper line on such small streams, and its progressive taper is a small stream dream. I recently completed three new rods: 6’ 3wt; 6’6” 4wt; and 8’ 5wt. I test casted all with multiple line weights. I executed short casts, long casts and roll casts. I was utterly confused because I found myself thinking deeply about all kinds of different fishing applications with each rod. While I noted line weights on each rod, I came to realize those notations were truly…just a suggestion.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorMichael D. Day, Maker Categories
All
Archives
January 2025
|