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Walter & Group.....
Mike Heritage answers Walter Simbirski :
I'm not sure I agree with you Walter. Back in the day's of glass fibre and the early days of graphite there were a lot of rods sold in the UK that were dual rated.
I agree it's not so common now and tend to be on low to mid end rods which may well have a far east origin'
Mike
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Craig Buckbee throws on another log :
gordy,
some fuel for the fire:
as for faster rods, and the idea that one should up-line, especially when in close.... whatever.... really.
my way of dealing with a tight fish is to adjust, usually tip cast. or, how about a nice sharp roll cast?
curious how Charles Jardine would describe casting
with just a 20+ft leader out of the top ring...
when i was in Hawaii a few years ago and took some time to fish for bones, my guide was real big on up-lining a 9 wgt rod with a 10 wgt line. of course i followed paid orders, i used his outfit a loomis cross current 9, with a 10 line. it worked fine, felt over lined to me... that rod has a very soft tip in relation to it's body. after a while i went back to my lil' old 8 wgt with an 8 wgt line and did just fine. the fish didn't seem to care. when it got so windy (beyond a salmon chop) that i couldn't see fish it wasn't time for a 10 wgt., it was time to sit down and have a cold drink.
by the way, the ideal rod for Hawaii bonefish is a 9 wgt.... with a 9 line.
craig
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[GH]
Craig,
I neither "up line" or "down line" when using G.Loomis Cross-Current rods for bonefish.
You are an accomplished caster. This allows you to quickly adjust as you "tip cast" or use your "sharp" roll cast to a close-in tight fish. A new caster isn't likely to have those skills.
When faced with the challenge of stopping a running bonefish to keep the fish from reaching mangrove cover or coral outcroppings, a heavier outfit and heftier tippet makes sense. (I was fishing in the Bahamas with a friend who had a bone run into the mangrove and get stuck there. He waded in to get the fish. As he climbed back into the skiff a lemon shark streaked up and took the heel off his wading shoe !)
I'll usually use an 8 wt. system for large bones. When fishing for small ones in Central America or the Bahamas, I'll drop down to a 5 wt. for the challenge this offers. That 5 wt. will have plenty of Spectra backing in case I do hook a large fellow.
This works OK for me even when windy, so long as I use proper wind casting techniques. For anglers not accustomed to casting on the flats in wind, I'd recommend the 9 wt.
Sometimes I will use a 9 wt. system and larger crab flies for bonefish.... but that is when I expect to see larger permit. This way, I'm prepared for either.
Your comment on Charles Jardine casting with only a 20' leader (no line) out of the rod tip is a good one. The leader, if balanced correctly for efficient turnover, will usually have a mass distribution close to that of the front taper of a fly line and will, therefore, turn over almost as would the line itself provided the fly is not too large and the casting distance only about 20'. (I have used this as a way of testing the turnover capability of new leader assemblies.)
In "Common-cents", Dr. Hannemen correctly speaks to the subjective rather than truly quantitative methods of determining the rating for any one fly rod.
I do like Bruce Richards' proposed line rating system (see the reference in yesterday's message) because it rates fly lines at different lengths out of the rod tip :
Examples-
2 wt rated at 28' 5 wt. at 37' 8 wt.at 46' 10 wt. at 50' and 11 wt. at 53'.
Specialty (Tarpon) lines - 12 wt. & 13 wt. at 40' (Because of their taper design and likely average casting distance).
Having said that, even though I see this as being more in keeping with the way we cast these lines, it would seem more complicated to the novice.
I quote Bruce, "The solution is actually relatively simple. Instead of rating all lines at 30 feet, larger lines should be rated at distances that more accurately reflect average casting distances ".*
Gordy
* MODERN FLY LINES, by Bruce Richards, p 94.
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