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Walter & Group...
Question on line ratings and choices of lines for distance casting from Laurence Baggett. My answers in his text :-
On Aug 13, 2010, at 9:13 PM, Laurence Baggett wrote:
Gordy
I'm in Livingston just finishing a day of fishing in the Park on the Gardnier with Molly.
We had a discussion re fly lines and I'm confused. If you want to have a test for maximum distance (fishing is not involved)'with a 10 wt rod what.line do you put on a one piece Loomis Cross Current for the test?
[GH] I'd do what all champion distance casters do .... underline the rod.
1.) For this situation, (for me) I'd think dropping down to a 7 wt. or 8 wt. line may do the trick well. A lot depends upon how much line I dan carry when false casting without my nice tight parallel arm loops deteriorating. That would take some trials.
Reason: I usually can carry no more than 55' of line when using that 10 wt. and that is under ideal casting conditions. I know I can't shoot more than about an additional 50% of the line carried. So that means I'm looking at a max distance of only about 85'. No championship there, but at almost 80 years of age, I'm not complaining.
In the event I do carry 70' of line out of the rod tip, and each 5' - 6' of additional line beyond the first 30' adds one line wt. dimension, then I'm really casting with a 14 - 15 wt. line assuming it is a line designed with a 55' head. We are approaching the range limit for that rod. Also the limit for this caster ! (Perhaps OK for the young well timed Rambo casters.)
Now, let's say I drop down to a 7 wt. line.
I know that with that outfit, I can carry more line and still maintain tight loops .... say, about 65' to 70'. If I do carry 70', and can shoot another 50%, that means I can probably make a cast of about 105'. With that much line out of the rod tip I'm casting with the weight of a # 10 wt. line.
Joan Wulff pointed out in her book that Steve Rajeff chose a # 11 line for his 17 wt. tournament fly rod for the same reason. *
Second question. Some of the new lines are overweighted by 1/2. The heads are 35 to 38 feet. Is the rating for the line (gps and rio grand 5 wt are stated to be 5 1/2) within 30' or does the extra head length part of the calculation?
By the way we are sitting in the two bit salon in Gardiner dis using this Thanks
L
[GH] 2.) This has muddied the water quite a bit. However, a 10 wt. line is still judged by the grain wt. range of the 1st 30'. When it goes beyond that by 1/2, it really should be called a "10 1/2 wt." line... or a "10.5 wt." line. I don't know of any line manufacturer who actually does that, however except Rio. Putting it another way, that "10.5" grain wt. range is within the first 30' of line.
The length of the head has nothing to do with it for rating purposes.. It has a LOT to do with it if you are calculating the grain wt. of line carried when you cast with more than 30' of line out of the rod tip, because as you add each 5'-6' of line beyond the head you are into thinner line where it takes a lot more than 6' to raise the total grain wt. of that line out of your rod tip.
I have always liked Bruce Richards' proposed rating of fly lines .... the lighter ones rated at less than 30' and the heavier ones at more than 30'. * *
* MODERN FLY LINES by Bruce Richards, pp. 94-97
* * Joan Wullf's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES by Joan Wulff, p. 110
Gordy
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