Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The Common Cents database is only graphite rods I believe. I suspect that your rod is probably about a 7 wt rod…probably heavier than what you would be looking for from a standard trout rod. The term “rod weight” is also popular among anglers. I found a very, very old 2-piece Heddon’s bamboo rod that is only 5ft long (total). Now i understand why the 4wt line i out on his reel didn’t cast well.. lol.. A rod that loads fully with say, 1/4 ounce of weight, can find that 1/4 ounce in 30 feet of 4-weight line, or 20 feet of 5-weight line, or perhaps 45 feet of 3-weight line. Say you fish small streams only, and have a 6wt rod, and never put more that 15 ft. of line in the air to load your rod,(flex your rod) on the backcast. I use three basics: (1) The fly size, but the fly’s weight is also mixed in here as is the fly’s bulk. There is no standard for the line weight of fly rods -- how a rod is listed is entirely up to the discretion of the rod manufacturer. So two questions… thanks jim. Even someone who left a reply that said he came out with a 3.6 so that confirmed his 4 weight line was confused. This scale runs from 1-14 (and, it should be noted, is occasionally added … Fascinating bit of smart rule of thumb. Happily, recognizing that America has no love affair with the metric system, fly line manufacturers have adopted an easy to remember "scale" to help anglers quickly determine fly line weight. 1)  Accurately measure the distance from the rod tip to the front of the cork grip (not the entire rod length). Mark the position of the tip … Thanks. I’m not a Montague expert by any means, but I know they made casting and trolling rods in addition to fly rods. The figure is 0 when the rod is just coming out. The calculator below calculates the mass of a solid rod made from a range of common materials. The type of fly fishing determines the choice of a fly rod weight. A very stiff, fast-action fly rod casts well in this situation. Standard Fly Line Weight Charts: AFFTA Approved Fly Line Weight Specifications Standard Fly Line Weight Charts give us parameters for specific fly line sizes. Most likely it worked, so why change up a good thing. Sec. Fly Rod Size (Line Weight Size) Some anglers think the size of the fly rod should be determined solely by the size of the fish you plan on catching. That puts this rod example at about a 5 wt. Trout fly rods of the same weight can have different actions. I’m not sure who developed this procedure so I can’t give him/her the credit they deserve…it works quite well. My best guess….is that you have an old “boat rod” rather than a fly rod since it is only 5 wt long. 2) Clamp the rod grip to a table so that the rod is horizontal next to a wall. The weight classification is often abbreviated as “wt”. Again, I’m curious if the above numbers reflect bamboo rods specifically. If you take 10 different rods all labelled "9-weight," you'll probably find that the "real" ratings of … Match them up. We have listed the fly line weights as they relate to actual weight of the fly line in grains or grams. Am I missing something? This is very similar to the Common Cents system (http://www.common-cents.info/). Slowly add small weights (coins, washers, nuts, etc.) Just rebuilt a bamboo Montigue/Foothills, for my grandson. Divide that number by 10. There is no standard for the line weight of fly rods -- how a rod is listed is entirely up to the discretion of the rod manufacturer. One of the rods I build is a 7′ 9″ 3 wt medium-fast action rod. In Sec. It looks line science is getting in the way to practicality. Yes, I’ve found that this technique isn’t always precise, but it usually get’s you to a good starting point. (3) The fish, as some fish due to either their size or their vigor demands a workhorse of a I’m guessing that the calculation doesn’t know the composition and should work for any rod whether it be bamboo, glass or graphite. Thus, the rule here is: Fly Line Weight = Fly Rod Weight = Fly Reel Weight In any event, I’ve never tried the formula on such a short rod like you’re describing so I’m not sure how well it would apply. Most of these old rods didn’t have any kind of line designation on them, and a lot of them tended to be in the 5 or 6 weight range. Your response is welcome. Big flies, bulky flies or heavy flies might indicate going to a heavier rod. Whichever one does the best and feels right during casting would be demonstrate the correct line weight for the rod? A good friend and fellow bamboo rod builder (Skip Hosfield) sent this to me. A simple number, for example “5 wt.,” can’t, However, the more numbers one has describing the intrinsic properties of a fly rod the more accurately one can describe that rod. Determine weight of X from the following chart and attach that weight* to the rod tip top. Delicate small stream fishing will require a slow action, and fishing for the larger fish on larger rivers will call for a stiffer, fast-action fly rod. In this post, first we will discuss fly rod weight and then show you how… How to Determine Fly Rod Weight Read More » Measure the entire rod, minus the grip, in inches. Thanks for the reply.