The size of a fly rod doesn’t mean its length. It refers to the weight of the fly line it is
designed to cast. Now, it’s true that some fly rods will cast more than one line size, some
as many as two or three; however, in those cases they will cast one certain line size
better than the others.
I have already emphasized that a fly rod should be designed and built to cast a fly line of
a certain weight range. This means that the length, taper, stiffness and flexibility of a fly
rod should be such that it cast a particular fly line size easily and efficiently. Generally
speaking, the shorter the cast, the more one could get by casting more than one line
weight.
As I have already said, wind will affect the cast and this is especially true when you are
using a rod that is not designed for the size line that you are attempting to cast. Fly rod
manufacturers usually mark their rods with the size line that the rod is made for on the
butt plate or butt section of he rod.
Some anglers prefer to use a larger fly line than the rod is designed to cast. This usually
is because they are not very good at casting but not always. If a rod is casting a fly line
on the heavy side, it does give the person casting the rod a different feeling when the rod
loads. Heavier fly lines are easier to feel but that doesn’t mean it is casting any better
than it would if it was using the right size fly line. Some rods need a heavier line than that
stated on the blank. In this case, it’s usually a very low quality rods whereas the
manufacturer either doesn’t really know or care. Manufacturers that make quality rods
usually have the right size lines listed for the rods.
There’s also a big difference in the way a one weight fly rod and a twelve weight fly rod
cast. Of course, the rod, reel and fly line is much heavier on the large fly rod sizes and
take a little more power to cast than rods intended to cast light fly lines.
Copyright James Marsh 2013