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Rocco

ID-ing Mystery Fly Lines

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We all have them usually on unused reels/extra spools.... Are they a four or six wt?

 

The best way to tell -- and that is not surefire --- is to weigh the first 30 feet and compare the result to standard weight tables for fly rods.

 

I have the scale but wonder how to get accurate reads of just the first 30' w/o cutting the line?

 

( I may choose to do that in some cases to make shooting heads but for now I only want to

know what I have.)

 

My scale weighs in grains by the way and it has a 2x3" tray to hold the line segment being weighed,

 

Tips appreciated. And thanks in advance.

 

Rocco

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I've done it with my scale a few times when I forgot what a line was. I normally just sit the line next to the scale when I weigh the first 30ft section. You will have a very small section from the line laying on the table to the scale's tray but it's usually not enough to really make much of a difference on the scales reading.

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Yep, weigh the head and it'll be close enough to rate the line. I always round down as the rod should happily cast half weight over.

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Coil up the front 30' of line, place it on the scale while holding the rest of the line up. You only need to hold up a little of the extra line. Also remember that there is about a 15 to 25 grain margin for each line size. Can't remember just how much right now, but you should find it in many of the charts online.

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I came across a few new points -- fro me at least -- since my first post.

 

From another site a guy said to use an empty toilet paper spool to hold your line on small scales.

 

From AAFTMA tables I learned that you are only to measure the first thirty feet of the widest forward section -- not including the tapered section down to the leader.

 

Rocco

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I came across a few new points -- fro me at least -- since my first post.

 

From another site a guy said to use an empty toilet paper spool to hold your line on small scales.

 

From AAFTMA tables I learned that you are only to measure the first thirty feet of the widest forward section -- not including the tapered section down to the leader.

 

Rocco

 

 

I think you mean not including the level tip. For the line below, the tip is 6 inches but the taper is 9 feet.

 

The reason the instructions say to exclude the tip is that if you measure 30 feet from the end of the front of the line, you would NOT weight the back 6 inches which is much heaver than the 6 inches of the tip. So for the line below, weight 30 feet 6 inches of line from the front end including the tip. Since the 6 inches of tip weighs very little, the total weight should get you to the correct weight.

 

selectivetroutdt.jpg

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Everything posted above is pretty much bang on, at least based on my own measuring/weighing experiences.

My scale also weighs in grains and has a small platen too, so what I've done is measure out 30' of line,

coil it up small & snug, lay it on the platen, whilst holding up a little of the extra line. The measured weight comes out

right to specs, +/- a few grains.

 

Rocco, you might want to try weighing a known weight fly line just to see how the technique works and how close you come out.

 

OT, but given the number of different lines and spools I've acquired, I now have I.D. tags that rest inside the spools.

The 'notched' tags have the basic line information and stay right between the spool spokes, as shown below.

A few of my reels do not have spokes and I'm still working out a similar way for their I.D. tags.

sosnxf.jpg

 

jt298j.jpg

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I use Lefty's method of marking my lines. Lefty's method is to use a black Sharpie to mark the fly line one wide stripe = 5, and a thin stripes = 1, so a 7 wt line would have 3 marker rings, one wide and two thin on the line tip.


 

If the wide stripe is toward the front of the line, it is a WF 7; if the thin stripe is toward the front, then it is a DT 7. Some markings will be symmetrical like a 4 wt or a 5 wt and you cannot use the marking placement to tell a WF from a DT.

 

34883061594_5d77769c07_z.jpg

 

Another thing you can do is to measure 30 ft of line out of the guides using the rod and reel you normally fish with. Then put a thick marker stripe on the line where you would hold it with your line hand. You will then know when exactly 30 ft of line is out of the rod.

 

Another thing you can do is to find the "sweet" point on a line where you are able to make the maximum distance cast. Then mark that spot, and also whip finish a small thread bump on it. Coat it with a bit of Pliobond to smooth it.

 

You can then feel when that point is in your line hand without looking down.

 

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