Needing to Match Line Weight to Unmarked Bamboo Rod

[Flat Rock native 0]

Is there any DIY trick to make a rough calculation for the line weight that would work properly on an old bamboo rod that has no markings, at least in a visible location?

 

Have one that has been a wall-hanger for several years. When I was a kid I threw poppers with it for bass but have no recall of what my father told me about the fly line of those days.

 

Footnote 1- Should have listened better to my dad. BoY Howdy, I have said that a lot as I got older and he got wiser.

[Steeldrifter 0]

The Common Cents System is the best way to find the exact line rating for any rod Ken. Its Cents with a C because you use pennies to do it. The pennies need to be pre a certain year (the year escapes me at the moment) but it tells in the article. Click this and then click the Common Cents System. Bypass all the deflection info and such and scroll down to about page 8. That will give you the info on how to preform a CCS test on the rod to get the true rating. It seems confusion at first when you read it but once you have done it it's pretty simple http://www.common-cents.info/

[Flat Rock native 0]

Thanks Steel! I will do this!

[mikechell 0]

Just an observation/question ... please understand, I am NOT disparaging the article. I think it's a great article, with a ton of good information.

 

Deflecting the rod tip, and measuring that deflection as shown, doesn't really matter what you're using for the weight.

I thought it was going to entail counting the number of pennies required to pull the rod tip down, which would require the pennies to be a specific weight.

But it's not, it's just using pennies to weight the tip until it has dropped a certain distance. You could use split shot weights, sand, aquarium gravel or anything else that you can add a little at a time. All you're doing is applying a specific amount of weight.

 

Did I miss something, or am I thinking along the right lines?

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Mike. I believe it's because the pennies are used as your measurement. Sure anything else would work but then you'd have to calculate rather than counting the pennies. Say it took Xoz of sand. You would have to find the weight of 1 penny, say Yoz. Now divide the Xoz by the Yoz to find number of pennies required and use the provided scale. Much simpler to just use pennies. If I understand it correctly.

 

 

 

Yes you have to get it down a certain distance, but it's the number of pennies (and therefore the amount of weight) that gets it there that determines the wt of the rod.

[Steeldrifter 0]

 

I thought it was going to entail counting the number of pennies required to pull the rod tip down, which would require the pennies to be a specific weight.

 

Yep must have missed something there Mike.They use pennies because they are of a known weight. That is why they specify that the pennies have to be pre (certain year) because they changed the material content used in pennies after X year so the weight after that date per penny changed. Once you deflect the tip to the certain distance of deflection you then count how many pennies are used and that is what you cross reference in the chart to find the rod wt. For example if it takes 28 pennies which = 3.12 that means it is a 3wt. If it takes 31 pennies that = 3.57 so your dead middle between 3 & 4wt but would still be considered a 3wt. 34 pennies = 4.01 so now you would have a 4wt etc etc.

 

 

And fisherboy, yep you got it.

[mikechell 0]

Ah, I guess I jumped ahead to the "action" scale only, and just saw the gauge at the end. For some reason, that stuck in my head.

 

Been a long day ... ready to sleep.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Yep you are probably looking at the action angle scale. The Cents chart is the one you will find the pennies/wt on. It really is a little bit of a confusing article though, I know when I first found it years ago I had to read it over 2-3 times to finally understand it myself.

[mikechell 0]

I am glad YOU understand it. That's why I will never be competition to midwestcustomflyrods.com.

[j8000 0]

That is an interesting article. Helpful if I find any unmarked rods at a yard sale.

[Wetsock 0]

Try a 6wt and see how it cast worked for me with a old rod my dad had.

[Flat Rock native 0]

Try a 6wt and see how it cast worked for me with a old rod my dad had.

I am betting my father's was a 5or6, and my uncles was a 6-7, based on the reels that were being used

[BobHRAH 0]

How about trial and error? If you have a range of reels with line already on, start with your best guess, cast it for a while, and then try heavier or lighter depending on the results. If you don't have a range of reels/lines take it to a local fly shop. I'm sure they would be happy to let you try various demo reel setups if you then buy the line there. If you're not near a fly shop, check with your friends and try their reels/lines on the mystery rod. Good Luck.

 

 

Thanks, Bob H

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

No trial and error in this corner (at least not entirely).... here's how I'd go about finding the right line for any old rod. But first... start with known line sizes (and make sure each line is marked so you can tell them apart -I use Chico Fernandez's line marking system...). Here it is -and it only takes a moment to mark a brand new line before loading it onto a reel...

 

Take a Sharpy marker in black and very carefully make a small mark on the line (go all around the line so that the mark is clearly visible) with an interval so you will always know the line size for 1wt up to a 4 wt each mark is 1/4 inch or so - when you have a five wt you use a long mark at least twice the length of the short mark -whatever you've used... (sort of like Morse code, dot, dot, dot, dot, dash...). For line weights above 5wt you start with a dash then a mark (or dot) for each size larger - an 8wt would have a dash -then three dots - a 12wt gets two dashes then two dots. Take it one step further and mark your lines at each end with the Sharpy so that no matter how many fly lines you're dealing with (and how old or new...) you'll always know exactly what the line size is... Very handy -particularly if you have a few different rod sizes and accumulate more than one line for each rod....

 

Now for that old rod, mount a reel on it for balance then try each of a range of four lines being careful to have exactly thirty feet of line out from the tiptop. Make a few casts with each line from light to heavy then discard the two that are clearly not right and concentrate on the two remaining lines until you're satisfied with whatever actually works best with that rod, note the actual line size and make a note of it for that rod and you're in business... Yes, there's a bit of trial and error here - but with a purpose, using known quantities (make sure that each line is no more than 30 feet off the end of the rod so you're doing a valid comparison). With the right line size, any rod should load properly with exactly 30 feet of line out. If at all possible, make sure that each line is the same (all wt. forward , all level, or all dual taper for comparison purposes...).

 

Hope this helps, since I both build and repair rods I've had my hands on quite a few "un-marked" rods over the years and it's always fun trying to figure out just what you're dealing with. On the saltwater side of things, the reelseat is always a great indicator since there's a dramatic difference in reelseat sizes from a 7wt all the way up to a 12wt or larger rod.... I usually start with the assumption that an old split bamboo rod is probably for a six weight or lighter line size - but that's not always the case....