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Line weight question

Started by troutmaddave, February 13, 2016, 04:33:32 PM

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troutmaddave

Hi folks
I have a question about which line I should use on my 13' split cane hardy double hander.
I'm using a 9/10 floating line by scierra at the moment and I am struggling to cast.
I wondering wether the line is to heavy or not heavy enough. I'm a lone angler and all my local shop wants to do is sell me stuff,not offer advice. Also, maybe a scandi set up would be my answer, but without buying a few different lines and testing them, I'm a bit list.
My rod is from 1937 and Hardy cannot offer any information . I'm casting pretty big flies and I want an intermediate sinker.
Hope someone can help
Dave

Highlander

#1
1937 you say my first thoughts are why you would want to fish such an old rod in the first place. I would suspect a rod this old the glues would have deteriorated by now & the glued sections would begin to part especially with the strain of casting it nowadays.
I doubt anyone could advise you more a try & see what suits the rod if you feel you have to fish it. Lines of that period would be silk, Kingfisher or Hardy Corona which bear no comparison to today's modern equivalents.
Me I have no idea which line will/might suit. Best teamed up with an old 4" brass reel & mounted on the wall to admire our yesteryear heritage IMHO. Good luck whatever you decide.

Tight Lines

PS This might help.

Silk Line Ratings to Modern Fly Line Equivalents
AFTMA
Fly Line Weight   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12
Double
Taper Fly Line   IGI   HFH   HEH   HDH   HCH   GBG   GAG   GAAG   GAAAG   GAAAAG
Weight
Forward Fly Line   IGH   HFG   HEG   HDG   HCG   GBF   GAF   GAAF   GAAAF   GAAAAF

The Hardy Wye 12.1/2 ft was rated as a 9 in modern terms so you are not far out with what you have used already. maybe modern line are just not suited I do not know.
" The Future's Bright The Future's Wet Fly"


Nemo me impune lacessit

troutmaddave

Hey highlander,
Thanks for your reply. I'm a bit of a stickler for the vintage gear. Many people have told me to park up my 1966 series land rover and buy a small van. It gets me to work every day and up the mountain to those wild spots, albeit rather slowly ! I use cane rods all the time and live them dearly especially my 7' #3. Perfect for mountain brownies and Clyde styles, spiders etc.
I can't seem to get any distance on my casts so should I go heavier or lighter with the line?
Love your website by the way, very insipirational.
Cheers
Dave

Highlander

Thanks Dave I too love old gear & still fish some till this day but mainly reels such as the older J W Young's Beaudex,Pridex & the like but for a rod circa 1937 I would leave well alone. Still it is yours & as such you can do what the hell you like.  :lol:
You would  just really try a few different lines till you get one you can get on with. I very much doubt if many on here could give you any better if any advice . After all there are not many that were around in 1937 never mind fished the rod & I am 67 years young a mere whippersnapper
Good luck in your quest.
Tight Lines
" The Future's Bright The Future's Wet Fly"


Nemo me impune lacessit

burnie

Dave, not wishing to be rude, but how's your casting? Are you asking an old 13 footer to do more than it was ever built for in the first place? Why the hang up on distance, most of the few Salmon I have caught were hooked closer to my own bank. I too love cane rods, I even had modern ones made to use, but remember that although the old silk lines that were around when this rod was made were heavy, they were not so good at shooting through the rings as modern materials. Finally is your 9/10 line a Salmon line and not a Trout line, they are different weights.

troutmaddave

My casting is..........ok......ish! Just I have, what seems a lot of drag on the water at the anchor point and was wondering if the rod is not powerful enough to cast the line out, or the line is not heavy enough to go any distance?
I'm pretty new to spey casting, but I think that it's not too bad of an action!! Famous last words!
The line is a Sierra 9/10 wff spey line and I use a 5' sink leader and a 10'  15lb tippet.
The rod is in great condition, almost unused I'd say .
It's a Hardy "the Croquet" palakona 13'
Bought for £55.00 from obay.
Cheers for the interest in the thread and your answers
Dave

troutmaddave

Hi Andy
I have a 7 WF kicking around, I'll try it on my lake tomorrow, not my lake by the way, it's just 50yrds down the hill. A local guy caught a 22lb pike there the other day!
Thanks for your input
Dave

burnie

Are the rivers really big Dave? I use a 13 foot rod and it manages on the Tay, just, but is better suited to smaller rivers. I have been told to shoot the line over at 90 degrees to my bank then throw a large mend upstream with extra line and let the fly sink a bit before it fishes round. Now this seems to work for me for both Salmon and Sea trout and unless the waters really big, I don't use the extra sink tip.

troutmaddave

Problem solved.....
I've been in contact by chance with a bamboo rod maker from Vancoover in Canada. James M Reid. I gave him the serial nos of my rod and he came up with a bunch of information about it . The rod was made by Hardy towards the end of 1936 and was one of a series of rods with a steel core. I wondered why it was so heavy!! I told him what line I was useing and how I fish the rod and what I want from it. Also how good a spey caster I was .
Basically the line I'm using has a 55' head and unless I have all that head out past the tiptop then the rod is really under loaded which leaves it unable to turn over the poly leader, tippet and the large fly. He suggested a snowbee scandi spey 40g line, which has a shorter head, 30/35'. This will load the rod better and ultimately turn over my fly better. I should be able, with a bit of practice, to cast about 50 odd feet, believe that when I see it!!
Thanks to all who chipped in
Dave
[attachimg=1]

Bobfly

I have certainly heard of long salmon rods with steel cores in them. Through the 50s after WWII it was not  that uncommon to see folks with the old tank radio aerials used as rods !
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