Jerry...
That makes it even more likely to have had you feel less of a load than needed. This Clouser line does feel, "heavier" for short casts. It has a steep forward taper for turning over weighted flies....such as Clousers. However, the first 30 feet of that line still weigh in the same range as the first 30 feet of most lines..... a range of 330 grains plus or minus 12.
Thus, the caster carrying only 30' of this line would underload most 12 wt. rods. In carrying 35' to 36' of line, he'd have the rod loaded correctly as dictated by the rod maker.
Modern graphite fly rods, however, can handle a wide range of fly line wts. It's just that the rod maker labels the rod to handle the wt. of the 1st 30' of a line which has the same rating as his rod.
A, "new" way of rating lines and fly rods has been suggested by Bruce Richards in his book, MODERN FLY LINES, pp. 91-97. With this system, heavier rods would be matched to the wts. of greater lengths of line out of the rod than 30', and lighter ones with less.
ALL MCI CANDIDATES SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR WITH THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK !
Subsequent to the publication of this book, it is true that some fly line manufacturers are making specialty lines that have the 1st 30' weighing slightly more than their number designation grain wt. ranges.
At least one rod maker is advertising that each blank is grain-wt. rated rather than complying with the commonly used number system.
We've come a long way from the old system of line ratings, however, since the AFTMA changed the system from one in which the lines were rated by diameter rather than weight (About 1962)
Gordy
From: jerry puckett <jerry_puckett2001@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Gordon Hill <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Fwd: RE: Balance of Rods and reels
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:40:06 -0700 (PDT)
Gordy, here is a follow up from Steve. I passed on your e-mail to him. Thanks Jerry
Note: forwarded message attached.
From: "Steve Schmidt" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'jerry puckett'" <jerry_puckett2001@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Balance of Rods and reels
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:39:08 -0600
Jerry;
Great seeing you last night and getting to cast a little. I need to correct you on the rod and line weight that we were throwing. The line was and 11wt Clouser, which is a heavy line to begin with. The rod was a Winston BiiX 12 wt. Sorry for the confusion.
Steve
From: jerry puckett [mailto:jerry_puckett2001@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 12:11 PM
To: Gordon Hill
Cc: Steve Schmidt
Subject: Balance of Rods and reels
Gordy, I was casting with Steve Schmidt of Western Rivers Fly shop last night in the dark as he was preparing for a Tarpon trip in your area. We were using a Winston 11 wt. rod. I do not remember the type reel but discovered that this rod was incredibly light and responsive for a 11 weight and the normal salt water reel seemed heavy. To my trout way of thinking this set-up did not have a balanced feel to me and really required a lot of strength and wrist control. Note: this was my reaction as Steve was casting like the old pro that he is. He was throwing some awesome backhand cast. Look out Tarpon!
Steve and I talked about going to a 12 weight line on this set up. Would this make it a better balnced out fit for reduce casting fatigue. Do you have any thoughts on this line of thought since you are the seasoned salt water angler? I am just trying to learn so I will be in a better position to advise someone who is going Tarpon fishing.
Thanks Jerry