ol Al...
Got your message on OVERHANG.
Yes....one might well question my, "definition" as the distance between the rod tip and the point at which the fly line began to diminish in mass (and diameter) behind the head.
This would mean that this would be the point of beginning of the rear taper.
The problem with any definition of overhang is that rear tapers will vary from that of the line which has none (the shooting head with no rear taper attached to running line) to the CRT taper which has a continuous taper from the head all the way to the connection with the backing.
SO.......Where else would you choose to place the line-end of the overhang segment ? Certainly not in the middle of a long rear taper.
Another reason I chose my end point was that this is where the line no longer has heavy line to turn over lighter line in front of it. That is still true of the double unit taper with thin/low mass line between two heavier segments.
It's also true of the classic double taper line, though less so, since this line has such a long belly (often exceeding 70') that it would be a rare caster, indeed, who could carry it's full forward taper and belly to ever get the diminishing portion of the line beyond his rod tip. If he did, however, he'd have overhang.
As I pointed out in my last letter on overhang, this simple definition also fits well with the way these lines behave.
Theoretically, then, one could have overhang with any of these lines ........ but not with a level line.
Gordy