I'm new to this site - and to rod building. Thanks to Mark Gustavson for pointing me over here.

I've been toying around with the idea of a fly-rod designed specifically for kayak fishing over deeper water. The challenge, as I discovered in Baja, is the lack of lifting power in traditional fly rod blanks combined with the fact that you are only six inches above the water surface. With a standard 9ft 12wt rod, even getting a small tuna to hand is a major issue and "high sticking" is unavoidable - tuna inevitably end up directly under the boat. Big fish over shallower water are less of an issue since there is less scope forn them to "sound".

What I'm really interested in is comparing blanks rated for AFTM line classes with other blank designs - spin rod / bait casting etc.

I have found a list of grains/grams/ounces equivalents for the AFTM scale up to 12wt. How does that compare to the casting weight ranges specified for a spin rod?

For example:

12wt equates to 380 grains (+/- 12) = 24.62 grams = 0.86 ounces. The grainweight applies to the first 30ft of flyline - although there is huge variation in different manufacturers interpretation of the AFTM scale.

How would a spin rod blank rated to cast 1/4 - 3/4 ounces perform with a 12wt line?

Now I know there is a lot of pure science in rod blank designs (taper, graduated wall thickness, "modulus" etc.) and the physics of casting a flyline versus a weighted object - but I'm not looking for a distance casting rod - this is a Kayak rod. The first prototype will probably be around 7ft in length. I can cast a 9wt line 60ft with the tip of my old 10ft spin rod so I know there is plenty of scope here.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has done any comparisons.

I 'm thinking of using a Cape Fear spin-rod blank but thought I'd get a few more ideas first.

There have been some people making mangrove close quarters combat flyrods with mag bass blanks. Taking your line wt. / 16 will get you in the ballpark with lure weights. Another choice would be a 7 1/2 ft hotshot blank, have tried throwing flylines with them and they don't do a bad job of it.
A 6 to 12 lb line hot shot blank starts casting good with a 8 wt line, at least the ones I've tried do. Both are definitely tip action blanks. There are also some 2 piece hot shot blanks if that's what you prefer.

Spencer

Get a 12wt Ugly Stick blank,LOL.It won't cast too great,but it will sure let you pull on it.

Thanks Spencer - that's exactly what I was looking for - the line-weight/16 ratio gives me a good starting point.

Tony - LOL - if ugly stick made a 7ft 12wt blank that would probably be my first choice!

Thanks guys

Now I just have to spend some money .....