I am building a 9' 4wt. 4 piece Forcast fly rod and I am just wondering what line would be best 4 or 5wt.? If anybody has experience with this rod or other 4wt. rods can you please give me feed back on how a 4wt. line feels on this rod or if a 5wt. would be better for it? It is my first time building a 4wt 4 piece rodand I can't wait to get it and build it.
Thank you
Tyler

If I remember right the Forecast 4 wt I built was 4.31/56.

in spite of the ERN of this rod, the line that is better depends a lot on your fishing conditions, your casting style and how you like the rod to load. you may find yourself eventually using a range of lines. no one can say for sure that a 4, 5, or a six (or even a 3) won't perform on that rod. all of them will and have their place. some will feel better than others under certain circumstances. you will have to experiment.

The ERN is the key, because it tells you not only which line will be best, but at what distance, your casting style and how you like the rod to load. I'd never select a line in spite of the ERN, but rather because of it. (Larry, you don't sound as if you really are up to speed on the CCS - no offense, but the ERN tells you all about things you just listed once you understand how to interpret it).

With an ERN of 4.31 I know that such a rod would work best for me with a 4-weight line if I was gong to fish it at mostly medium distances from about 20 to 50 feet. That same ERN would indicate a 5 if I was fishing in pretty close and a 3 if I really wanted to push out extremely far, although 3-weight lines aren't really totally ideal for long range fishing/casting. Note the AA figure as well. 56 does not indicate a fast action rod, so keep this in mind insofar as what you may be used to now.

..................

Tom, does that mean that a Dan Craft 908-4 with an ERN of 10.63 casts best with a 10 wt line? I guess I'll just have to order those articles :).

Any rod will cast any line, at some distance. But once you have some idea of the situation you're fishing in, your casting ability and what you like, the ERN will pretty much peg the line you'll like best on most any rod.

...............................

tom, i thinik i do understand the ccs data. and i agree that the ern is the theoretical key but i still feel that individual preference will come into play in selecting a line weight. i fish very small streams and find that 30 feet of line is not always useful. in that case i would be fishing perhaps one line up from the rods ern. in that situation thats the right line for me. can't say that works for everyone though. but i admit i am no expert on ccs, i just use it as a starting point.

Exactly, and the ERN can put you smack on your individual preference. The ERN is not a line number, it is a relative power figure.

Maybe we need to revisit how to use the ERN figures to find the line that best suits the individual. An ERN of say, 5.5, does not mean you should use a 5-weight line. It is a power figure that when combined with your fishing situation, casting style, etc., will tell you which line is best. That may or may not be a #5. In some cases a 5.5 would steer you towards a 4-weight line, in other cases it might tell you to use a 6. The fact that it can dial in your individual preferences is one of the most beautiful things about it.

For instance, if you had a rod with an ERN of say, 4.5, and you knew that you were going to be fishing, as you said, closer than 30 feet, the ERN would most certainly not indicate a #4 line for you. Most likely it would indicate a #5 or perhaps even a #6.

............

Larry ~ At less then 30 feet you would want to use this: "ERN=ELN+1"

You have arrived at same line the CCS recommends in your case.

i think maybe my use of the term "in spite of" was a poor choice of words.

Maybe, but that wasn't the point. When you said, "in that case i would be fishing perhaps one line up from the rod's ERN" you made a somewhat puzzling statement. The ERN is not a line number. Now assuming you were making the ERN a line number, and with the information that you wouldn't be fishing at 30 feet, the ERN would have actually advised you to move up at least one line size. The CCS is a great system. It really can peg the right line for nearly any situation without much, if any, experimentation needed. I wish more people could benefit from it.

...................

Let me turn this around for a minute. Let's say I KNOW that most of my fishing is going to be in the 60 to 70 foot range and that I WILL be using a #6 line ALL the time. On a 9 foot rod what ERN should I look for when buying my next blank??

Not trying to be funny at anyone's expense. This is a serious question and something I'm getting ready to do.

I would not go any lower than a blank with an ERN of 6.8. An ERN of 6.8 to 7.0 would probably work great for you with a #6 line at various distances of from 35 to 65 or so feet. You go more or less in a pinch, but that would likely be the "sweet spot" of such a blank used with a #6 at those distances.

If you know you're going to be staying at more than 60 feet most of the time, I might even say that something in the range of 7.0 to 7.5 is going to be the ticket.


...........................