My lovely wife bought a blank from a friend of ours that is supposed to be a GLooomis GL3, 9ft 5wt. However, when I compare it to my other 5 wt's and even my 6 weight it seems like it is much thicker, especially at the handle. Does anyone have any experience with these blanks? And is there a way to tell the weight if it is not known?

Hi Stuart,

I have no info on that blank but you can find the info you're looking for by using the CCS system (left column)

Hank
On The Rocks Fishing
Wells, ME.

There is no standard for "weight" numbers on fly rods. Few 5-weight rods are similar. You may well have a 5-weight blank even if it is markedly different than your other 5-weight rods. The blank/rod is whatever the manufacturer chose to call it.

Using the CCS will not tell what "weight" blank you have, but it will get the relative power rating from which you could at least dial in the line that will work best for you on it at the distances you plan to use it at.

..........

You could try to measure the tip and butt. Then go and look at the Loomis blanks and see if you can match one with the same specs. It's a start ? The CCS will tell you exactly what you have.

Stuart,
The dimensions of various nine foot rods labeled five weight will differ based upon the individual manufacturers' designs. So the butt measurement won't tell you if it's a five weight or a nine weight. I built on that blank several years ago and have the completed rod at home. The best I can offer is to do some measurements from my son's completed rod when I get home this evening.

I'll email some measurements if you think that will help. If you don't have the Loomis decal that came with the rod, which will verify the manufacturer's intended line weight, a way to verify the rod's specific power rating is doing a CCS measurement as mentioned above. I'll include the CCS rating on my son's 9' 5wt Loomis GL3 (two piece), 5.65 if I remember correctly. Yours may differ though.

Jeff Shafer