I'm building a pack rod with ferrule at both ends of the handle so it can be used as a fly rod or as an ultra-light spinning rod. I'm shooting for a 5 weight fly and ultra-lite spinning with 1/8th ounce lures. I picked out a travel blank and am currently working out how much I may be able to shorten it. The full 8' blank has a DBI of 5.94 / 65 and if I take off the butt section I get a 6' with a DBI of 5.5 / 62. This doesn't count the handle which would effectively be a 9" non-flexing extension which I believe would raise both sets of numbers a little bit; however, when holding it as a fly rod the grip would be close to the blanks end anyway and I shouldn't count the handle? The ERN of 5.5 seems about perfect but the AA of 62 seems a bit low? I'm not an experienced fly fisherman so I'm not sure how much the AA affects casting. The shortened blank feels just a little bit soft for spinning but it feels much better than the full 8' blank.

1) Am I using the CCS correctly?
2) Is an AA of 62 too low for casting fly line?
3) How much, if any, of the handle/extension should be counted in the CCS?

Jim Hicks

The AA is never "too low" for fly casting. Granted, it won't be along the lines of a very fast action blank, but that may not be what you want anyway.

What you'll have with the extension will indeed be bit higher on both the ERN and AA measurements, but only a little. Overall you'll have a rod that will cast a 5-weight line fine at most average distances, but it may be a tad stout if your goal is to fish at very short ranges.

Where and how do you plan to use it?

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

It'll be used mostly in local (Maryland) rivers; perhaps 20 yards or so on average, smallmouth bass, brown trout. I've no doubt it'll work just fine in spinning mode with the tiny-lite reel and 6# test. A three pounder would feel like a monster on this rod but it'll handle it. I'm mostly concerned about how it'll fly cast for a very, very, novice fly fisherman. I still keep my floppy hat and thick coat handy to avoid impailing myself:)

James, I built one similar to what you are doing, however I used the entire rod for the fly rod then for the spinning rod I built a separate handle to match the ferrule of the second rod section, That way you could drop the butt section with the fly reel seat on it and install the spinning reel seat into the 2nd section. As this was a 4 piece rod the spinning rod only added about a foot more in length plus the first three sections. It was a 9 ft 5 wt fly rod and a 7 ft light spinning rod.

It will cast as well as the person casting it. At an average casting distance of 30 to 45 feet, a beginner would do well with a 5-weight line on that rod. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to be using it in very close, otherwise I might look for a lower ERN figure.

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

I'm doing something similar right now with a Forecast F662-4; but I'm going to use a TN grip and simply mount the fly reel near the back and a spinning reel further forward, so I won't have to flip the handle around when I go from one reel and style of fishing to another.

Thanks Tom, looks like it'll work fine and won't put a bend in my casting learning curve.
Marty, the TN handle is a great idea but I wanted to complicate matters just for the experience :)
Sam, did you put a metal ferrule on that 2nd section or how did you get the handle to match the graphite female ferrule on the blank? or is that blank different?

One of Sammy Mickel's spin/fly rods made just this way was in a recent issue of RodMaker.

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

I do a lot of dropped butt section fly rods and for the distances you're casting, I'd fish it with a 6 wt line, especially with a novice caster. If you're fishing larger buggers and streamers, you won't regrest having a six. Get a line with a short front taper so the rod loads well at short distances. I find that AA is a poor way of estimating how these short rods feel ( remember AA is measurement of flex, not how fast the rod feels, thats CCF). Most of the fly rods I build in this way have an AA or 55-60, yet feel at least "moderate-fast".

What you're describing is "speed" per the reaction and recovery, not action. When someone says a rod has a "fast" action they mean (or should mean) that it flexes mostly in the upper 3rd of its length. Action and speed are not the same thing, as you seem to be aware, but many confuse the two terms.

A rod with a ERN of 5.5 should do better with a 6-weight line at very short distances, perhaps even a 7. But from what I read above it would appear that it's not going to be used at shorter distances. If I didn't read the original post correctly I apologize.

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

Thanks guys. I'll throw in an extra spool with 6 wt and try them both. I probably would do better with the heaver line until I develop a decent cast. The heavier line should also help throw the flys I'm trying to learn how to tie :)

James, I used an old rod that had the same taper as my new blank and cut it to size to build my spinning handle on. By doing it that way I could still use the graphite ferrule for both handles. I believe I posted a picture of this rod in my gallery. I have used a metal ferrule for a reversable handle on a bamboo rod and I posted that picture there too.