Hi all,

I have read all of the Common Cents info and have used the database many times...but i am having a hard time explaining it to others. For example, I have a Dan Craft FT 863-4 that has a ERN of right around 7.0. I love this rod. It is of course rated by Dan as a three weight, but according to the #'s could handle much heavier applications ( i know this rating is used objectively to compare rods, not set line wt. reccomendations). I personally use a 4 wt line, but would not hesitate to go heavier with this blank. I have a friend that likes the rod and might want to add it to his collection, but is set on a "5 wt". How would you explain to someone (in laymans terms) who isn't interested in learning the CC system that this rod would work fine for what he plans on using it for?

Thanks
Carrington Tate
Fort Collins, CO

First, you'd need to educate the customer on what "5-weight" really means. That's a line rating, not a rod rating. So the term "5-weight" means roughly 5/16th of an ounce. Now you can attain that amount of weight with just about any fly line, depending on how much of it you put past the tip. So now the question is simply, is the rod capable of loading with 5/16th ounce of weight and average angler input?

At this point you'd need to ask what his application is; where and how does he normally fish. Is he casting way out, or closer in. Mid-range, perhaps?

Back to the rod in question. In reading the CCS, you no doubt saw Dr. Hanneman's label for DBI (ERN and AA). For any given ERN, those rods possessing a high AA will generally handle a much wider weight range than those with a lower AA. The rod you mention will likely do okay with a 3-weight line due to its very fast action - it can load and cast off the tip. But, the power rating indicates that it can handle a good deal of weight, too, as the tip flattens and you quickly come into the more powerful mid section.

The ERN is important, but along with the AA you get an even better picture of the rod in question.

.......

Thanks Tom, that definitely helps.

He will mainly be Colorado lake fishing, most likely a combination of rainbow & brown trout and smallmouth. I wouldn't hesitate using the 3 wt, but he is hearing from others that he needs a 5 wt.

Again, what exactly is a "5-weight?" I'm sure, and you probably are too, that those that are telling him that don't understand what fly line numbers relate to.

What you could do, is tell him that the 863-4 is a 5-weight rod. That number on a rod is subjective anyway, and as a custom rod builder you are free to rate the rod any way you want. I used to do this quite often. A guy would come in, tell me what he was going to be doing and using on the rod, and then I selected the blank that would do the best job for him. I didn't care what number was on the blank - what mattered was whether or not it would do the job and make the customer happy.

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

Tom has your answer. I do it all the time. Guys who fish the small creeks and streams of the smokies rarely get much more than ten to twenty feet of line out. I take blanks listed at 2 and 3 weights and label them as "4wt" and the customers string them up with #4 lines, fish them, love them, and think I'm the world's greatest rod builder. It is none of their business what blank I selected, as long as they get what they paid for in terms of something that works and does the job for them.

If I left it up to them they would buy 4wt blanks, put on a 4wt line and then wonder why the rod won't load on the small stream after it did so well out in their front yard.