I want to build myself a fly rod and I have never fly casted other than some dismal attempts at testing a couple spin/fly rods
I've built. I have a few blanks that I think would be about right for a 5/6 wt but I need to CCS them to be sure.

What would be the optimum AA and ERN for a 5wt.? I've been going over the CCS and parts are somewhat confusing. I understand how to
take the correct measurements but...

I understand that a beginner should start with a 5-7wt. but I don't know why. Thoughts?

Any recommendations as to length? I have 7, 7 1/2, & 9ft single and multi-piece blanks to pick from. I don't know why but it seems the average length
for a fly rod is 9ft?

Another thing I read somewhere is that it is recommended for a beginner to use a rod with a moderate action because it's supposed to be easier to be
accurate with a slower action vs fast action. Sounds like boulderdash to me but....?

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2009 12:02PM by Raymond Adams.

Raymond,
I would suggest a 9' 5wt. Fly casting is all about line speed. 9' will give you a lot more line speed than 7'6". More than 9' becomes an atheletic endurance event. 5 wt is a good all-around wt to learn with, not too heavy, not too light.
Preferred action really depends on your casting stroke. Since you're used to the quicker arm action of casting spinning and/or casting rods, you will probably have a fast casting stroke, when you start fly-casting. Fast arm action works better with fast rod action. Also, a faster rod will allow you to recover a muffed back cast, than will a slower rod action. Optimum AA, I would guess 65-68, but am not sure. ERN around 5-5.5.
Good luck, and welcome to the "Dark Side".
George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2009 01:03PM by George Forster.

Thanks George

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Any rod will load easily if you have the right amount of weight on it - the right line. Fast action rods are no harder to load or use than slower action rods are. I always steer beginners to fast action rods because they can perform such a wide range of tasks and will generally handle a wider range of lines to cover a wider range of casting distances.

Why not just figure out what you want to use the rod for, and then you can decide what you need in terms of power and line weight.

If you have some fly blanks there now, run the ERN measurement and let me know what you have. I can put the right line on it for you from here, without ever touching or seeing the rod. But I will have to have some idea of what you're going to be using the rod for and the average range you'll be fishing.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2009 01:36PM by Tom Kirkman.

Well said. A faster action rod is a little less forgiving as it will 'uload' a lot faster. A slower action rod is easier to load and holds that load a little longer making it easier and a little more forgiving to cast with. Like anything it is all personal preference. Depends on what you will fish for, type of flies you will use and the line in which you will use to 'deliver the payload'
Good luck and as Raymond said welcome!

It turns out I don't have any fly type blanks. I thought I had a 9ft 4pc but it's a 3pc 7ft and now I'm sure it's a spinning blank.

Don't know how I intend to use it really. I have the American River very close and there are trout, steelhead, and at curtain
times of the year very large stripped bass, and chinook salmon. It's about 100yrds wide most places and not a lot of fast
water but some. Might like to drag woolybuggers with my float tube at a few of the local lakes.

My main intent is to learn to cast well enough so when I build a fly rod I can actually know that it works for what it's built for
and have a much better knowledge about the sport and can communicate well with clients. I know that should I take it up
in ernst I will need several rods but I got to start somewhere.

As the longest blank I have at the moment is 7 1/2ft looks like a blank purchase is in order soon.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Whats the bet he will be bitten by the bug :-)

For the type water and fish you mention I'd steer you towards a 8'6" to 9' rod with an ERN of about 8 to 8.5. This will be easy for you to learn with if you'll line it with an 8-weight line and fish at moderate distances up to maybe 50 or 60 feet. Later, as your casting improves, you can line it with a 7-weight line and reach way out there.

Now for large striped bass and very large salmon, that outfit will work but you could easily go much heavier. But that's the nice thing - it'll give you a reason to build a second fly rod.

You're going to find the AA for most popular rods in this category will have actions of between 65 and 72 degrees. Any of them will be fine for what you're wanting to do at this point, but I would try to stay within that range.

By the way, the new North Fork Composites blanks will soon be rating according to the CCS (all of them, not just fly rods). Gary and Brad Loomis are strong believers in the system and plan to rate all their rods with it as they have time to run all the measurements.

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

Awesome!

Thanks Tom.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

You know, if you're going to wind up with 2 rods anyway, I'd reverse course a bit and steer you to an 8'6" or 9' rod with an ERN of about 7. Put a 7-weight line on it and have fun. Later you can put a 6 on it and cast about as far as you'd ever need.

Unless your trout and steelhead are unusually large, that amount of power would be better suited to the task.

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

Roger that,

A 10lb rainbow or steelhead would be quite big regularly. Of course Lake Natoma holds the State record for a rainbow well over 20lbs.

Now I got to arrange some casting lessons too!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I go with the latter then - a rod with an ERN of 7 and able to fish either a 6 or 7-weight line will handle such fish and be a heck of a lot of fun.

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

Here is something to think about.

First, measure the TP and PR of your rod. Then substact the TP value from the PR value and call it the "X" Factor. This is a measure of the "Xperience" or "Xpertise" required by the caster in order to get all the performance out of a rod that the designer put into it.

On the the market today, I have measured and found so called "5-wt." rods with X Factors ranging from 5 for beginners to 11 for experts. This general trend should hold true for any series of rods.

Which article references TP and PR? Thanks

The Universal Rod Rating System (URRS), RMM 10-4. There have been several rather lengthy threads on the subject recently.

Phil Rowe

Ray, I live in Alamo (East Bay) and teach casting as well as building fly rods. I'd be glad to help you with getting started casting (no charge) and have a big assortment of rods you can test cast to see what you like in the way of: length, weight and action.

Maybe we could meet somewhere in the middle like Vacaville to get together.