Funny thing - AFTMA never set any sort of standards for fly rods, their ratings are for lines only.

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Tom:

Thanks for confirming my point. Every blank manufacturer applies its own subjective judgment to suggest which line weights will function best with its various blanks; there is no standard. Do you know if this is a committee effort at each manufacturer, or if each manufacturer appoints an individual to label the recommended line weights for various blanks? Are there any criteria for deciding who will assign a line weight to a blank, or is this task passed around to even the workload? With the lack of objective standards for assigning line weights to rods I have to wonder how manufacturers arrive at these numbers.