How can you determine the Line Wt. Range & Lure Wt. Range for an "unknown" fishing rod or rod blank that is "completely unmarked", with no clue as to make or model ?

Thanks, in advance !

"Fishing is our Handshake, our Language. A Heritage that binds us together. A Passage our fathers took. A Journey that lasts a lifetime, that we have begun again with our sons and daughters." George "Gowge" Pope

Line weight range is purely subjective. There is no standard for that. Lure weight range can be obtain through trial and error, or the Universal Rod Rating System portion of the Common Cents System.

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Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> Line weight range is purely subjective. There is
> no standard for that. Lure weight range can be
> obtain through trial and error, or the Universal
> Rod Rating System portion of the Common Cents
> System.
>
> ...................


Tom,

I wasn't thinking in terms of "manufacturer's ratings", but in real-world lb-test usage.

"Fishing is our Handshake, our Language. A Heritage that binds us together. A Passage our fathers took. A Journey that lasts a lifetime, that we have begun again with our sons and daughters." George "Gowge" Pope

There is no test or method for determining lb test usage. In fact, not all 10lb test lines, for example, have the same breaking strength. So for the most part, it can't be done.

In some cases a few manufacturers rated lines based on the actual deadlifting capability or failure point of the blank. In other words, if they said the rod was rated for use with up to 20lb line (class) then the line would be expected to break before the rod did. Sadly, the only way for you to ascertain such a rating for your blank is to break it, record the deadlift in pounds that broke it, and then you'd know what line is safe to use with it. But of course, at that point your rod is already broken.

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There has to be a better method . . .

Thanks.

"Fishing is our Handshake, our Language. A Heritage that binds us together. A Passage our fathers took. A Journey that lasts a lifetime, that we have begun again with our sons and daughters." George "Gowge" Pope

If you find one, let us know. That's how the manufacturers did it, but then, they have lots of blanks they can break to find out.

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It looks to me like the factories just select a line size based on what they think the blank is going to be used for. So something that is designed for throwing spinner baits to largemouth bass is going to carry a rating of maybe 8 to 17 pound line. Not something like 30 to 40 line. A heavy surf rod is going to carry a rating of maybe 20 to 40 pound line, not something like 6 to 12 line. It's just a reasonable guess and recommendation. Not anything that you have to follow or adhere to. The blank will never know what size line you have on it.

I would suggest that you just compare the unknown blank to 20 or 30 known blanks for power, blank size, etc.

i.e. a given rod of a given length, butt size, tip size and speed, has a typical rating of x.

If you can find a blank that is very similar to the unknown blank you have your answer.

Also, I just think that common fishing sense will tend to answer most of your questions.

i.e. small diameter low power rods will not carry as much weight or line as a rod that is stiffer, has more power and is of a larger diameter.

Good luck

To what Roger said I'd add weight of the blank. Some blanks are small diameter, thick walled and some aren't.

I once asked one of the big names about dead lift capacity. They pretty much said off shore blanks could be expected to deadlift near their actual rating. They also said if they offered bass blanks that did nobody would buy them; as they would be judged to heavy in weight.

A quick glance at specs will show that a salt water rated blank (of the same line class as a freshwater blank) will weigh more. Does that imply one is falsely rated?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I took a two section casting blank and decided to experiment and buit it into a fly rod and it likes 7 and 8 wt line very well.I built it with out the common cents system just to see what the out come would be.It works perfect for the small river steel head fishing were there isnt alot of room.
I would build the rod and let it tell you.You can always compare it to othe rods of the same length and action to get a ball park idea of what it will do,as Roger pointed out.

The key here is to set the drag well below the braking strength of the line you use, As far as lure weight take the thing out and cast it with different wt.s of practice lures. Otherwise you are just guessing. If the lure is too heavy you will have excessive bend in the blank/rod before you even attempt to cast it.. Start light and work up. If you lock the reel drag down all the way you will more than likely break the rod.

I would take the tip size and butt size like said before and get an idea of what line it could handle. Its going to be a very large range. Then cut out the bottom 1/8 and top 1/4 of the range. With a reel with a properly set drag I would be comfortable fishing the rod all day in this range.