I am in the middle of building a combo rod and I am trying to get an accurate line weight for the rod when it is put into the fly fishing configuration. However, I cannot find a conversion table that will give me anything usable.

The rod is 6 foot 3. The amount of weight it takes to bend the tip 6.3 inches is 47 grams. This works out to be a ratio of 7.4. I need to know what weight that would corelate too.

Thanks in advance

I don't think there's any such formula. Sometimes it's possible to take the middle range of the casting lure weight, and convert that to an AFTMA line weight (first 30 feet).

.........

47 grams = 725 graines.
A 15 weight fly line weighs 550 grains.
Good luck using that as a duel purpose rod.
47 grams = 1.66 ounces. That's quite a stiff blank.
Normally a 6'3" fly rod would be a #0 to #1 fly rod.

Better go to plan "B"
Herb

If you can tell us what the weight to deflect the blank to 1/3 its length with the support of the butt being about 7 inches, blank horizontal is, we can tell you its CCS power and can make a good estimate of the proper line.

Michael,
I am pretty certain that a fly line isn't made that would deflect that blank 1/3rd.
Herb

Combo rod bad idea. Kind of like a carboat or carplane. Two different animals. 6 foot fly rod not worth much to anyone.

Wade, don,t give up..combo rods are fun to make..i built a bush rod for farm ponds..it's only 50"..with 1/4 ounce plug on spin it cast easy 60'..with bow and arrow casts about 50 to 60'..with casting reel about 60', with #8 fly line it cast 40'..and it,s made of E-glass..have fun..lol.

ben belote Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wade, don,t give up..combo rods are fun to make..i
> built a bush rod for farm ponds..it's only
> 50"..with 1/4 ounce plug on spin it cast easy
> 60'..with bow and arrow casts about 50 to
> 60'..with casting reel about 60', with #8 fly line
> it cast 40'..and it,s made of E-glass..have
> fun..lol.


Just to add..this is with 10# power pro braid..mono is too stiff, also guide train has no reducing guides just #8 Y-guide for choker..the rest are #5s

"The rod is 6 foot 3. The amount of weight it takes to bend the tip 6.3 inches is 47 grams. This works out to be a ratio of 7.4. "

The above has nothing to do with anything. What is the rated casting lure weight for this rod blank?

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

I have built combo rods for a couple of my friends that pack into high country lakes on horseback, I have been using 4 piece spin Batson spin blanks. These rods are not finesse rods in the fly mode but will work when needed. If you will reduce the lure wt to 16ths it will give a rough idea of the fly rod size. For instance a rod rated to throw a 3/8 oz lure is reduced to 6/16 and would throw a #6 line.

A fly rod as short as 6'3" would severely limit your fly-casting ability. I would spring for two rods and decide whether I was going spin-fishing or fly-fishing before i left the house.

Combo rods are not for purists..lol.

Thanks everyone for the replies. This is a special project and the second combo rod that I have built. They are quite fun to build and engineer. I downloaded the Common Sense Method last night and did some re-measuring. Turns out the rod is "about" a 1 WT. That is what I am going with.

The rod started life as a medium action graphite rod. I then cut it into 4 pieces and made fiberglass ferrules. All of that is attached to a 12 inch combo handle. However, I added an additional tip section that is made out of fiberglass. That was the part I was trying to figure out the weight on.

I got it now. Thanks for the opinions.

Wade, if you know of a fly shop, they often have several test reels of line so that you can check/test on your rod..

I don't think you've got the Common Cents System quite correct - it doesn't assign line numbers to rods per se. That would have be an ultra-light rod to come in at such a low fly line number.

If you know what the casting lure weight range is for your rod I can probably dial you in on what line would work on it, at what distance.

...........

For that rod to be a 1 weight, it would take about 35 to 50 gm to deflect the rod 1/3 its total length (25”). You stated at the beginning that 47 gm only deflected the blank 6.3”. So it’s Impossible for that blank to be in the range of being a 1 weight.
Norm

Disregard the first calculations. I was not doing something correct.

I placed the fiberglass tip section on the rod. I secured the rod to the table so that the first foot was level. The height of that was 35 inches. The rod (minus the handle) is 6.3 feet. Divided in thirds is 2.1 It took about 6 pennies to deflect the tip end of the rod 2.1 inches. According to the table in the simplified common cents method, it doesnt begin to register until 10 pennies. At that point it registers at a .61. Being that I am sure I have not done something correct, I went with a 1 WT.

Now, if I were to put the graphite spinning tip section on, it is a regular 6 foot 3 medium action spinning rod minus the handle section.

Turns out I did not measure correctly. The rod is a total of 75.6 inches long. It will need to be deflected 25.2 inches.

Looks like I will be redoing it tonight.

Yup Wade, that would be 2.1 feet, not inches. Even then you shouldn't be subtracting the handle. Use the entire length of the blank.

Any reason you won't mention what the lure casting range was for the original blank?

All else fails put some temporary guides on, tape a spinning reel on, and see what weight it casts best for the distances you wish to fish. Report the results and you will get valuable help.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I did not have any previous information on this rod at all. No writing or characteristics. I am trying to figure it out so I know what to order guide wise, reel wise etc. I didnt include the handle in the original length measurement because I had saw somewhere else that the measurement is supposed to be where the blank enters the handle. Not sure if the handle being mounted on aluminum tubing with no taper or flex would effect the overall measurement.

I will measure it using 6.3 and 7.3 feet and see what the difference is.