Hey everyone, looking for a 11wt blank for chasing larger tarpon and hopefully next year since GTs. Looking for a fast action and light. I know if I switch to a 12wt there are more options but I have a few production 12wts and wanted to try something a little different.

Thanks for any input!

Since there is no standard for what any weight fly rod is how would you know you were actually getting an 11 weight on not a simple label change to keep you happy?

From my experience with quite a few 8 and 9 wt premium fly blanks the CCS power number is always right at the top of the nominal weight range, or a little higher. If true for what we are dealing with, an 11 will be almost a 12. But his 12's are likely almost 13's.

Without measuring what he has and what he can get, no one knows.

Eternity 2's are very fine saltwater fly blanks, definitely fast actions, light for their power.

As far as I know rod "weights" are rather subjective. Is there some scale which classifies a rod's "weight" by the rod's measured deflection from the horizontal caused by a particular weight? Any such figure would at least provide a starting point for rod comparison and rod selection. Although the flycaster who double-hauls would not select the same weight line as the one who doesn't, at least he would have a concrete reference point to start from.

There is no standard for what constitutes a "rod weight." The AFTMA system was for lines, not rods. Manufacturers tend to label their rods for the lines they believe will work best on them at the distance the rod was meant to be fished. This is why one manufacturer's "6-weight" rod is another manufacturer's "8-weight rod." This is also the reason that in any industry or trade type casting "test" among rods labeled for the same line weight, the rod that casts the line the farthest is almost always the most powerful rod.

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

If the rod were responsible for the distance of your cast you would not release the line during the cast until the rod tip flew forward, unloading its power into the line. Turns out the angler, not the rod, provides ALL the power and line speed going into a cast. Want to know how powerful your fly rod is? Strip off twenty feet of line, hold your fly rod straight up-and-down and keep it there, have an assistant grab the end of your line and walk behind you until the fly rod is bent back from the vertical as far as you dare, let go and let 'er rip! Remember not to move your hand or wrist - let the power stored in the rod do the casting. You will find the angler, not the rod, creates line speed and casting distance. Lefty Kreh could cast a full fly line without a rod, using just his arm to create line speed/distance cast.

Lefty was using his arm as the "rod" to explain how the casting stroke works. if the rod isn't doing anything for us why do we use them? And if you ever saw Lefty do this in person most of the time he used a tip section, not just his bare hand.

The rod allows us to increase the line speed due to the longer arm it provides. If you think the angler can do as well with no rod versus an angler with a rod I would say that's wrong. The angler provides power and speed and the rod amplifies it through the longer lever it provides by moving through a longer plane or arc in the same time that your arm and hand do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2022 01:27PM by Mike Ballard.

Jason,
I checked with CTS - they do have a design for an 11wt Affinity-X - even though the website does not show it.
You will not find a blank as "light-in-the-hand" as an Affinity-X.
Regards,
Herb
CTS

"Turns out the angler, not the rod, provides ALL the power and line speed going into a cast. "

The same is truie for hammers. Both rods and hammers are tools that allow the efficient and effective transfer of power from the source (a person) to do a specific job.

I don't remember anyone ever contending that hammers or rods provide power. Certainly no one on this forum.