Question about "recommended weight"

[rkfiske]

So I was looking at my Loop Multi 7wt and it had next to the #7 a range of 14-18g. I assume that's grams, and when I looked on the site it says the recommended line weight is on the handle. Is this the rec. weight of a head for the rod, as in a shooting head or what? I unfortunately don't have a kitchen scale to see what's going on and I wanted to know if anyone had insight into what this meant.

[briansII]

I honestly do not know the specifics about Loop rods, but trying to comprehensively answer your question could add more confusion than answers. Deciphering heads, integrated lines, grains, grams...ect..ect. I have different charts for all sorts of line ratings. It's almost too much information for something that should just "feel right" when you cast. Probably best to start with a 7wt fly line. If going with a shooting head, using a "head" 2 line sizes up, i.e a 9wt, would be a good starting point. You can try up and down on either lines systems, but what I mentioned is a good starting point.

briansII

[Jim T]

Brian,

Is there a chart somewhere for regular lines and how much the first 30' should weigh? Maybe that's what the 14-18g is trying to tell him or is that weight range totally out of "line" for a 7 wt line.

Jim

[hip]

14 grams = 216 in grain weight

18 grams comes out to 277.

That's in the ball park with what a 7 wt could handle.

One note, up lining by two lines using a shooting head is factoring in you have a fairly fast rod. jon

[briansII]

Brian,

Is there a chart somewhere for regular lines and how much the first 30' should weigh? Maybe that's what the 14-18g is trying to tell him or is that weight range totally out of "line" for a 7 wt line.

Jim

Here's the AFFTA chart

http://www.affta.com/media/downloads/in ... _specs.pdf

As Hip pointed out, that would be in the ballpark for a shooting head, but over 3 lines sizes(18 grams = 277 grains - 10wt = 280 grains) up on a regular fly line. I have stiff rods that will cast 3 full line sizes up, but it feels wrong to me.

briansII

[rkfiske]

Thanks guys, I feel a bit retarded for not converting grains to grams. My current shooting head is roughly 270gr of rio T-11. Its a PITA to cast as there's no taper. Probably not the best introduction to shooting heads I think. Thanks for the input guys

[briansII]

Casting heads is sort of an acquired taste. In a sadistic way, I like the T heads from Rio. Anyway, the T11 head weight sounds about right, but the length might be causing a bit of trouble. To get a 270 grain head of T11, you need to cut it about 25' in length. Heads getting that short have a tendency to "dump". I have a Outbound T11 line I will cut back to around 30-31'. If I like it on my 8wts, I'll leave it long-ish. 29-31'. If I don't, i'll cut it back till it feels right on my 7wts, but won't go any shorter than 28'. I have some short leadcore heads I don't use anymore, and I don't want to do that(cut it too short)to a brand new, full line.

briansII

[castaway]

Tossing the head is a blast... but 1000% different then tossing a floater with a 5wt.

get the head out in front of you.. so about an 6-10 inches of running line is past the guides.

I like to do one roll cast to get the line on the water and give me some resistance when I lift for the backcast.

now..with the backcast... its slow... but using the speed up and stop method helps..wait... for that rod to fully load (one hand on the line - you will feel it trying to pull out...I usually let a bit get pulled out on the backcast... thats your indicator to start the forward cast). no false casting... now the move forward.. slow... just cuz your trying to toss a LONG cast with heavy line... let the line and the rod do the work. its kinda like a gold swing...or think "lobbing the line" the harder and faster you swing, the worse it gets ... Like Tiger woods.. anything over 25mph and you end up in the trees.

[rkfiske]

Thanks guys, I think I am getting what you referred to as "dumping" so maybe I need to drop down to T-8 to get something around 32' and see how that reacts. I cast one of those Rio Outbound integrated lines on a 9wt at Marriotts. That felt really nice. Maybe I just put my expectations up too high for my home built one haha.