Fly line problem!!!!!!!

[jk]

I lost the tags on my fly lines after I put them away last year and need help on how to figure which line is which. I know that one is an 8, another is a 6, and one is either a 3 or 4. I know about the wgts are determined by the first 30'. Does anyone know what the total weight of the line is supposed to be, or some way that I can determine which line is which weight?

[Pleco]

If your lines are the same style and length, you may get lucky by just comparing the weights to each other.
Heaviest is the 8, next heaviest is the 6 etc. If not...

Here's the AFTM weights for the 1st 30' good luck!

Line -- grains -- tolerance

1 --- 60 -- 54-66
2 --- 80 -- 74-86
3 -- 100 -- 94-106
4 -- 120 -- 114-126
5 -- 140 -- 134-146
6 -- 160 -- 152-168
7 -- 185 -- 177-193
8 -- 210 -- 202-218
9 -- 240 -- 230-250
10 -- 280 -- 270-290
11 -- 330 -- 318-342
12 -- 380 -- 368-392

[ducksterman]

jk,
Umpqua has a "Fly Line Scale"..that is made to weigh the first 30'...unfortunately they retail for $19.95.

If you have a delicate enough scale I believe you could just coil the first 30' on the scale.

[Micropteris]

Seeing as you know that you only have 3 lines that you already know what they could be, you could easily cast all three on the same rod, say a 6 wt and should be able to figure out which one is which. The heavier line should load the rod more and the lighter one load less.

[ditchdoc]

To prevent this problem, I always mark the lines themselves using this method: At the end of the fly line I use a black permanent marker to place different width rings around the flyline. Say my rod is a 7wt.--I place a quarter-inch wide ring around the line and two eigth-inch rings. These three rings are about one-sixteenth of an inch apart. So, you see wide ring means five, narrow rings mean one each--so you can mark your lines for any weight. Now, if you want to designate floating from sinking, you can start with narrow lines for sinking lines or start with wide lines for floating. Simple enough? Ditchdoc

[ducksterman]

Though you can feel the line loading as long as I'm going to do as ditchdoc does I also use the same marking at 30' and 40'.

[rodgerole]

JK, Do you remember who made the lines? Might be a simple matter of asking the manufacturer what colors correspond with which lines.

[krausebb]

Your local fly shop should weight them for you for free, if he want's to keep you as a customer.