Ive done all the searches…and I know the pro’s and cons’ of over or underlining a rod…but no where could I find an answer for my question!
If I go fishing in the SALTWATER, since casting distance can surely be further than trout stream fishing…why not…??..use a 9 wgt line on my 8 wgt rods?
Heavier weight means better wind bucking ability ( should I have wind when fishing) but Im thinking that with the heavier line…the rod loads deeper and would have more “power” for shooting more / some line.
Not that I would expect to cast and shoot 100 feet…but if I can “generally” cast say 45 feet…the ability to shoot another 15-20 feet might put me right in the old ballpark!
you are correct on several things Sully…I would never overline any of my rods…if you want to punch the wind then get a abreviated taper short cast line that still matches the rod weight…better yet learn to cast into the wind…the extra “punch” from having the correct line will allow you to do so…I learned from casting straight into 30mph wind repeatedly so if it is only 15mph or so then I can do it easily…you will never need 100ft cast…most of my cast are 30-70ft …90% of everyone overstates their ability to cast distance…to cast 100ft would be the entire flyline…truth is 90% of all flyfisherman only dream of hitting their backing even with a fish
Ahhhh! If I understand you correctly…I shouldnt need MORE weight…but the weight in a different place ( linewise).
If I should run into 30 mph winds…I’ll just tell the guide to headback to shore and we will enjoy some coldies or something…:lol: Practicing for that would be difficult here…we dont get much wind at all where I am…and never anything severe at all.
30 to 70 feet…geeze…doesnt seem all that far really!
I know what you mean about getting into the backing. Only had 1 fish get me down to about 3 turns of line left…and I was doing more dancing than an indian medicine man…lol
you are on the road to victory my friend…you understand exactly what I was trying to say…its the weight of the entire line…I find that a redfish taper shoots the best for my style of casting and my leader setup…I usually carry the same amount of line no matter how far the cast is…remember that the “PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING” and trumps distance every single time… it is important to cast it with a leader, preferably long, this will change the feel of the taper considerably…some lines cast great by themselves but not so great with a leader and fly and others become quite tame with a nice long leader
bonefishwhisperer: Mucho thanks partner. I have so dammed much to learn about saltwater fishing…one of the reasons why Im starting NOW to get up to speed.
Matching the line to the rod makes sense with a goal in mind. If your rod is a slow action rod the answer might very well be different that if your rod was a very fast action rod. The line weight is meant to match the average rod with the average caster. You might not be either one.
A $50 line combined with a $50 dollar casting lesson might be much better than a $100 line of either weight.
I am not a cerified casting instructor…however I have never been beat by one either but I take them fishing all the time…most are totally hung up on teaching things that you wont ever need out here…I have to teach about 80% of everybody to cast when they come out with me…its not something that easily learned or everybody would be doing it already…I ‘shoot’ every single cast…here is example of redfish shot at 60ft…the rod is already set in place and line is ripping by me..the leader is completely off the picture and so is my target
My take here is that you’re all correct, Which is why the original poster couldn’t find “the” answer. I have rods that are very content with their rated wt line. Some even take to downsizing. Others(a Scott S3S 6wt in particular) demand an upsize. Add tapers and wind and everyone has an opinion-even Lefty who recommends a downsize in wind. My tendency is to switch to an intermediate line in wind. Works for me.
not in shallow water…depends on what you are fishing for I guess…my fishing is in warm semi tropical water and elite glamour species…most of my cast are in 1ft of water so splashing is as popular with the fish as it is in Olympic Diving…not to mention the shadow caused by the line when using the shorter leader…for this fishing anything less than the fastest rod and you will lose…slow rods have no place out here…you are trying to eliminate all false casting…you cant cast a 20ft leader with underlined rod against the wind with any hope
Boy O Boy! I never realized there was THAT MUCH difference in tapers. WOW!
I was looking at Cortland Bone fish taper VS the redfish taper. Talk about weight forward!!!
My saltwater rods ( also for steelhead) are a Sage RPLXi and some Loomis GL3’s ( both are saltwater blanks) and they arent the fastest by any means but they certainly arent slow either…??
BTW: I love that pic of you casting. Maybe someday when I grow up I might be that good…:mrgreen:
Thanks again!
BFW, if you ever venture north for stripers, you’ll find lots of people who regularly put out 90’ plus, every cast. Some are using switch rods and homemade shooting lines to reach 125’ every cast in the surf. You may understand your fishery and its needs, but, I wouldn’t make such glittering generalities about saltwater. I regularly overline my rods to throw big flies.
And by the way, we don’t lack for wind. As I don’t go south, I won’t even think to comment on what’s right in your fishery. All I know is what has very succesful for a few decades north of Boston.
Bluefish: Are you guys throwing tungsten/leadcore lines. I was introduced to those in Baja last year. 100’ of running line, 28’-30’ of LC, and a twisted leader. Darned if that didn’t rocket it out to busting fish.
John, I use 30 feet of t-14 attached to 50 lb. mono. This will go into orbit.
In general situations I use integrated shooting heads- usually 250-350 range on 6 thru 8’s. These are wind punchy enough, and will make 90 foot forward or backcast from a shooting basket. They are relatively tangle free- the mono lines are not. Both the Orvis Depth Charges and Rio Outbounds are decent lines. When I need the distance I use the Tungsten 14. It’s available from Rio by the foot, as is there T-8 for lighter duty situations. If I was fishing in 1’ of water, these lines would knock the fish out or send them into the next ocean. Cortland makes the LC-13.
Thanks for the input but Im not going to mess around with shooting head line(s). If the guide cant get me within casting distance I’ll just jump overboard as we slide past and take the fish “Texas” style by jumping on its back!
Cordell, aka Bonefish Whisperer, and the others make a lot of good points. One thing that has not been mentioned is line speed. One element to increase the distance and deal with wind is increasing line speed. This is not done by overlining a rod since overlining actually slows down the action of the rod and reduces line speed.
If you are using the correct line and the correct technique, the best way to increase line speed is with a double haul. A lot of people use the haul to load the rod. This is sort of a waste of effort since you can reach optimum load on the rod without a haul. If you let the rod load normally and start the haul as the rod begins to recover, you can greatly increase line speed, thus, increasing distance and control.
As far as shooting heads, I would get your techique down first before you tackle them. They are very effective in the right situations, but can be a bear to cast it you don’t have proper technique.
Yeah…I never did learn the proper way to do a haul. Luckily I’ll be taking some instruction this summer on vacation. I’ll have him teach ME how to haul while he is working with the wife.
I CAN haul…but I look sorta like one of those guys on a aircraft carrier…with the paddles that lands planes… Hands all over the place…basically every place but where they should be…LOL
Ive never run across a situation when trout fishing where I “had to” use a haul…and certainly not for fishing the local streams here ( when its no wider than about 30 feet…and you CANT fish from the bank…it makes for some sort distances!!)
I sure do see where a different taper line…as suggested…can certainly make a BIG difference…
I always overline my saltwater rods .
Here in the northeast we often use large air resistant flies.
Overlining slows the action so you can cast these large flies efficiently with an open loop, using the full length of the rod for the cast rather than just the tip
I usually overline, but only on the rods/reels that I’ll be using in a sitting position amongst the mangroves in my kayak. I need to be able to load up my rod quicker with less line than I would be in open waters. Especially with a fast rod like my TiCrX 8wt.
Cortland makes the LC-13.