A recent thread here and one on another site got my little brain ticking a bit, so I thought I’d see what others have to say. Why does it seem that so many people buy a fast action rod only to pair it with a line that will slow it down a bit. Is it just me or is that kinda counterproductive. What I mean is, why not buy and rod that is a bit slower and pair it with a line that weighs what it is rated to weigh, and possibly save a bit of cash on the rod purchase in the process?
Excellent question. The answers will be very interesting. If you know any fly shop owners, ask them to post on this one too. A professional opinion would be nice. 
You can put heavier lines on slow rods too.
It allows you spend more time fishing and less time trying to break the sound barrier with line speed.
It also allows you to load the rod easier while mending where line speed isn’t an option.
With very few exceptions I find most rods perform best with the line they are marked for.
I just use different rods for different things.
I have one fast rod and I hate it!
No doubt not the rod’s fault 
but to say most rods perform best with lines of stated weight…well I wish it was that simple.
I think it might be better than a few years ago though.
So far, I have always found any rod to perform best with the recommended line weight.
I wish you hadn’t said that part about professional opinion…but I’ll give it a shot anyway :roll: …
If we accept the fact that the rod is rated properly it seems to me…
Line companies put out heavier than standard lines to make it easier for the average castor…therefore happier casters and customers.
If the consumer decides to actually overline it can be for the same reason…or a certain situation, or type of fishing, …the mending point is interesting…
I have two fast rods and I LOVE them! Send me yours and it will be in good company. They fit MY casting style, which may differ from YOUR casting style. I overline one of the rods and get the performance I wish from the rod, which is probably different than the performance you may seek, and the 7wt is just fine for me with its rated line. Rod makers make rods from “wet noodles” up to “broom sticks” because each of us is looking for something unique that will fit OUR style. Not surprising, we are all RIGHT with our decisions. Life is about choices and I’m really glad we have them. Can you imagine how boring it would be if we were all the same?!?!? Yaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn.
Joe
Hey…I ain’t going to send it to you without a check in return. :lol:
Besides, I think the thread subject was line for stated rod wt.
In order to sell new rods evey year, rod companys are obliged to make “improvements”. The results tend to be rods with increasingly higher modulus.
The higher modulus allows these rod to be lighter in the hand and recover faster in the casting stroke.
Take a modern high modulus out in the back of a fly shop and most folks will try to cast to the next county
If it will accomplish such a feat it is deemed a superior rod and the manufacturer and retailer is allowed to charge accordingly.
If ever anyone would try to make a good roll cast with such a rod instead of casting to the moon, they might find how that particular rod might work in actual fishing conditions.
If such a rod won’t roll cast with the recommended line weight, the buyer has been duped or at least mislead
A month or two ago someone here on FAOL mentioned he was buying a short, fast action, small stream rod.
I’m thinking that person is in for a rude awakening
a little more than $.02
Hey it weren’t me heh…heh…but I did buy a 7’ med-fast supposedly…haven’t able to check it out and a 6’ medium and a 6 1/2’ fiberglass all on E-Bay. No doubt one will shine.
My wife says I have $8 to spend today. Is that enough? :oops: I didn’t think it would be.
Recheck my comments, as I did stick to the thread subject:
I overline one of the rods and get the performance I wish from the rod, which is probably different than the performance you may seek, and the 7wt is just fine for me with its rated line.
Joe
Is that a recent event or was it the same 6 yrs ago.
It doesn’t really matter…I believe you JC…not that you’d care…more about my limitations.
My wife says I have $8 to spend today. Is that enough? :oops: I didn’t think it would be.
Recheck my comments, as I did stick to the thread subject:
I overline one of the rods and get the performance I wish from the rod, which is probably different than the performance you may seek, and the 7wt is just fine for me with its rated line.
Joe[/quote]
So be it…May the Force be with you!
I find that most rods seem to perform best over the widest range of conditions with the rated line. Of my 3 dozen rods, I do have one, a Fly Logic that I won in a raffle, that I just do not like with the rated line, or even one wt heavier. It is great with a LC-13 shooting head though.
Some anglers will buy a particular rod for a reason other than its casting parameters because they are in search of some other important characteristic, such as a strong butt section with good lifting characteristics. They will then match a line to it that they are comfortable casting. Of my four 10wts, one of them is clearly better in the vertical slug fest game that you often get into with pelagic and large reef species. Though I use a 10wt line with it, many people that I know preferred an 11wt.
There are some fishing situations where an advantage may be gained by uplining. I have never fished for tarpon myself, but I have encountered many anglers, including ‘professionals’ that upline by one in anticipation of taking short range shots where the entire head of the line may not be outside the rod tip. Many heavier line wt rods load optimally with 40 or more feet of the rated line extended. If you have 30 feet of line out, you may benefit buy uplining.
I fish quite a bit for bass and panfish from a float tube where my casts are often 15-20 feet, sometimes less, including leader. I will often upline by one or two weights, some times even three, so that I can load the rods and deliver the fly with only 7-12 ft of line extended. I have also fished in some tight conditions, such as for bass in narrow channels on the lower colorado river where there is little room to extend a back cast. Again, I will be casting a very short line and upline the rod to assist with the cast. In these situations, I usually have a second rod handy rigged with rated line for longer casts.
But by and large, I find that most rods work for me over the widest range of conditions with the rated line.
I do think that many anglers buy a certain rod because it is the newest hottest offering, or good reviews, or they just want to be seen with that rod, but they are not very good casters and feel that they need to upline. I have run into a good number of novices that have puchased a Sage XP, or Xi2, or TFO TiCR, or Loomis Crosscurrent GLX to cite some examples, but could not cast these rods effectively and uplined to ‘compensate for the rod’. But also, many anglers buy rods without trying them first. There are a lot of people out there that do not have the opportunity to try before buying. It can get expensive to order rods to test cast then pay to ship them back. So they make a puchase and then may end up using a line other than the rated line. In either example has the angler purchased the ‘wrong’ rod. Well, maybe. In the end, what probably matters most is that they are satisfied with the rig they have.
So I guess this results in the question. If adding a heavier line only results in a slower rod. Is a designated slow rod for a heavier line the same rod as a fast one designated for a lighter line? That seems to be the only question that keeps popping up in my head on all these uplined thread and their responses.
Personally I don’t like a fast rod for fishing whether it is down lined, correctly lined, or uplined. It just doesn’t feel right. I think that the different line situation has more to do with how a rod flexes than where a rod flexes.
I have an Orvis high modulus tip flex 6 wt that I originally bought for big water where I needed to make 60 to 80 foot casts. It worked well. I could throw long all day because the rod was light. Then I started using it on smaller streams for 20-30 foot casts and it didn’t load well. Felt like there was no line on it. I mounted a reel with 7 wt line and it casts and feels much better on these smaller streams. This rod gives me the ability to fish big water and smaller streams with the same rod by just changing lines (or reels and lines). You could buy a rod with less modulus (sometimes cheaper) for the smaller stream and use the stiffer one on bigger streams just as easily.
Turns out the proper load for a rod is both a function of the mass of the line and the distance you throw it the majority of the time. I think LF had an article on this sometime back.
And some people pay big bucks (as opposed to cheaper)to go softer and finer. It’s called bamboo.
or, they pay less to go softer and finer (i.e. older glass)…or pay the same to go softer and finer (i.e. newer glass–Steffen, McFarland, etc.)…like what i just did, ordered a Steffen…
~Randy
I guess it’s a matter of how much line can be carried outside the rod tip before things start to fall apart due to a caster’s mechanics. Poor mechanics = less line carried = more weight to load the rod.
For deep water wading in saltwater, blind casting all night long, using big flies, and where you often get strikes at your feet after a follow, I typically go up 1 using a 10 WF on a 9 wt Sage RPLX (fast action) to minimize false casts.
It’s common practice in the NE to go up 2 wts for shooting heads in saltwater and I believe some manufacturers (RIO ?) actually now label their shooting heads that way so that a labelled 9wt SH actually has the weight of an 11. To make things more complicated, I know a few folks that go up two weights and swear by reversing the shooting heads on loomis rods.
For trout and steelhead, I use whatever WF is rated for the rod.
I’ve heard rumors that some line manufacturers have also been going up in weights on the actual lines to make them easier to cast.
That said, some real sharpies often under weight lines because they can generate enough line speed to carry lots of line in their false casts.
Sight fishing for Tarpon, if you don’t do it often can be very difficult. Typically you stand in the bow of a skiff holding the fly in your left hand, with leader and 2-3 feet of fly line out of the rod tip. Once a fish is spotted, you whip the fly out of your hand behind you, false cast once, shoot on the back cast, and shoot to the fish. Most guides don’t have a problem shooting the whole line. For a lot of us mortals, the need for a quick cast, dealing with wind, larger flies and a case of the willies at the sight of a school of 6’ black shapes coming at you, stepping up 1 weight may be a big help. More false casts at that point generally = more problems. Less of an issue if you’re blind casting into channels and stuff where you can be a little more “River Runs Through It” about the false casting.
Just my $ .02
peregrines
A fast rod is one that initially bends in the upper 1/3 of the blank,a fast rod is not always a STIFF rod.
A high modulus graphite construction does not mean a fast stiff rod. Examples are the discontinued Sage SPL series,Graphite IV and soft slow actions, the new Sage TXL is the latest greatest graphite and lay up,also a slower rod.
Uplining a rod or overlining will not make a rod slower in action,the action will not change,you just bend the rod deeper when casting a heavier line. A fast action stays a fast action,for a given load the rod will initially bend in the upper 1/3 of the blank.
Lines are manuf and labeled to AFTMA standards,the first 30ft less the level tip,I do not know of any line manuf. who will label a line then go up two line weights over the label. If you consider the longer belly lines which are very popular,then consider the weight the entire 38-40ft of head,yes, you may find an 8wt line will become a 9wt or 10wt at 40ft. Rio does label some lines (Outbound for example) with a grain weight for the entire 40+ft head,this may be confusing some FF.
Overline vs. Underline is all about your casting style and it depends upon what you are trying to accomplish. A large wind resistant fly medium distances = overline,maximum distance in the wind = underline (with back cast of 45-50ft) now you are loading the rod the same as 30ft of back cast with overline. I like the Steelhead lines with 65ft heads for this application.
Experiment,it is great fun and interesting how your casting will improve under tough conditions.
Regards,
FK