[pcknshvl]

This is probably a lot simpler than it seems, but here's my confusion:
(And Jack, I know you'll be chiming in...)

The optimal grain-rating for the Torridge is 310. I cast the Torridge all morning last Saturday with two shooting-head set-ups that Jack provided. I don't know their weight. The heavier head worked better for me, though I had a little trouble over-heading it (but that is likely an operator issue, not the line).

Later, I put the Hardy Mach 1 8/9 line on and overhead that. I also found it to be a little light for spey casting. I discovered today that the head weight is 474 grains! What gives?

The only thing I can think of is that the grain-weight of the Hardy line is distributed over a 54' head, which may be longer than the shooting heads Jack provided, and thus made it feel a little light when spey casting (especially if I had some of the head still on the rod, which may have been the case). Over-head casting is a different beast, and the rod didn't feel over-loaded to me at all.

I guess my question is: why didn't the rod feel overloaded, even though the grain-rating exceeded the recommended by by 164 grains?

Otherwise, the rod is great, the lines cast great, and my casting improved quite a bit over the last time.

Thanks!

Tom

 

[juro]

Hi Tom -

Your speculation is correct, the longer and more tapered the head section the more grains a given rod can comfortably move. To get a better sense of this range you could check out Simon's charts on the Rio site and look at the range in grains over the recommended lines for a given rod as the head gets longer.

So in summary, the grain range for a rod is not one number per se but a range of numbers depending on the line configuration.

Hope things are well BTW

 

[Dana]

another wrinkle

line ratings for a given rod are really a subjective thing. One person (or a small group) mess around with a rod and determine the line weight best suited for it; or a rod is designed for a particular weight range and then tweaked until it works best for that range according to the "feel" preferences of the rod designer/testers. Afterwards anglers play around with a rod and come up with what feels right for them.

A rod's line rating is a guide. In most cases you can move up or down by a line weight (in some cases 2) and still be fine. The standardization of spey line weight ratings and eventually rod weight ratings will help in this, but in the end it will be individual casters who will make the final determinations.