Do you love big bluegill?

2wt rod/line

For a 2wt rod, will I need a 2wt line? I want a floating panfish line but i'm not sure about what size i need.

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Permalink Reply by Ray Ditzenberger on June 17, 2013 at 7:12am

David has laid out a lot of great info for you. Lining a flyrod is a very personal thing.....Books have been written about it. You are just getting started and probably have little interest in history. I sure didn't as a young man. .....When I started into this game rods were labeled in 3 ways. 1:line weight number designation 2: Letter designation 3: No designation.....All lines were silk and the letters were the diameter measures of the line and if you wanted a line to float you 'greased it". Ungreased and you had a sinker. The industry was just starting to make the coated lines that we use today but were very poor by todays standards. This is when the number system came into being but many rods were unlabeled and in general the rod length indicated the probable line required but was not a black and white indicator. Anglers were pretty much on thier own choosing the best line for any given rod and It was very confusing for us begginers. No experiance, no guidelines, and nobody to guide you. The only savior was that the choices were far less than today. 6,7, and 8wt rods were the norm and anything lighter or heavier were fairly rare birds. I doubt that a 2wt even existed, rod or lines. 5wt glass was rare.

Most rods will cast fairly well with 3 different lines. Each individual will prefer one of these 3 lines though there are exceptions. I have a 6' 2wt that I prefer a 4 or even a 5wt line on. For me it feels dead to me with a 2wt line. Choosing a line for a rod is confusing for an experianced angler let alone a begginer and mostly because there is no definate answer. Some rods I use the recommended line and others I either underline or overline and in some cases by more than one line wt..

To further the confusion, the rod and line manufacturers appear to be not following the weight guidelines set up by thier own industry. I suppose this is for marketing reasons. The best way to line a rod is to frequent a flyshop that will allow you to try a line before buying and see what works best for you. If you are not fortunate enough to have access to such a shop I would suggest you start with the suggested line and I am sure it will be more than serviceable until you gain more experiance and can better determine your requirements

As a begginer it makes no difference if you are using a $2000 or $30 rod and other than looks, you can't discern the difference. Same with golf clubs. Start with a $25 used set and play 3 times a week for a year and then you MIGHT be able to figure out what kind of clubs you really need but I doubt it.

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Permalink Reply by DAVID L EITUTIS on June 17, 2013 at 9:44am

OUTSTANDING REPLY RAY!!!!!! I will through my two cents in on Shorter lighter Glass rods. You are definately right about the rarity issue of this class of rods. I don't know why when Shakespeare first named their " Panfish Specials" back in 1958 or so instead of something like Thin water trout specials or some such thing. These rods in the 910 series or later series were all basically the same rod , just different colored wraps etc. The 1245 Panfish Specials were first made in 1958 I believe and were all wrapped in green on the Snow White blade. These are my personal favorites and have some that now reside with my youngest son.
The later 910 series wrapped in the burgandy and black tipping were made through the 60's and are the same as the 1245's . Purist wrapped 910's were made late 60's through the early 70's and all three of these models are absolute joys to cast with 5 weight forward floating line . The only bad thing about these rods are availability for those who look for em. I've seen new in the tube ones go for over $300 . It is all supply and demand as with anything. I 'm very lucky to still have 3 or more here.
Short ones in glass are rare to be sure and there were several others out there worth mentioning like the glass Leonards and others and some ooooooooooooold Orvis glass. They are both real pricey ...........

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Permalink Reply by Ray Ditzenberger on June 17, 2013 at 11:39am

In about 70' I ran onto a Heddon 6.5' 5wt and I scarfed it up. They also had a 7' version. I wished I had scarfed it up too but I wasn't smart enough. It is the only 2 5wts I saw for many years until the graphites became popular. My Heddon got broken and I fixed it but it was not the same rod after that and I have recently passed it to my granddaughter to learn on. I put a Medalist 1494 on it so it should take all the abuse that she may dish out for a few years. I do have a buddy visit once in a great while and he uses a UL spinning outfit. I just ordered one of the 7' EC featherweights so I can put him on fly rod too. I think he will really enjoy it. Most of my adult life was spent in east central Indiana which is not exactly a flyfishing mecca and I have never seen one of the Shakespeare rods you discussed let alone cast or fished one. ''

I always have lots of stories......Many years ago a small group of us make the 4 hour drive to Chicago for thier sports show at McCormick Place. There was a small vendor there that built custom rods and they were building them on site. I was ogleing thier activities and one of the fellas ask me if I wanted to try one of thier rods which was one of the early graphites. The first I had ever seen. They had a casting pond setup across the isle and the guy pressured me up on the casting platform and I wanted to carry that high dollor rod home. I was casting out the end of the pond with no problem and I was not a great caster. It was at least and 8' rod and carried a 6line. That rod was over $200 but i was in love and almost took the plunge. Still kinda wished I had but there would have been hell to pay when I got home. I was used to paying $30 for rods.