# Matching reel to rod



## William Sykes (May 26, 2017)

I have 4fly rod and reels combinations all matched by weight beginning with12 wt.down to 8wt.I have always matched rod to reel to line however my fishing partner uses a 7wt.rod equipped with a ultralight 5wt reel and 6wt fly line with impressive results.Is his un orthodox system used by other fly fisherman.This equipment is used for seatrout and redfish inshore exclusively.


----------



## crc01 (Oct 28, 2016)

It's all about balance. Match the weight and characteristics of your rod with a reel that's the correct weight to optimize it. Same thing goes for line.


----------



## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

Not unorthodox to over/under line a rod for certain applications. Reel size also varies a lot by fisherman preference. If it is a trout/slot red rod, he probably doesn't need much backing so putting on a small ultralight reel isn't crazy at all. Under lining the 7 wt rod with 6 wt line would make for a delicate presentation with a little extra fighting power. While I would say he has dialed in his own "custom" setup, its not too far fetched. What you want to stay away from is over/under lining a rod to compensate for poor casting. When you say "impressive" results, what exactly do you mean? A good caster should be able to match a rod with the designated line weight and get full performance out of the rod.


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Keep in mind that with rods and lines these days the specs are all over the place. Lines are frequently substantially heavier than they're supposed to be with varying tapers. And there are plenty of rods which are so fast & stiff that they feel like a heavier weight.

So often times you've got to tinker with line & rod combinations.


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

William Sykes said:


> I have 4fly rod and reels combinations all matched by weight beginning with12 wt.down to 8wt.I have always matched rod to reel to line however my fishing partner uses a 7wt.rod equipped with a ultralight 5wt reel and 6wt fly line with impressive results.Is his un orthodox system used by other fly fisherman.This equipment is used for seatrout and redfish inshore exclusively.


What is the rod and line?

You can take a slower 7wt and cause it to be faster by underlining it with a 6wt line, or a slightly heavier 6wt line, like Pierson is referring to. This may be the case, or the 6wt line could in-fact have the weight as normal 7wt lines.

The light 5wt reel will just cause the rod to feel stiffer and therefor not flex the rod as much, thereby causing a softer rod to feel even faster/stiffer. I sometimes recommend going to a heavier reel on rods that feel a little too stiff or fast for some people that is not use to casting those kind of rods. The heavier reel acts like a counter balance and thereby causes the rod to flex a bit more, allowing you to feel the rod load a little better. So your buddy is doing just the opposite.

So I'm guessing the rod is an older rod and/or has a more parabolic bend to it than todays ultra fast rods.

Balance is not always about making the rod and reel balance on your finger (where the rod remains level), but how it balances throughout the swing. An example is with my 1st example where adding a heavier reel can cause a heavily weighted stiff rod to feel lighter on the swing and then the opposite where a light weight medium action rod, making it feel heavier and stiffer on the swing by lighting your counter balance (going to a lighter reel) and therefore, feeling faster/stiffer and even heavier on the swing.

Also uplining by putting on a heavier line and causing a stiffer rod to load easier and quicker and can help throw larger / heavier flies, but not at distances. But be cautious because the rod can be too over loaded and your loops will open up and collapse. The opposite would be underlining it (lighter line), causes a softer rod to feel faster, but you need more line out of your guides aerializing more in the air before you shoot it and sometimes gaining more distance, especially with bonefish type lines or what we use to call rocket tapers. But with that, you need to throw smaller flies since underlining it wouldn't throw your regular size flies. The drawl back can mean being harder to feel the rod load and sometimes not getting it to load period.

I've use this story before.... I picked up an 8wt TFO Axiom about 2 years ago to play with it and even fish it for mackeral and bonita. The rod was very light weight on the scale. It was a very fast rod, but it was also very stiff (took a lot to get it to bend) and therefore felt very heavy on the swing. I had a normal 8wt saltwater tapered line and I could hardly get the thing to load up. Finally, I threw on a 9wt line and the thing woke up and shot out line like a sling shot and found that it actually cause the rod to feel lighter on the swing. Same thing with a heavier 8wt fast sink line. The bottom line is, I found that rod's niche and what seem to balance it out.

Same thing with an old glass rod I had. I underlined it by 2 line weights and the thing casted more on par to how I liked to cast (airing lots of line with a faster stroke, instead of slowing way down and waiting for the rod tip to catch up with me).

So try it and you'll see what I'm talking about. It is possible to bring new life to a rod that you thought wasn't all that great.

One final thought.... There is no substitute for a very good fly line (or a great fly line for that matter). To me, it's more important than the reel (oh shit, I just stepped on some toes! ). 

Ted Haas


----------



## MTByrd (May 12, 2016)

Backwater said:


> What is the rod and line?
> 
> You can take a slower 7wt and cause it to be faster by underlining it with a 6wt line, or a slightly heavier 6wt line, like Pierson is referring to. This may be the case, or the 6wt line could in-fact have the weight as normal 7wt lines.
> 
> ...


Thanks Ted, that was well written and very helpful.


----------



## TheAdamsProject (Oct 29, 2007)

Ted, always good advice. The great thing about the fly community is we tend to have all kinds of equipment and happy to let people test and try. Reach out to fellow anglers, try different lines on different rods as everyone’s stroke is different. Just dont make things so complicated, as many tend to do. If you find a particular line and rod that works for you, run with it. I dont worry about rod/reel balance, if you cant handle an 8.5oz reel on an 8wt for maybe 100 casts a day, you need to pick a new sport. Be able to cast efficiently from 40-60ft and you will catch almost anything. I see too many guys who try to win a parking lot dick measuring contest and fumble on a tailing redfish at 60ft. Just food for thought.


----------



## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

Matching the line to the rod is *WAY *more important than matching the reel to the rod...at least in my opinion. 

Secondarily, matching your leader and fly to the line is more important than matching the reel to the rod.

In short...your delivery system is significantly more important than your drag 90% of the time.

Just my rather worthless $0.02...


----------



## crc01 (Oct 28, 2016)

crboggs said:


> Matching the line to the rod is *WAY *more important than matching the reel to the rod...at least in my opinion.
> 
> Secondarily, matching your leader and fly to the line is more important than matching the reel to the rod.
> 
> ...


I'd have to agree with this.


----------



## jonrconner (May 20, 2015)

I’d have to agree with what Ted said and especially the suspicion that the rod is probably an older model, or one meant for fresh water lines. Over the last twenty years SW rods have become much faster an more powerful and the line manufacturers have responded by making their lines heavier to make them easier to cast with the the more powerful rods creating a vicious circle of escalation. As an example I’ll use Wulff BTT lines gran weights, #5 -175gr, #6-200gr, #7-225gr, in contrast to AFTMA of 140gr, 160gr, 185gr respectively. The comparison makes it pretty easy to see that matching the numbers on a rod that was a FW model or one manufactured back when everyone was using standard weight lines would not match current overweight SW lines.
And crboggs, definitely all true.
JC


----------



## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

crboggs said:


> Matching the line to the rod is *WAY *more important than matching the reel to the rod...at least in my opinion.
> 
> Secondarily, matching your leader and fly to the line is more important than matching the reel to the rod.
> 
> ...


I think Ted is talking reel weight not drag quality. I think he is correct on the balance factor, but if you cast a lot total weight is also important at the end of the day.


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

sjrobin said:


> I think Ted is talking reel weight not drag quality. I think he is correct on the balance factor, but if you cast a lot total weight is also important at the end of the day.


Steve, believe it or not, I'm talking about the quality of reel, whereas, I find with "most" freshwater and inshore fishing, it's more important to have a very good quality fly line on a decent rod over having a high end reel. Think about it for a moment... If your can't get the fly to the fish and make a decent presentation to the fish, how will that big dolla reel even benefit you. Besides, how many SW TX slot reds or sea trout will get you more than 50yrds into the backing, using tippets over 10lb test? Not many? Maybe none.

Lord only knows how we manage to catch all those big fish, back in the day, with reels like click and pawl drags or palming the spool to put decent pressure on the fish, not to mention just hand lining them in with the fly line?  So we got-r-done anyhow! Yeah I like a good reel and drag like the next guy, especially with the big game fish and the speciality fish (i.e. the big 4 and the pelagics), but in the end with the normal stuff, the ole timers will tell you that aside from casting techniques, first importances is the rod, then the line and finally the reel. That has been my experience with it over the years. 

Ted


----------



## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

@sjrobin - True...but also how many of us who fly fish truly blind cast alot. I hardly ever blind cast these days. So a few ounces is negligible to me. Its definitely not a big enough factor to swing a purchasing decision. 

I'm in the market for a 10wt reel right now. Weight isn't even a factor on my radar. I'm way more concerned about durability and maintenance since it will be on a cobia (back up poon) rod.


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Chris,, you are missing a lot of fish not blind casting. But with a heavier reel, as long as you keep your casting elbow to your side, you should have a problem with heavier weighted reels, especially with the 10wt you are looking into getting..


----------

