Fly rod what line should I use

[Rbflyman]

After 26 yrs since my dad passed away I want to start fly fishing. I have his rod and reel but I have no clue what wt line to use. The rod is a Cummings custom made 7 ft FL. 170 that's all the marking there are on the rod. The reel is "The Gordon" 3 1/4 by Sharhe's of Aberdeen. Hope someone can help me out. Thank you

 

[joseywales]

If 3 1/4 oz is the "lure" weight, then that's probably a 5wt rod/reel combo. No way to tell without seeing it, but that's my guess. 5wt is a good all around trout rod, though you could go as low as 3wt or even 2.

My guess is that if it was his only rod, it's a 5wt that he picked up as an all-purpose rig.

 

[ryguyfi]

years ago most people fished with heavier weight rods. a 3 or 4 wt rod was very rare. I'd say the average weight rod from years ago was in the 6-7wt range. If you don't have the luxury of casting a few lines on it then wait for someone to respond to what size it is. I couldn't find it in a quick search.

 

[Swattie87]

Do you have a fly shop by you? I'm sure they'll have some reels spooled with different line weights for test casting. Test a few different line weights and see what feels right...I'm sure the guys at the shop will probably be able to get you pretty close (certainly within a +/- 1 line weight degree of accuracy) just by looking at the rod and getting a feel for it.

 

[Chaz]

OR take it to a fly shop and try a bunch of lines on it. Of course you have to find a fly shop first.

 

[osprey]

I'm betting , like me , most of us started out with a 5 or 6 weight and then refined things as we got more into it , in both directions. I'm gonna take the position that a DTF5 or 6 is where to start and then start saving your change in a Crown Royal bag.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I would suspect 6wt, just going off of the fact that every old rod that has been given to me by old timers have been short (6-7.5' in length) and heavy (5/6).

 

[moon1284]

That could be a very valuable rod if you have any thoughts about selling it I'm interested

 

[afishinado]

moon1284 wrote:
That could be a very valuable rod if you have any thoughts about selling it I'm interested

Looked up (Vince) Cummings custom fly rod:

http://gregrummo.net/gregrummo/vince_cummings.pdf


Try this place to find out more about your rod:

http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/

 

[bikerfish]

yeah, I'd ask over on the fiberglass board about that rod, take some pics of it and post them there, they will be able to tell you more about it. and yes, that rod could very well be quite valuable.

 

[shortrod]

The name on the reel should be "Sharpes". Here is a picture of a Sharpes "The Gordon" reel. If your reel looks like this one, my guess is that it was made by Hardy and you will be able to fish with it for the rest of your life and hand it down to your children. Sorry, I don't know anything about the rod.