how to match fly line to unknown fly rod weight

[Zeddediah]

my sister was given a fly rod without the fly line weight on the handle. How could I determine a good fly line for the rod with only a rod?

 

[afishinado]

Really, the only way to determine what line weight is proper for the rod is to test cast it with different line weights until you find the one that works best. My suggestion is to take it to a fly shop and test cast it using different lines.

 

[osprey]

You can learn to adjust your casting to accomodate just about any line weight but if you could give a little more info like length , stiffness (feel) etc. i bet we could narrow it down for ya.

 

[gfen]

it was made prior to 1987 its a 6wt.
it was made after 1987 its a 5wt.

 

[Zeddediah]

I went to http://www.flycastingforum.net/calib5.htm and followed one of Dr. Hoffman's experiments. It indicated roughly a 9 wt rod. Given the age of the rod, that sounds about right as many of the very old fiberglass rods at the cheaper end of the spectrum were in the 8 to 9 wt range. At least she has something to begin making a comparison to.