Presentation

[theartoflee]

I ended up getting out for a bit last night to Barnes & Noble and read an interesting book. The book was called "Presentation" By Lefty Kreh it seemed like the book was a little older book however none of the information published seemed dated. I will more then likely end up adding this book to my collection at some point.

One chapter of particular interest to me was a chapter on fly lines and presentation. In the chapter they discuss the act of over lining rods i.e. using one line heavier on rods. That to me was/is nothing new however lefty says all modern fly rods can handle three line weights. I found that information interesting. Lefty goes on to say all modern rods can throw one line weight lighter, the fly rods actual designated line and one line weight heavier.

Has anyone intentionally experimented with fishing one line weight lighter? I found the advantages of underlining a rod of particular interest.

 

[Karel]

I read the same thing somewhere else, I believe in one of the fly fishing/tying magazines that came out recently. I have never experienced with it though, but was thinking of trying it one of these days. One line weight is actually not much, especially if you think about how much weight shooting heads represent. I am sure I was overloading my 7wt with a 12ft long T14 custom made tip.... pain in the neck to cast but boy does it get the fly down.

-K

 

[NJDrew]

I would like to know this too, as Im thinking of changing my line soon.

 

[Matt Grobert]

I go one line weight higher on all my rods with the exception of my Winstons, which are medium action.

I find that it helps me to keep my timing right as I begin to work out line - initially, you start with a short line and the added weight helps me feel the rod load better even though there is not much line out. As I extend the line out, I find it easier to adjust my timing as I feel the rod loading more as the line extends.

Also, with few exceptions, I (and most of us I think) cast with relatively short line lengths the majority of the time. Even when I do make long casts, I generally only keep so much line in the air and shoot the remainder to get my distance. This works especially well on the Delaware where wind can be a problem when you try to maintain a lot of line in the air while false casting - the wind will kill you if you try this with a 5 weight. I find it easier to false cast a short to moderate length of line and then when the wind settles, shoot the rest to my target.

Matt ><)))))'>

 

[theartoflee]

I have over lined most of my fly rods for the salt and find it to help out quite a bit. My primary stick for trout at 9 1/2 foot 5wt has a GPX wf5 this line is a good compromise in my option as it is actually half a grain heavier a 5.5.

What i found very interesting is that in Presentation Left claims that going down on a windy day isnt necesaly a bad thing. The lighter line weight in his opinon has less resistance due to its smaller diamiter. I will be experimanting again with a lighter line weight soon and will let people know how it turns out.

My inital test was two years ago Salmon fishing on the Salmon river. I threw a 8wt. head on my BL5 but wasnt wild about it. I recently read about a place to get $8 factory second fly lines on this site. For $8 I dont think it will hurt too much to experiment.

Karel the T-14 is great stuff I throw it on my skagit line for my spey rod. If you are having difficulty casting it you may want to look into getting some T-8. I bought some by accident on a steelhead trip. The T-8 is suggested for all single hand rods 8wt and lower and can get the fly in the zone well.

 

[stumpy]

Never tried underlining, but tend to overline occasionally to load the rod quicker on short casts. BTW,I've bought lines from the $8 website, and had suprisingly good results- you'll really have to look to find the "second" section on the line, and it's a great way to check out a type of line you're unfamiliar with, in my case, I'd never tried a sink tip, prefering weighted flies to get down, but now I see the advantage, though it may take some time to get used to casting it. The line I got was a well known brand that usually goes for $60 or more.

 

[theartoflee]

Stumpy you were the one I found out about the deal from. I got a four weight line and love it however have no idea as to what type of line it is.

How did you manage to find out what model line it was that they sent you? I will post the link later after I end up purchasing a few 5wt wf, 4wt DT and 3wt. WF. Cant argue with $8 a line and to find out their was no charge for shipping was icing on the cake.

 

[LehighRegular]

artoflee

I tried to IM/PM you but the site wouldn't let me. shoot me an email at
druckenmiller@thelehighriver.org

 

[rckrego]

I have heard of people underlining with weight forward lines on some of their rods, and overlining with double taper lines on others. I only overline my rods over 9 feet with weight forward. Turns them into slingshots hahaha. Prsumably, the overline with the DT is to make up for lost distance with the taper while still reaping the benefits of its presentation ability? Not sure what underlining would do. Maybe it would give a slower action rod a faster action? I will experiment. I'll throw my 3 wt. reel and line on my 4 wt. rod. (Though I don't know if this will count since it is a TT and that's like over lining).

 

[Pete]

.....Not sure what underlining would do. ....

One reason to underline is to load the rod properly while making long casts with a lot of extra line in the air.

This would be more critical with a double taper that doesn't "shoot" as well as a weight forward line. You'd be more likely to have more line in the air, and the heavier weight/foot might overload the rod if it was heavier.

Conversely, if you're going to make mostly short casts, overlining may be desirable to load the rod properly.

 

[stumpy]

How did you manage to find out what model line it was that they sent you? I will post the link later after I end up purchasing a few 5wt wf, 4wt DT and 3wt. WF. Cant argue with $8 a line and to find out their was no charge for shipping was icing on the cake.

I got lucky, the line they sent had a tag on it, telling which end went to the reel, and there was a logo on the tag, leading me to the mfg. From there, I just looked up the product line, and figured out which line it was. I don't know if that's the case with all their lines, but it was with mine.

 

[NJDrew]

I got lucky, the line they sent had a tag on it, telling which end went to the reel, and there was a logo on the tag, leading me to the mfg. From there, I just looked up the product line, and figured out which line it was. I don't know if that's the case with all their lines, but it was with mine.

Stumpy, What website are you ordering the lines from?

 

[Scott]

I've under/over lined frequently. The value is adapting a rod to the way you fish, or to adapt to a particular situation. For example, I had a 7.5' 5wt which had a moderate action. I used a Wulff TT 4wt WF line on it with excellent results, as it allowed the rod to recover faster and firmed up the action.

I also underlined a 6wt with 5wt line, which was only useful on very long casts. It would have been a lot more useful if I could double haul worth a :shit:. However, it was very difficult to make short casts without powering the rod and forcing it to load.

When it's all said & done I've come to the conclusion that the best thing is to find a rod that suits your casting style with the line it's rated for.

The ability to under/over line does allow you to increase the versatility of your rod in many different fishing conditions.