Mismatched rod and reel weights

[finkleton]

I’m a brand new fly-fisher so forgive the dumb question. That actually might be a generous description, I’m more like a spin-fisherman who listens to fly-fishing podcasts, trying to get my hands on some fly fishing gear on a budget.

A friend’s father generously gave me a rod and reel he no longer uses. It’s a 7 weight rod and a reel rated for 3-4 weight line. Does the line rating of a reel really matter? I’m hoping if I can buy myself a decent 7 weight line and a leader, this will at least get me out learning to cast before I drop money on a full outfit. I’m thinking the only concern is whether the line will fit on the reel, and maybe I can just skip the backing to account for this? I can’t imagine at this stage in my fishing career I’m going to run into a situation where I wish had backing. So far my most commonly caught species on spinning gear has been trees and sticks.

I’d love to hear if I’m totally wrongheaded on this, and why. I like to keep things simple and cheap in general, but I can tell there’s plenty about fly fishing that I still need to learn. Thanks.

[Bob Riggins]

Short answer is that no, the weight rating of the reel does not matter as far as casting is concerned. As you stated, the problem you will have is getting enough backing on the reel with a 7wt line. It depends on what you are fishing for. If you are catching fish that don’t make big runs, you will probably get away with it. You might also find the rod a little tip heavy with a smaller reel, but probably not enough to make a difference. I would suggest you get a decent 7wt line and use it on the reel you’ve got. You can upgrade to a better reel later on.

For what its worth, I usually oversize by reels, so if I have a 7wt rod, I will usually put an 8/9 wt reel on it. You get more backing capacity and larger diameter.

[Zach Matthews]

I agree with Bob. For fishing around a farm pond or in a smallmouth stream with a seven weight, the only thing the reel really does is hold line and balance out the rod. You should be able to put your finger on the front lip of your cork grip and balance the rod, with the line all on the reel and the unstrung rod on the other end. With too light a reel that may not work and as a result the rod can end up feeling top-heavy when you cast, but there’s an easy fix: lead tape. Just wind a little around the arbor of your reel and it should work out fine.

Alternatively (and this is what I would do), you could pick up a cheap bigger reel at Wal-Mart for like $15 and go from there. Something like this would work:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Martin-MLT63-Fly-Reel/16651715

Zach

[finkleton]

Bob and Zach, I appreciate the feedback. I hadn’t thought of the weight issue so I’ll have to see how it balances out. The oversized reel is an interesting option to keep in mind for the future. Seems like you’d get some of the same benefits of a larger arbor as well.
I’m glad to hear I can get out on the water with this setup and start learning.

p.s. Zach thanks for the blog and the podcast, I think that’s basically what got me so interested in fly fishing

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