Question:

Anyone using a fly line with sinking tip for nymphs or streamer fishing? If so, do you use weighted nymph? How long for the leader/tippet? In what circumstances should such lines be used? I have tested scientific angler class 3 and class 5 in a park near my home. Class 3 was hard to cast. Class 5 was very hard to cast. Comments and recommendation anyone?

I agree with the gentleman previous toi this thread. When you cast heavy line of any kind (above 7) the idea is to false cast NEVER, well maybe once if you have to. On the Roannoke in NC casting for those monster sex crazed stripers, I cast a seven wt with a fast sinker to get it down in the seams that would whip a weighted fly all over. The technique is to find  a pocket cast to the side, draw the line to the suface with a slow backcast, then just before the fly reaches the suface, load the rod by the surface tension of the water. even with this powerful back cast-not by the speed of it, but by loading the rod, you get the line in the air. Make your foreward cast count-and place your fly. If you back cast here, your line will drop,it s just too heavy. If you muff the cast, Start from the begining or suffer frustration. Good luck and tight lines! Thanks to Lefty for this tip, he deserves the credit. Steve

Response:

Leader length of 3 or 4 feet work well for me. Weight the nymph as you see appropriate. Most cases an unweighted nymph is best. Some flies seem to benefit from weight of some sort. Casting sink tips requires a more carefull, slower stroke, don’t hold too much line in the air and keep false casting to a minimum. Ralph H – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone using a fly line with sinking tip for nymphs or streamer fishing? If so, do you use weighted nymph? How long for the leader/tippet? In what circumstances should such lines be used? I have tested scientific angler class 3 and class 5 in a park near my home. Class 3 was hard to cast. Class 5 was very hard to cast. Comments and recommendation anyone?

Response:

Jean, Try the AirFlo Fast Sink or Intermediate Sink leaders.  They cast extremely well and the Fast Sink really takes the fly down.  I have been using one this week to cast small Clousers to shad in the Rappahannock and it is working beautifully.  I use a heavier, stiffer (regular monofilament) tippet and keep it to under 3 feet.  The AirFlo leader comes in a 10 foot length for Fast Sink.  If they have the 5 foot model out now it might be a good bet depending on where and what you are fishing.  Another handy thing is they handshake to a line loop and a surgeon’s knot on one end of the tippet. Makes swapping between floating and sinking a matter of seconds and changing tippets the same. Wayne To fish is human…to release divine. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone using a fly line with sinking tip for nymphs or streamer fishing? If so, do you use weighted nymph? How long for the leader/tippet? In what circumstances should such lines be used? I have tested scientific angler class 3 and class 5 in a park near my home. Class 3 was hard to cast. Class 5 was very hard to cast. Comments and recommendation anyone?

Response:

Anyone using a fly line with sinking tip for nymphs or streamer fishing? If so, do you use weighted nymph? How long for the leader/tippet? In what circumstances should such lines be used? I have tested scientific angler class 3 and class 5 in a park near my home. Class 3 was hard to cast. Class 5 was very hard to cast. Comments and recommendation anyone?

Response:

Question:

hello- the deschutes can be tricky. one suggestion is to try to get a elks hair caddis to the fish working in back eddies. unless you are in a boat it can be tough getting a good drift-

snip Fishing from a floating devise is illegal on the lower Deschutes (below Warm Springs which includes Madras). Jim Jones For e-mail reply replace spam with sns

Response:

Elkhairs caddis work most all the time down from Warm Springs thru Maupin. I really love PMDs in the summer.  Sometimes they hatch so thick they cover you with a carpet of wings! Always take a variety of other mayfly. When the water is low I love the stimmulators. Bill

Response:

Two things: 1. It’s illegal to fish from a boat (the regs say "any floating device supporting the angler", or some such, ruling out rafts, pontoons, float tubes, … as well). A boat has the advantage of allowing you to cover more river, and to get to places which are difficult to reach on foot. 2. In general, you’ll have better luck with caddis larvae and pupae than with adults. I like to fish soft hacles or emergent sparkle pupae during a hatch… Stu – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – hello- the deschutes can be tricky. one suggestion is to try to get a elks hair caddis to the fish working in back eddies. unless you are in a boat it can be tough getting a good drift- but if you can figure it out you will be rewarded. when nymphing be sure to get a drag free dead drift. i have only used floating lines on the deschutes so i can’t help with sinking line techniques. i’m pretty sure there is a flyshop in madras- you can ask them what nymphs are working best. in the past i have done well with an olive serendipity. be sure and be on the water at dusk- sometimes the fish go after the caddis flies and it can be a blast. greg

Response:

: hello- : the deschutes can be tricky. one suggestion is to try to get a : elks hair caddis to the fish working in back eddies. unless you : are in a boat it can be tough getting a good drift- but if you : can figure it out you will be rewarded. Ummm… perhaps I am mistaken, but I thought it was against the regs to fish from a boat on the Deschutes? — Rick T. Rick Fletcher   –   http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/~fletcher/ Associate professor of chemistry  |  That’s Idaho, not Iowa.    | ad hominem University of Idaho               |  Upper Left Hand Corner.    | ad hominem Moscow, ID 83844-2343             |  No, I don’t grow potatoes. | ad hominem

Response:

How do – Just wondering if anybody has some suggestions for working the Deschutes around Mecca Flats, in Eastern Oregon.  Dry vs Wet?  Floater vs sinker?  I’m relatively new to fly fishing, though no stranger to the NW river systems.  I was down there last weekend, and only brought in one trout.  I’m by no means discouraged, but want to file this away as a learning experience, and was wondering if any kind souls here could give an example of a ‘Deschutes Recipe for success’ for this time of year. I did have a great time, but it’s always better with more fish in the hand! Thanks, Adrian B.

Response:

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Md and Va saltwater licenses are recipocle (sp) — bob D&B Marine http://www.tqci.net/~dbmarine 888-535-BOAT Big Gunpowder Falls River in Maryland has some very nice Browns and Rainbows.  Lots of catch and release stretches.  There is a good fly shop in Monkton I will be relocating to the Washington, DC area next month and I would love to have any fishing info for the area (including Chesapeake Bay).  Bait shops for advice, public fishing areas, tackle choices, where to get a fishing license for Virginia/Maryland (do I need both states and fresh and saltwater?), time of year to catch certain fish.  I’ll take anything related please respond via e-mail Barry

I think you will find this helpful… <http://www.gmu.edu/bios/bay/links.htm

Response:

Big Gunpowder Falls River in Maryland has some very nice Browns and Rainbows.  Lots of catch and release stretches.  There is a good fly shop in Monkton

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I will be relocating to the Washington, DC area next month and I would love to have any fishing info for the area (including Chesapeake Bay).  Bait shops for advice, public fishing areas, tackle choices, where to get a fishing license for Virginia/Maryland (do I need both states and fresh and saltwater?), time of year to catch certain fish.  I’ll take anything related please respond via e-mail Barry

Response:

Md and Va saltwater licenses are recipocle (sp) — bob D&B Marine http://www.tqci.net/~dbmarine 888-535-BOAT – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Big Gunpowder Falls River in Maryland has some very nice Browns and Rainbows.  Lots of catch and release stretches.  There is a good fly shop in Monkton I will be relocating to the Washington, DC area next month and I would love to have any fishing info for the area (including Chesapeake Bay).  Bait shops for advice, public fishing areas, tackle choices, where to get a fishing license for Virginia/Maryland (do I need both states and fresh and saltwater?), time of year to catch certain fish.  I’ll take anything related please respond via e-mail Barry

Response:

I will be relocating to the Washington, DC area next month and I would love to have any fishing info for the area (including Chesapeake Bay).  Bait shops for advice, public fishing areas, tackle choices, where to get a fishing license for Virginia/Maryland (do I need both states and fresh and saltwater?), time of year to catch certain fish.  I’ll take anything related please respond via e-mail Barry

Response:

Check out worldwideangler.com or chesapeakeangler.com different name same site. Good luck

I will be relocating to the Washington, DC area next month and I would love to have any fishing info for the area (including Chesapeake Bay).  Bait shops for advice, public fishing areas, tackle choices, where to get a fishing license for Virginia/Maryland (do I need both states and fresh and saltwater?), time of year to catch certain fish.  I’ll take anything related please respond via e-mail Barry — Flyfish NC                                                   Gordon Churchill http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/3853                                                                    

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Question:

I have sold my tools and materials, now I am offering my books and magazines.  $35.00 + shipping takes all. "Expert Fly-Tying,"  Paul Fling & Donald Puturbaugh, 1986 "Favorite Flies and Their Histories," Mary Orvis Marbury, 1892 (1995 reprint) "Fly-Tyer Pattern Bible," 1985 "Creative Fly-Tying & Fly Fishing," Rex Gerlach, 1974 "Practical Flies & Their Construction," Lacey Gee & Erwin Sias, 1966 My homemade note book with appx. 675 patterns, most with color pictures "Fly Tyer"  Aug ‘84, Nov ‘84, Spring ‘85, Fall ‘85 "American Fly Tyer:"  Spring ‘86-Winter ‘87, most issues "American Angler & Fly Tyer"  Spring ‘88-Fall ‘90, most issues "American Angler"  jan’91-June ‘91 If interested, email Jim at the above email address

Response:

Thanks to all of you who responded.  I sold the books to the first e-mail response I received. Jim – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have sold my tools and materials, now I am offering my books and magazines.  $35.00 + shipping takes all.

Response:

Question:

On casting in the surf.. A long rod helps (I use a 9 1/2 foot 7 weight, a 10 footer would be better) and a stripping basket is a necessity.  I also tend towards pretty stout weighted eyes on streamers an lead-head charlies (Texas coast selection here) to keep the surf from knocking them around too much.  Be sure you hang around cuts through the bars even if you’re in the wash.. Good luck, Andy Schreckenghost

Response:

Anybody fly fish from the beach?  

There are two magazines, "Fly Fishing in Saltwater" and "Saltwater Fly Fishing", both have had articles on flyfishing from the beach.  There have also been articles detailing fly fishing from the California coast.  Fly Fishing in Saltwater also has a web site at: www.flyfishinsalt.com. While the site does not give all the information I would like about saltwater flyfishing, it is a good start.  Another web site is www.reel-time.com.  This is the Reel-Time, The Journal of Saltwater Fly fishing.  This is a pretty good site.  They have some good articles and an archive of articles that may just answer your fishing from the beach questions

Question:

I need to wash my Simms waders.  There are no fly shops where I live in Texas.  What is a good safe detergent to use on waders?                                 Chuck

Response:

I need to wash my Simms waders.  There are no fly shops where I live in Texas.  What is a good safe detergent to use on waders?                            Chuck

Hi Chuck I always use the same liquid soap I have for washing dishes, not the powder stuff for the dish washing maching.  Be sure to get the inside rinsed thoroughly or you can get a real bad rash when you wear them if the soap residue is not removed. Tight Lines Al Beatty BT’s Fly Fishing Products Bozeman, MT (96 catalog)

Response:

Question:

I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts. I’m real careful to push it onto the ferrule at a 90 degree and firmly twist it on. Is this common with 3-piece rods or am I just not putting the rod together properly. The bottom ferrule has never separated on me….but one of these times I’m going to get unlucky and lose the tip…. any advice???? Thanks in advance…..tight lines!!! John Applegate

Response:

I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts. I’m real careful to push it onto the ferrule at a 90 degree and firmly twist it on. Is this common with 3-piece rods or am I just not putting the rod together properly. The bottom ferrule has never separated on me….but one of these times I’m going to get unlucky and lose the tip…. any advice???? Thanks in advance…..tight lines!!! John Applegate

Why not give Winston a shout?  They are on the Web at http://flyfishers.com/winston.html They ought to be able to give some good recommendations. Regards          Rx F Fish "For Your Good Health, Fly Fish" URL=http://www.xnet.com/~rxffish

Response:

I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts. I’m real careful to push it onto the ferrule at a 90 degree and firmly twist it on. Is this common with 3-piece rods or am I just not putting the rod together properly. The bottom ferrule has never separated on me….but one of these times I’m going to get unlucky and lose the tip…. any advice???? Thanks in advance…..tight lines!!! John Applegate

I would occasionally have a tip section loosen up on me too (different brand rod though). When I started waxing my ferrules to keep them in good shape and the loosening problem went away as a bonus.  Good luck! August Kristoferson http://www.eskimo.com/~augustk

Response:

I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts…

John — Wash the ferrules with a dishwashing detergent.  Rinse well and dry with paper towels.  After that try not to touch them with your fingers.   Good luck. -Ande Rychter

Response:

I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts. I’m real careful to push it onto the ferrule at a 90 degree and firmly twist it on. Is this common with 3-piece rods or am I just not putting the rod together properly. The bottom ferrule has never separated on me….but one of these times I’m going to get unlucky and lose the tip…. any advice???? Thanks in advance…..tight lines!!! John Applegate

Try some paraffin or candle wax to lubricate the ferrule. If that doesn’t work I would send it back to Winston with a note. William Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’v had the top section of my Winston 3-piece 8 1/2 – 4wt. come off twice during casts. I’m real careful to push it onto the ferrule at a 90 degree and firmly twist it on. Is this common with 3-piece rods or am I just not putting the rod together properly. The bottom ferrule has never separated on me….but one of these times I’m going to get unlucky and lose the tip…. any advice???? Thanks in advance…..tight lines!!! John Applegate Try some paraffin or candle wax to lubricate the ferrule. If that doesn’t work I would send it back to Winston with a note. William Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA

Even if it does work, send it back to Winston as soon as you can.  Damn thats a Winston, not a Cortland!  They’d be mortified to even hear about this thread on the net!!! jg

Response:

Question:

As a promotional offering we are giving away blueblock sunglasses FREE! These glasses have the same type of lenses as the BLUEBLOCKERS(r) sold on TV for over $19.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. These glasses are GREAT for sports activities! You’ll find us at: http://www.flanet.com/~coolshad How can we do this? We are basically trying to attract attention to our new web site, and we are convinced you will like our more upscale glasses enough to make the "loss leader" worthwile for us. Give it a try!

Response:

As a promotional offering we are giving away blueblock sunglasses FREE! These glasses have the same type of lenses as the BLUEBLOCKERS(r) sold on TV for over $19.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. These glasses are GREAT for sports activities! You’ll find us at: http://www.flanet.com/~coolshad

You Orvis people will stop at nothing…

Response:

Has anybody ordered these? Let’s hear a report.

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writes: You Orvis people will stop at nothing…

That’s a bad wrap!  Orvis has nothing to do with it.                                         Dan Dan Gracia                                                               Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools If you kill that big fish you can’t catch ‘em again.  So what if they eat other fish?  If you kill the big ones there will only be little ones left (funny how that works!).

Response:

Question:

Before the present day method of line nomenclature (e.g. WT5, DT6…etc..) there was a different way to describe line weights and types. Does anyone have details on the old system? I run across old lines and rods and would like to know exactly what I am looking at.

Response:

Bruce Richards from Scientific Anglers has written a short book on Modern Fly Lines as part of Lefty Kreh’s Little Library of Fly Fishing.  It has a biref section (pp. 32-37) on standardization of fly line weights, including a translation table. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Before the present day method of line nomenclature (e.g. WT5, DT6…etc..) there was a different way to describe line weights and types. Does anyone have details on the old system? I run across old lines and rods and would like to know exactly what I am looking at.

Response:

Try McClaines Fishing Encyclopedia, I think he has a run down on this subject. Phil

Response:

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just don’t understand any logical reason for the way "sizes" are determined. A 7 wt. rod is lighter than a 9 wt. rod. OK. A 4 wt. line is smaller than a 5 wt. line, but a size 10 hook is smaller than a size 6 hook. A 10 pound test line is stronger than an 8 pound test line, but a 5x tippet is stronger (larger) than a 7x tippet. I don’t understand. Maybe I am just looking for too much logic. A lot of the things that we do are a matter of convention. To tighten something, you turn it to the right, to loosen it, you turn it to the left. To turn on the water, you turn the handle to the left and to turn it off, you turn it to the right. The size with the larger number is the larger size. These are things that are pretty well established.  They follow a logical order of uniformity. (I know there are exceptions). I would think that there would be some order to fishing gear ’sizes’. Maybe there is and I just don’t understand it. There must be at least one person out there that understands the "system". Please explain it to those of us who aren’t smart enough to figure it out on our own.

Boy am I rusty on this, but I will give a quick note on what I can rember, which will be mostly pointers to directions rather than simple answers.  The idea of smaller size being a larger number can most easily be explained with sandpaper sizes.  A 100 grit paper is made of grains of sand that are 1/100 inch in diameter.  An 80 grit has 1/80 inch, and a 200 grit has 1/200 inch grains of sand.  A similar thing happens in bullet sizes.  A 22 caliber bullet is 0.22 (or 22 hundredths’) of an inch, a 45  caliber bullet is 0.45 inches in diameter.  Many old style sizes are fractions, and the size is actually the top or bottom number of a fraction where everyone once agreed to keep the other side constant.  I beleive that hook sizes are based on the diameter of the wire used to make them by some old convention like this.   There was once a specified proportion for the size of the gap and length for a given wire size.  Today many people re-invent the scale to accomodate their own idea of what would be a better product, so a Mustad #8 is not the same as a Tiemco #8. . For rod size, the number refers to the weight of line that is required to give the right amount of flex to the rod for casting.  The weight is measured in grains, and the number is proportional to that weight.  Who uses grains to measure any more, and how you convert that to pounds or AFTMA line weight I don’t know anymore.  For tippet size, their are 3 measures that I am familiar with; "x", pound test, and diameter.  Diameter is measured in thousandths of an inch with a micrometer and is expressed as "0.020" or something.  It is very logical and dependable, but not very useful.  Pound test is more useful, ans is measured as the static weight (not bounced) required to break the line.  Finally, "x" is an archaic measure left over from the days when tippets were made of horse hair, and I don’t remember exactly what it refers to, but it supposedly made sense back then (horse sense if you will) and is pretty meaningless today. . Good luck Lenny . .

Response:

Thread and tippet sizes are purely arbitrary.  In the past somebody(s) decided that a particular thickness of thread was size 0 – greater thicknesses have larger numbers, up to a point, where letters take over.  Thinner threads don’t have letters, but use 1/0, 2/0, 3/0…, indicating "below zero" in thickness.  I suppose that had this been done in the more technological twentieth century we could have used negative numbers or actual thicknesses.  Tippets are similar, with the 1x, 2x,.. indicating greater amounts below some arbitrary 0x thickness.

I believe that there is a historical reason that larger tippet sizes are used for thinner tippets.  Originally tippets were made from silk. To reduce the diameter of the tippet it was drawn through progressively smaller dies until the desired thickness was acheived.  0x was the original tippet size without any thinning (.011"). When a tippet had been forced through a die to reduce the size 5 times, it was 5x tippet with a diameter .005" smaller than the original diameter.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just don’t understand any logical reason for the way "sizes" are determined. A 7 wt. rod is lighter than a 9 wt. rod. OK. A 4 wt. line is smaller than a 5 wt. line, but a size 10 hook is smaller than a size 6 hook. A 10 pound test line is stronger than an 8 pound test line, but a 5x tippet is stronger (larger) than a 7x tippet. I don’t understand. Maybe I am just looking for too much logic. A lot of the things that we do are a matter of convention. To tighten something, you turn it to the right, to loosen it, you turn it to the left. To turn on the water, you turn the handle to the left and to turn it off, you turn it to the right. The size with the larger number is the larger size. These are things that are pretty well established.  They follow a logical order of uniformity. (I know there are exceptions). I would think that there would be some order to fishing gear ’sizes’. Maybe there is and I just don’t understand it. There must be at least one person out there that understands the "system". Please explain it to those of us who aren’t smart enough to figure it out on our own.

I understand your confusion.  There are many different "weights" and "sizes" to become familiar with.  The ones you mentioned can be broken down into two categories: 1) based on an absolute meaurement 2) based on a dimensionless "scale" Fly line weights are in the first category, being based on the actual weights of the first thirty feet, I believe, of the line in grains.  Test weights are in the first category, based on actual pull strengths of the line in pounds.  Different physical characteristics, but the numbers are based on some physical measurements, made further confusing by different units. Thread and tippet sizes are purely arbitrary.  In the past somebody(s) decided that a particular thickness of thread was size 0 – greater thicknesses have larger numbers, up to a point, where letters take over.  Thinner threads don’t have letters, but use 1/0, 2/0, 3/0…, indicating "below zero" in thickness.  I suppose that had this been done in the more technological twentieth century we could have used negative numbers or actual thicknesses.  Tippets are similar, with the 1x, 2x,.. indicating greater amounts below some arbitrary 0x thickness.  Of course, to make things more confusing, hook sizes go the opposite way with 1/0, 2/0,… meaning asending sizes above the "0" size hook. Actually there is no "0" size hook, it just goes … 4, 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0… Mark Miller

Response:

I just don’t understand any logical reason for the way "sizes" are determined. A 7 wt. rod is lighter than a 9 wt. rod. OK. A 4 wt. line is smaller than a 5 wt. line, but a size 10 hook is smaller than a size 6 hook. A 10 pound test line is stronger than an 8 pound test line, but a 5x tippet is stronger (larger) than a 7x tippet. I don’t understand. Maybe I am just looking for too much logic. A lot of the things that we do are a matter of convention.

I have wondered about this myself.  Things that are measured in "gauges" seem to be counter-intuitive:  larger numbers are smaller sizes.  Hooks, leader, wire, sheet metal, and nails are all sized this way.  Does anyone know the history behind this measuring convention? To tighten something, you turn it to the right, to loosen it, you turn it to the left. To turn on the water, you turn the handle to the left and to turn it off, you turn it to the right.

This one I can explain.  Think of the faucet handle as a screw cap, which it essentially is.  To turn on the water, you must loosen the screw, and thus turn in to the left.  Turn to the right, or tighten down, to close it and turn off the water. — Hewlett Packard Co.                         Fort Collins, Colorado       "Midnight shakes the memory as a madman shakes a dead geranium."                                             – T.S. Eliot

Response:

Actually, I believe the "X" referred to the number of times a strand of silkworm gut, the old "gut" leader, was drawn through a die to size the material.  Each time the material was drawn through the die, the diameter became smaller since the material was somewhat elastic.  Given the variation in quality from one piece of material to another, the diameter of the material provided a more consistant measuring methodology than lb. test for that particular material.                                                           Mike in PDX                "When the trout are lost, smash the state."                                            Tom McGuane

Response:

<Size/number ordering systems Both hook and tippet size-numbering systems derive from the old needle/hookmaker sizing scheme. Today, this sizing scheme is still carried in the wire trade. A size (gauge) 12 wire is thicker than a size (gauge) 14 and so in. Just be glad we never opted for a denier system! JL 8-Wt Editor

Response:

I have wondered about this myself.  Things that are measured in "gauges" seem to be counter-intuitive:  larger numbers are smaller sizes.  Hooks, leader, wire, sheet metal, and nails are all sized this way.  Does anyone know the history behind this measuring convention?

Ummm, not to be a pain, but the last time I looked in my bags a 16d (penny) nail was roughly 1 1/2 times as large as an 8d. I seem to remember hearing that the size of nails was based on the weight/cost of a fixed number of them, but don’t quote me on it. Also the size of a 16d sinker is different from that of a 16d box. Back to the real topic now… Steve

Response:

Paul, Hook sizes were derived from the needle makers of Redditch in the UK. I believe that the size used to refer to the thicckness of the wire that was used.  Fly line weights are AFTM nos, which I am sure you know already. Personally, I ratherr liked the old system that used letters to denote the tapers, the weight and the like. And in the nicest possible way, can I question your desire to have a logical basis for everything? Half the fun of this sport that it isn’t always predictable.  To paraphrase Oscar Wilde "Order is the sign of a boring mind". Hope thta this does not enflame you to much Chris Enstone – "fishing is just like working except that you do not get paid and you enjoy it"

Response:

I just don’t understand any logical reason for the way "sizes" are determined. A 7 wt. rod is lighter than a 9 wt. rod. OK. A 4 wt. line is smaller than a 5 wt. line, but a size 10 hook is smaller than a size 6 hook. A 10 pound test line is stronger than an 8 pound test line, but a 5x tippet is stronger (larger) than a 7x tippet. I don’t understand. Maybe I am just looking for too much logic. A lot of the things that we do are a matter of convention. To tighten something, you turn it to the right, to loosen it, you turn it to the left. To turn on the water, you turn the handle to the left and to turn it off, you turn it to the right. The size with the larger number is the larger size. These are things that are pretty well established.  They follow a logical order of uniformity. (I know there are exceptions). I would think that there would be some order to fishing gear ’sizes’. Maybe there is and I just don’t understand it. There must be at least one person out there that understands the "system". Please explain it to those of us who aren’t smart enough to figure it out on our own.

Response: