can anyone tell me if a #5 rod and # line are rated the same or is it higher the number in line the weaker it is and the other way for a rod

Not quite sure what you mean there. The ATFM rating displayed on the rod is tell you the correct weight line for that rod. So it it's rated 5# or 6#, get a 5# or 6# line.

Rod manfacturers when designing a rod, design that rod so that a certain weight will deflect that rod a certain amount which is called loading and measured in grains that weight will corespond to the weight of the first 30ft of line. Hence if the measurement was 140 grains that would be a #5 line and the designer would use the 140 grain weight for the rod deflection and it is this weight that pulls the rest of the line out when you cast. this is the simple answer but it is probably more complicated than this, So if you have #5 rod its designed to use a #5 line be it W/f D/T or any thing else just match the numbers. Hope this answers your question.

Alan

Let's get this right.

AFTMA means Association of Fishing Tackle Manufacturers of America. This organisation during the late 50s set out a means of determining the power of a fly rod to the weight of the first 30 feet of fly line measured from the tip that it could cast by loading the rod such that the full power of the rod might be utilised.

The lower the number, the less powerful the rod, the higher the number the more powerful the rod. Generally fly lines and rod gradings vary between 1 for very light applications and 15 for saltwater game species.

Rods that are rated 6/7 mean that the rod will handle a 6 weight double taper or a 7 weight forward taper or shooting head. Applications calling for very short casting, ie on tiny streams mean that the rod will handle a shorter distance of heavier line. I have often used a 3 weight rated rod with a 5 weight fly line when I have only needed to cast 5 yards with only 3 yards of line outside the rod tip.

The measurement of the deflection of a fly rod eg: "test curve loadings" have little meaning in fly fishing terms, as rods designed for casting a similar weight of line could be through action or fast taper, each style of rod having a difference in terms of the deflection of the rod.

These days with modern carbon there is a tendency for rods to be built with a fast action. Whether this is a good idea or not is subject to debate. Certainly a fast action rod demands more skill and timing from the caster than a slow action rod which is more foregiving.

Utter rubbish! The front 30ft of a DT7 weighs within the same limits as a WF7, similarly a 7 shooting head is the same weight.

If a rod manufacturer says his rod is 6/7 he's saying his rods will 'cope' with both in different circumstances - more line in the air - 6wt, but will load quicker with a 7wt.

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AFTMA Fly Line Standards:

#1 = 60 grains, #2 = 80 grains, #3 = 100 grains, #4 = 120 grains, #5 = 140 grains, #6 = 160 grains, #7 = 185 grains, #8 = 210 grains, #9 = 240 grains, #10 = 280 grains, #11 = 330 grains, #12 = 380 grains.

1oz = 480 grains

The weight in grains is not that of the entire line; it is the actual weight of the first 30 feet of the line as measured from the beginning of the taper . This excludes the first couple of feet of level line in front of the taper.

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i thought it didnt matter about the aftma, if you had a 5/6 rated rod it wasnt imperative that you had a 5/6 line just what you were comfortable with

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If we're going to get this right, then as Lighthouse has already pointed out, let's stop repeating this dual rating refering to a DT/WF urban legend. It's totally wrong and causes unnecessary confusion for beginners.

A dual line rating like 6/7 means simply either/or. Dual ratings have nothing to do with line tapers, the first 30 feet of a given fly line weight will weigh exactly the same regardless of taper. That's the whole point of the system.

Grouse

Of course it will, yet the pronouncement that say 6 = DT and 7 = WF is not mine. I have read this many times in articles and technical specs in the past.

Perhaps it was based on the fact that if you aerialise say 40 foot of a double taper you have more line weight beyond the rod tip than 40 feet of weight forward.

Is that an attempt at backtracking Ron

Walker