New to fly fishing and found a good deal on an 8 wt rod and started looking for a reel. Found a very good deal on this used Danielsson L5W 6nine reel. It came with what seems like a huge fly line. The seller didn’t know what the fly line was and there aren’t marking on the line. But it is definitely too big for this reel. Is it likely this is a 9wt line?
I have heard that this reel is a bit small for 9wt and I am hoping that is the problem here.
If this is an 8wt line, is there a good way to adjust? Shortening backing or shorter fly line/thinner taper?
Plan is to use this for bass so I wasn’t thinking I needed a large arbor reel. Just want to make sure I can find a usable solution.
Looking for any insights y’all might have. Thanks!
Posted by Dad_Shepherd
1 Comment
If the line is not labeled somehow you can cast it on known weight rods and see what it casts best with. Or just throw it away and buy a new line in the weight you need.
I would unspool that line in a large open space so you don’t get it tangled, cut off about 30 yards of backing, or enough to reduce the diameter of the spool plus backing by 3/16” or so, reattach the line, and reel it in. I like about a quarter of an inch of space between the line and the reel frame.
And I would say that reel is a little small for an 8 or 9. But with bass you’ll never reach the backing. Wouldn’t try it on fish that run, though.