Re Straight tapers. - Tom Bowden

Last summer I built an 8' straight taper rod - .068" at the tip with a 
slope of .290/100" (or .0145/5"). I thought it would be a 5 wt, but it 
loaded much better with a 6 wt - especially the WF6 "slime line" I use in 
the saltwater up here in the PNW. A very pleasant action - easy to cast and 
really blasts out the line once you get the timing down. I've lawn cast it 
with a DT5 and a DT6 - I felt the rod was too heavy for the DT5 and 
slightly light for the DT6. If I was going to tinker with the taper, I'd 
make the tip .070" for a 6 wt.

Spurred on by the success of the "290/068", I built one with a .290 slope 
starting with .080" at the tip. I tried a WF7 and a WF8, and like the 8 
weight much better. I actually fished the rod for the first time last 
Sunday. It isn't as "sweet"as the 6 wt, but does what I built it for - 
casting larger flies into a stiff breeze.

If I wanted an 8' 5wt with a .290/100" taper, I'd probably start with a 
.065" tip. I haven't experimented with different slopes yet, but I would 
think this would make a big difference. For example, a Powell B-8 taper 
(slope of .240/100") would need a heavier tip than one of my .290's for the 
same line weight.

Of course all of this is subjective & depends on the caster!


Tom



At 06:04 PM 1/7/2003 -0500, Terry Kirkpatrick wrote:
>You guys that build straight tapers,  What are the dimensions for a five wt?
>Looking at most tapers it seems to start about .070 and increase an average of
>.0148 each five inches?
>
>Is this anywhere near right?
>
>Getting ready to start the great experiment...
>
>----------------------------
>Terry "Sunfish" Kirkpatrick
>Safety Harbor, Florida
>(Old Tampa Bay)
>
>Meet me at http://home1.gte.net/sats   (updated 15 Nov 2002)