Rods are often broken during assembly, particularly fly rods. To prevent this happening to you hold the rod low with the reel handle uppermost and double the end of the line over.

Pull line up through the rings and then pull about a rod length in a straight line out of tip. If you pull line down from tip it puts an unnatural bend in the tip and can result in breakage.

By keeping the rod low when pulling the line out it will not all fall back to the reel if you accidentally let go of it.

ROD & LINE BALANCE

It is essential that your fly line matches the rod’s optimum casting weight which will be marked on the rod just above the handle. Normally buy a line of the same size.

There are exceptions and if a rod is dual rated and you use a double taper line then use a line of the lower rating. For weight forward line use the higher rating. For shooting heads you can generally go one size above the weight shown.