Over Lining a Rod

For several years before Covid, I attended our local trout club on a regular basis. My neighbor introduced me to the club and I always looked forward to attending their meetings with him. We would usually meet a mutual fishing buddy at these monthly meetings for good conversations on fly fishing and all things that go along with the outdoor sport...a cup of coffee and donut there was nice too.

I have picked up some good information during these meetings from speakers and members through the years. Our club president was giving a presentation one month on tips for seniors. During his presentation, he mentioned one thing he liked to do in tight stream environments...and, it really caught my ear. It wasn't a senior tip, but something helpful for all fly fishers. He discussed the benefits of over lining to effectively load your rod for close-in casting situations. What is over lining? Basically, it is rigging up your rod with one line weight (fly line) over the designated line rating for a fly rod. It works and is very helpful in stream environments with a tight canopy of trees and brush.

There are a few areas up on Rainy Mountain where I like to over line a fly rod. I have a couple of 2wt fly rods in 6'6" and 7' lengths that I often over line with a true-to-weight WF3F fly line. That rod/line combination makes it much easier working those stream environments with a tight canopy of trees. A short back stroke is all it takes to properly load the rod and softly land a dry fly 20' away and on target. I find it's just not possible to effectively fish those streams with a rod longer than 7 feet...and, those 2wt rods of mine, rigged up with WF3F fly line, is as sweet as it gets.

Don't start thinking if you put a 3wt fly line on a 2wt fly rod that it makes your rod a 3wt fly rod...and most importantly, don't start such debate with another angler. It could hurt your head.

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