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Post 08 Oct 2021, 14:52 • #1 
New Member
Joined: 09/25/21
Posts: 3
Hello Fiberglass Fly Rod group,

I have recently acquired a 7'9" Shakespeare FY-A310 Presidential fly rod. it is in a fishable condition. From the Wiki page, I understand that it is rated for a C, HCH, 4M, AFTMA 8 line. Unfortunately, I am having a terrible time casting this rod with either of the WF6, 7, 8, or 9 floating lines. I have experience with a plethora of bamboo, fiberglass, and graphite rods and can cast 60-80ft with most of the rods with ease. This Shakespeare though has been bugging the hell out of me- casting the first 50ft with good accuracy is great but anything over that just turns the rod to mush. Also, this taper has to be the slowest actions I have ever experienced. Do you have any experience with this specific rod? If so, what lines do you pair it with? What has your experience been like? My rod weighs 3.6oz though and not 4.0oz as the Wiki page suggests.

Regards,
Rahul





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Post 08 Oct 2021, 15:17 • #2 
Master Guide
Joined: 12/27/08
Posts: 936
Location: Columbia, Mo. USA
rahulk123----I do not have any direct experience with this rod and I don't cast as far as you , however, I would suggest trying a 6 or 7wt DT line. I have found that on many vintage rods that for some reason Dt lines work better IMHO. There will probably be someone here with direct experience with this rod.
Good Luck,
Gary


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Post 08 Oct 2021, 15:33 • #3 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
I have this rod. I do not think it is an 8 wt at all. The C-line designation is a much closer description for line weight, which equates to a 7 wt. Normally, I fish mine with a generic brand 7 wt WF line with poppers, sliders, streamers, and once, even a rubber worm. If I want to speed it up a bit, I put a 6 wt on it when I am fishing smaller flies. It is one of the rods I have for warm water fishing but I do not cast in the 50 ft range. If I were to try that, I'd certainly use the lighter 6 wt line, but I don't think it would show its best performance. I don't think it is a long range rod.

I am known as a slow-rod fan which may be why I seem to like it and you may be used to faster actions.

The big brother to that rod is the FY-A510, 8'6" rod which fishes well with an 8 wt, and casts longer distances with more authority. It is one of the few glass rods I own that are longer than 8 ft.


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Post 08 Oct 2021, 16:14 • #4 
New Member
Joined: 09/25/21
Posts: 3
Thanks for the suggestion midmofly. Sounds like I will have to take a plunge into DT lines after all. Every time I look at a post on some vintage rod forum, I cant help but come across atleast one or two comments about some rod coming to life with some DT line. After all, those were the lines used to develop these rods. Unfortunately, I am so invested in good WF lines that I am finding it difficult to start a DT line collection. I will atleast get a DT6 and DT7 since those are the weights I use most often.

Paveglass, thanks for the response. I actually picked up this glass after coming across your previous posts about this rod. I usually fish the Trinity, Klamath, Eel, and Russian rivers and these rivers are wide and wadable enough that they can warrant 50+ft casts, although, most of the fish I catch are within the 30ft range or less.

I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised by the action of this rod. I cut my teeth on fact-action graphite, my Fenwicks and W&M fiberglass rods are medium-fast, and my W&M Granger bamboo rods are medium-action and they are all much quicker than this particular rod (atleast in my opinion). I am heading to the Upper Sacramento river tomorrow and will give the Shakespeare a good workout and report back. I think I will come to like this rod after all (if it roll casts as well as people say it does).

Thanks for the suggestion about FY-A510. I will keep an eye out for that.


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Post 10 Oct 2021, 13:11 • #5 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
paveglass wrote:
I have this rod. I do not think it is an 8 wt at all. The C-line designation is a much closer description for line weight, which equates to a 7 wt. Normally, I fish mine with a generic brand 7 wt WF line with poppers, sliders, streamers, and once, even a rubber worm. If I want to speed it up a bit, I put a 6 wt on it when I am fishing smaller flies. It is one of the rods I have for warm water fishing but I do not cast in the 50 ft range. If I were to try that, I'd certainly use the lighter 6 wt line, but I don't think it would show its best performance. I don't think it is a long range rod.

I am known as a slow-rod fan which may be why I seem to like it and you may be used to faster actions.

The big brother to that rod is the FY-A510, 8'6" rod which fishes well with an 8 wt, and casts longer distances with more authority. It is one of the few glass rods I own that are longer than 8 ft.

I have the 8'6 as well with the shakespeare auto reel that matches the wrap colors and balances the rod perfectly.I use bass bug line.cortland?, and it is a rocket.I loaned it to my son and have yet to get it back.I use my GC bass bug rod primarily as it is a lighter rig.Both of these rods i can throw most of the line with a bass bug in tow.


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Post 10 Oct 2021, 21:55 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/23/05
Posts: 4966
Location: US-MT
Wonderods are kind of an odd bunch IMHO, some of them are sweet and some are poor.

Most rods of any stripe, it's a matter of finding the line that sings with you and the rod, everybody is different.

I have a couple of 7'9" WRs (not that exact rod) and consider them 7wts.

Looking forward to hearing more.


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Post 11 Oct 2021, 14:51 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
I have had many WRs and was disappointed in most.The big 8wt is amazing as are the 6.5 and 7' footers i own.I run across a lot WRs heddons and ST Croix glass rods in my area.There seems to be 100s of variations in Wonderods with configurations and colors.


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Post 11 Oct 2021, 17:53 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/06
Posts: 2516
Location: Nature Coast Florida
A friend located this rod for me many years ago. It belonged to Outdoor Life editor and author Vin T. Sparano. It's a Presidential model, but I don't know what taper.

Tried casting with a 4wt Longbelly. Was getting bunch of tip bounce until I slowed down my casting stroke. After that it worked fine. The four weight was loading it from in close and was shooting around seventy feet with a little work on the timing. Think it would probably have worked better with a five weight. I fished a different 7'9" as a primary rod for several years when I got back into fly fishing and had lots of fun with that rod. I don't know much about the other tapers, but for me the big secret for this rod is don't push it too hard.

Barry








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Post 12 Oct 2021, 09:37 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
Shakespeare went to 7'9" rods very early and stuck with that length in many of their glass rods. They got that right. That is my favorite rod length. When coupled with a staggered ferrule, I think that is as close to a perfect configuration as you can find in fiberglass.


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Post 12 Oct 2021, 10:41 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/06
Posts: 2516
Location: Nature Coast Florida
My first 7'9" was used and I then fished it until the grip fell apart. This was far enough back that I sent it to Shakespeare and they replaced the cork on it.


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Post 12 Oct 2021, 11:37 • #11 
Guide
Joined: 08/11/21
Posts: 208
Location: Tucson, AZ
I have found Royal Wulff Triangle Taper lines to work well with cane rods, so maybe with a really noodly Wonderod of 7'9" the 7 wt TT floating line might do better than a WF line.

We just have to slow down and smooth our stroke so much with the slower rods it is difficult at first, but as we accustom ourselves to the action of the rod and get the timing down it gets better. Punch your stroke and the rod tip collapses, marring the straight path of the rod tip through the stroke.

Agreed that rod is not an 8wt....


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Post 12 Oct 2021, 21:57 • #12 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/06
Posts: 2516
Location: Nature Coast Florida
Maybe try a five or six weight line on it. I like the Triangle Taper Wulff lines on my true Parabolic Boo, not sure how it would work here. I think a Longbelly line may be smoother. But wouldn't know until I tried it.


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Post 14 Oct 2021, 14:58 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
I don’t think I have ever seen a vintage Shakespeare that was identified for a line lighter than “E” or 5 wt. Most I have seen in lengths 8’ and under are designed for “D” (6 wt) or “C” (7 wt).

The plethora of vintage 6 wt rods in the 7’ to 8’ range is probably why over time I migrated to a 6 wt favored mindset (except for my Lamis). There are sooo many nice ones.


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Post 14 Oct 2021, 17:43 • #14 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/11/06
Posts: 2516
Location: Nature Coast Florida
I think most would recommend a 6wt, maybe a 5. I normally underline my rods to get what I think is a faster action. Might be getting too old to change my bad ways.

Barry


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Post 21 Oct 2021, 06:32 • #15 
Guide
Joined: 06/07/15
Posts: 162
Location: US-PA
You say you can cast the first 50' with good accuracy but after that mush. I have a 7'9" 1280T and I think this rod does well in normal trout fishing distances - up to about 40'. If I wanted to cast farther than 50' I would not use this rod. I'd look for a different rod made for casting that distance.


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