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Line for hardy 8wt
Post 07 Nov 2022, 16:32 • #1 
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Joined: 03/11/21
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Haven't been here for ages
I have just picked up an old hardy glass 8wt (not sure on model). I plan to use it for small river pike in UK and was looking for line recommendation please.
I have tried it with an airflow lake pro but find it needs a decent amount of line out of the rod to work well (I'm not the world best caster and I know it's a line for chucking distance)
I generally don't need to cast very far.
Should I look at a 'pike' line or maybe just over line by a weight or 2
I was thinking about chopping the airflow back but it seems a bit brutal!!!
Thank you for any help in advance
I'm also planning on a new glass pike rod once I have funds and can work round exchange rates and shipping


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 07 Nov 2022, 20:32 • #2 
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Joined: 05/19/14
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Location: USA - Illinois
If you have an old 8 wt. line, first thing I would try is cutting it into a level line - generally cast great especially with shorter casts/larger flies. If that doesn’t work well for you, then go up to a 9 wt. line. Maybe a friend or shop nearby could let you try a line or two.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 08 Nov 2022, 01:16 • #3 
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Great thank you for the quick reply, I'll see what I can do and report back.
Just realised I maybe should have posted this in different place on the forum


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 08 Nov 2022, 05:03 • #4 
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Joined: 10/26/16
Posts: 100
Location: UK
The Hardy Fibalites (and that is what you seem to have), were, in my memory, perfectly true to weight. I used to fish them one line lighter with a double taper, and at the line rating for a weight forward.
But, given pike flies can be bulky, you might like to try a cheap WF-9 from Maxcatch?


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 08 Nov 2022, 14:35 • #5 
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Joined: 06/21/06
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Location: Orygun
We need more pics....especially once you get a pike attached to the end!

Personally, I would start with the size of flies you're wanting to throw and work backwards from there. If you prefer larger flies, I'd go with a more aggressive shooting head style line. If you're throwing little stuff (like up to 6"), the maybe the above suggestions would work. I have yet to play with a glass rod that couldn't handle the extra weight of a shooting head (especially in heavier weights). And, the nice thing with that setup is that you're doing more fishing and less casting. 1-2 back casts, double haul, and shoot....leave your shadow casting on your local trout stream (along with your 9' leaders...go short & stout there).

fwiw, when I'm using shooting heads, for my 8wts (graphite or glass), I like a 250-300gr. For my 10wt glass, it's typically 350-420gr with 380 range being the sweet spot there. I'm partial to the new Cortland Compact lines, but SA titan taper is great if you want a slightly longer head.

edit: I'm probably in the minority with line preferences here, but I'm also probably in the minority of throwing big flies on heavyweight glass.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 08 Nov 2022, 16:23 • #6 
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Joined: 03/11/21
Posts: 24
Thanks all. nice to know what rod I have and will see what I can sort out line wise, and get more photos (with or without a fish :))


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 09 Nov 2022, 07:56 • #7 
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Joined: 02/08/13
Posts: 156
Location: Nomadic
I expect your rod has quite small guides/eyes/rings (two nations divided by a common language) - especially the butt/stripper. So, you may want to consider replacing those with larger guides/eyes/rings designed for modern (generally thicker) lines at some point. Meanwhile you have two options.

1. using a line designed for bamboo and fibreglass rods, such as the 406, Cortland Sylk and Bario Smallstream. These are generally thinner than modern lines designed for graphite\carbon rods, and can be very good in wind. I like these in double taper.

2. using a short head, weight forward line, of which there are now a multitude. These have a thick, heavy head that will generally end just outside the tip ring when you cast, and a thin running line that you shoot (or not) for the required distance. I've recently used one of these, the Airflo Forty Plus Extreme (which can be had quite cheaply in the UK), fishing for Coho with a borrowed 8 weight graphite\carbon rod I'd never touched before. I was pleasantly surprised how accurately and well it cast, including roll casting.

And if you do decide to experiment with cutting a line back to level, and use a double taper, you can always turn it round to use the surviving forward taper, if you don't like the result.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 19 Nov 2022, 07:01 • #8 
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Joined: 03/11/21
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Thankyou, and yes I know what you mean about guides/eyes/rings ;)
The airflow I have is pretty thick!
Will have a play over the weekend and report back!

Update, just had a quick early session on a local canal (rivers are full and like chocolate)

Chopped back a cheap intermediate line and with a few feet of 15lb and a 10lb wire trace casts 3-4" flies ok.
Managed 1 mini pike :)


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 22 Nov 2022, 15:25 • #9 
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Joined: 06/24/11
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Location: Belgium
That's a very powerful rod with a pretty stiff butt.
Interestingly that rod was later labeled a 7wt when it became part of the Fibalite Perfection line up. Maybe they were thinking long casts with sinking shooting heads for salmon or steelhead and relatively small flies. Just speculating, don't really know. Certainly compared to the rest of the line up this rod has a stiffer butt and faster action - it's a bit of a beast.
This rod will cast a range of lines but if you want it to load easily and cast big flies I would be looking to overline it. I think a nine or even a ten weight shorter head WF will work.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 22 Nov 2022, 17:09 • #10 
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giogio wrote:
This rod will cast a range of lines but if you want it to load easily and cast big flies I would be looking to overline it. I think a nine or even a ten weight shorter head WF will work.


Could well be but I would be guided by the real weight of the head (in grains or grams) rather than the stated line weight number on the packaging - modern lines are all over the place and seem to bear little relationship to the AFFTA scale these days.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 23 Nov 2022, 09:16 • #11 
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Joined: 06/24/11
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Location: Belgium
Just loaded up said rod with a 32', 11 weight intermediate shooting head (400 grains on my kitchen scale) and it worked perfectly and was very far from being bogged down. This is the 7WT rated, Fibalite Perfection version of the 8'9" rod to be precise. The rating of this rod is somewhat baffling. It is not consistent with the rest of the Jet, Fibalite, Fibalite Perfection range.

So let me change my recommendation to a short head 11 or 12wt WF or 400 to 450 grain shooting head if you are after medium fast glass action. That will definitely carry some big sreamers for you.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 23 Nov 2022, 11:18 • #12 
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Wow! That’s some heavy lifting.


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Re: Line for hardy 8wt
Post 23 Nov 2022, 12:30 • #13 
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Joined: 06/24/11
Posts: 1144
Location: Belgium
Yes, it is.

I really am curious as to what this rod had been designed for and why it was rated the way it was. I bet it was originally conceived by Tarantino (JET) so perhaps someone from the West coast and a long memory might have an idea of the fishing application this rod was originally designed for.

Fenwick made the FF106 which was 8'10" rated a 10 WT. The ratings are different but in reality these are similar rods so I suspect that at the time someone was convinced this was the right configuration for some particular application.


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