Barry, from the way you describe that little rod it may do best with a true 2-weight line or possibly even a 1-weight, with no over-lining. Do you already have such lines on hand? Perhaps there is a friendly fly shop in your neck of the woods that will let you try before you buy. And after getting a suitable line, I would you suggest that you take it to a nearby waterway with a healthy population of bluegills or bream to see how it feels with a fish on. Of course, you may want to be respectful of the local ´gator population.

Hi Barry,

That indeed is a factory rod directly from South Fork and built by Dave Redington. I have the same rod and use a DT2 on it. I believe it's a Lamiglass blank. When Dave sold Redington he started South Fork in Florida and basically direct marketed it. I have several SF rods and like them all. Don't know why they never caught on, maybe the slow action, but a sweet rods none the less.

Tom

It is also my belief your blank is a Lamiglas. It will certainly change your perspective about little fish. It will also likely slow down your casting stroke. Lamiglas has always been a slower action rod, which for many folks, is their appeal. I have a 6’6” 3wt 3pc, 7’ 3wt 2piece, 7’ 3wt 3pc, 6’ 2/3wt 4pc and a 7’3” 4wt 5pc. The last two cut from one piece blanks. Regardless, they are all slower than most similar weights/lengths rods. I have a bunch of other 2&3wt short rods I use for small streams. It is a joy to fish them where I know a 10” fish is a trophy. Their length, in hand weight, smaller flies and the short casts usually made with them seem to make the experience more intimate and enjoyable. I also sometimes find the smaller reels used and casting distance need only half of a DT line. Enjoy the new experience. If you don’t, let me know, I likely would be interested in taking it off your hands.

Don't have any two weight lines and lightest thing I had spooled up was a Longbelly Wulff 4 wt.. Surprisingly the rod did a really nice job casting that line.

Looked around last night and found I had one of those $9.00 lines I had bought to use as a running line with a shooting head. It was a 3wt line and given the price I didn't expect much. Spooled it up on a Ryobi 255 and gave her a try today. Couldn't be happier with this little outfit. I think I could possibly get tighter loops with a lighter line, but with these heavier lines I can throw the bigger flies I normally fish. If I were fishing tiny flies I would go with the lighter lines.

I'll pickup a one or two weight line when I come across one at the right price. Like to try them, but no rush, I like how it works with the lines I already have.

Could be wrong, but seems like not a whole bunch of difference between a 2wt line and a 3wt line. Only 20 grains which works out to be about .045 of an ounce. If I'm wrong I would appreciate hearing from those who have tried both lines.

Thanks,
Barry

There are a couple more things to consider. The 20-grain difference between a 140-grain 5-weight and a 160-grain 6-weight is 14%, while the same 20-grain difference between an 80-grain 2-weight and a 100-grain 3-weight is 25%; therefore that 20-grain difference is proportionally greater. Also, the lighter you go with lines the more subtle the feeling becomes when the rod loads. So fishing with lines of 3-weight or lower does take a little getting used to. I feel that using a correctly tuned leader also become more critical. Hope you enjoy the experience!

I would not rule out 0 weight or level shooting-line. If it were mine I would get the Maxcatch shooting-lines in various sizes from Amazon to try out.
Just my opinion, your not going to need a high, or even mid end line for that rod's intended use.