Fly Lines : Fly Line Weight & Measurement

The Yellowstone River in Montana

All fly lines are given a weight measurement that is generally clearly shown on the box. This fly line measurement corresponds to the actual weight of the fly line, measured in grams. Happily, the fly line manufacturers, back in the 1960's, ganged up and adopted a common standardized measurement for fly lines, suspecting that the weight of the fly line - when shown in grains - was likely to be more confusing than helpful. This measurement standard lists the weight of the fly line on a numerical scale which runs from 1-14, with the lower the number the lighter the fly line will be. Thus, a fly line with a weight of 5 will be lighter than a fly line with a weight of 10.

For purposes of measuring a fly lines weight, only the first 30 feet of fly line is measured. The weighing of the fly line excludes any tapers (discussed later) that the fly line may have. Thus, if a fly line has a weight forward taper, the measurement begins on the first "level" 30 feet of the fly line after the taper.

In real life, for those interested, here is what the fly line numerical scale breaks down to in the terms of actual weight of the fly line.

One thing to be noted is that other fly line weights do exist. These fly lines are specialty lines, designed for very specific situations. Thus, from time to time, you may see some strange fly line weights on the market that don't fall neatly into the scale above.

Summary of Fly Line Weight Measurement

In short, fly lines come in different types of weight. The weight of a fly line is expressed in the form of a numerical scale that runs from 1-14, with 1 being the lightest.

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