in fly fishing, what is the significance in matching the weight of the fly line to the weight of the fly rod?
and what resultant difficulties would arise if the wrong weight fly line (either too heavy or too light) was matched with the wrong weight fly rod?
It is the weight of the line resisting the rod during the backcast that forces the rod to "load" energy for the forward cast. Too little weight (i.e., too light of a line) will fail to load the rod properly. Excessive weight will overload the road beyond its limits.
Really, you can figure this out on your own by using just one line (preferably the line the rod is rated for). Line "weights" are assigned according to the weight in grains of the first 30 feet of line. Casting a shorter length of that same line will underload the road, giving a similar feeling to casting a lighter line. Drastically exceeding that length will overload the rod.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately...) there are no real standards in place, other than the traditional rating system. Rod makers today have made their rods appear powerful to the uninitiated by simply underrating them; that is, it is common for a 5-weight rod today to effectively be a 6 or 7-weight under the old standard. The newbie strings up the rod and fires cast after cast with ease with the overly powerful rod. This just adds to the confusion.
With time, you can tell when a particular line weight lacks the resistance to bring life and power into the rod, or when the line is so heavy that it strains the rod to the point that it can no longer carry the line in the air.
As far as difficulties....
With too heavy a line, the rod will lack the stored power to fully straighten the line. It will typically fall upon itself, making a mess. Headwinds/crosswinds will further exaggerate this.
With too light a line, the rod won't be as efficient at delivering the fly. It won't translate a "feel" to the caster, he himself whom feels somewhat disattached to the casting. It will just feel different.
The "too" heavy/light is relative, though. A more accomplished and skilled caster will have a greater ability to make a rod work well when it is over- or underloaded.
Like so many other things about fishing, it's:
10% science
10% technique
80% opinion
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