I know, I know. You really get what you pay for in these situations, but I'm trying to make my dollar stretch here. I'm getting a 7'6" 0wt RDP fly rod and am currently looking around for fly line right now. It seems like the options are super limited, but here's what I have so far.

Aquanova WF [0-8wt]- Super affordable at $15.00, but it reviews say that it attracts a lot of grime and requires a good amount of maintenance.

BPS White River Small Stream Fly Line DT [2-5wt]- At an solid price of $20+shipping. 55' long which is all I'd need for a rod like this, but lowest weight is 2wt. Would it be too hard on the 0wt rod? This is currently my #1 pick because of the pricepoint, but again, my biggest concern is that it would be too heavy.

Max Catch Fly Line WF [2-8wt]- $19.00, a good variety of colors, and has good reviews. Bad reviews were addressed by maxcatch, so it seems like they are very responsive. But again, is 2wt too much on a 0wt rod?

Amazon's SF Fly Line WF [1-9wt]- $20.00, good reviews, and free shipping with Amazon prime, this one is hard to beat. The only negative reviews are regarding the fact that the line can come as a bird's nest which is the only hold up. Reviews also say that it's rated higher than it feels, so I'd probably get a 2wt line.

Rio Trout LT [000-8wt]- Ranging from $50-60, this is appears to be one of the nicest ultra light lines. However, it is way out of my price range. :/

The big question here is- would lining my 0wt 7'6" RDP fly rod with a 2wt line be too much? If not, I'd probably go for the Max Catch considering the reviews on the line's performance and company's responsiveness.

I have two suggestions.

1. Some of us scavenge the running line from worn out WF for use on lower weight rods and are quite happy with them.
Decide which WF's running line match the 0 wt spec and ask forum members if any has a worn out WF of that weight they would part with.

2. This suggestion involves something I have done to save money. Then after meeting Linecaster he demonstrated to me that I could use
these lines described below as a shooting head, all I needed to do was use his casting technique. This will work for you too.

Purchase a larger weight line at the price your interested in, such as the 2 wt as I have generally gone two weights higher.
Starting from the point at which the running line progresses to the taper, start weighing the line until you reach the desired weight and then
cut the line at that point.

Here's another method of determining the length of the line you need without the use of a scale.

Take the oversized lines to the water with the target fly rod. Cast with short lengths of line until you fine the amount of line that loads the rod to your satisfaction.
Measure the length of line that has loaded the rod. Starting from where the taper starts measure toward the head that length of line that loads the rod and then
cut the line at that point.

Linecaster's would then take the tip section of the fly line, remove the tip section and reattach to the head of the section of line that is to be fished; this gives a better cast.
I dispense with this step and nail knot my leader to the fat head tip. It splashes some so if your a perfectionist I'd follow linecaster's technique.

BTW save that portion of the fat taper that's been cut off because you may be able to use it to make a shooting head for the 0 wt.

Let me know if you want me to weight my 2 wt WF and I'll let you know the lengths I come up with that match the 0 wt spec.

what reel will you be using on the 0wt ? just wondering

kaiser, it's not a spey line. I will make up a diagram and post and also get some 2 wt line weight information.

I tried pasting a drawing but that didn't work so I draw with text.
.............A .............B.....................C.............D
tttttttttttttbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Assume ttt... is the tip, bbb... is the belly and rrrr.... is the running line.

We are experimenting with the 2 wt line and rod to determine how much belly is needed to
load the rod. We find that the length of belly from A to B loads the rod. We then measure
the length of A to B starting at D and determine that AB = CD. We sever the line at C. Our
fly line now consist of the running line and the belly length C to D.
If we choose we can attach the tip section (tttt....) to C by severing the line again at A. We are left with a length
of belly from A to C which might be useful to make a shooting head.
(Personally I just nail knot a leader at C but l get a perceptable splash from the head when it lands on the water.
I am usually fishing under windy conditions and the splash isn't apparent; in calm waters the splash is annoying to me if not the fish.)

I put 3 ft of 2 wt belly on a scale and several times and I got 10 grains. If others would like to confirm that
and provide their measurements that would be appreciated.

I am assuming 30 ft of 0 wt line is 40 grains (couldn't find a chart to confirm). If that assumption is true
then our length above from A to B (and C to D) should be approximately 12 ft.

In summary I'd like to point out that I originally used this technique to make a fly line for a 3 wt rod from a 5 wt line because I found 5 and 7 wt lines on sale
for pennies on the dollar. I purchased cabela fly lines last year on sale and now have both modified and lines in their store bought configuration and
I use them all, depending on how I want to fish. A modified line will not fish the same as a line engineered by the factory but it will fish and sometimes, but
certainly not in all cases, perform better.

My aquanova started majorly cracking within a year.

I used the olive 1wt. MaxCatch line, and liked it. He sells on ebay, so check there.

No experience with the other lines. IMO, I'd stick with a line rated closer to 0wt than go two up. I overline all my UL rods by one, only because it feels better to me.

Kaiser, neither of the diagrams you drew is what I intended. I've ignored the taper of the belly; the taper is not discernible to me without a
micrometer. In the bottom diagram if the segment BCD is moved to the left such that D starts at the belly where C is, C is moved to where B is,
the line is then severed at C and everything to the right of C is the fly line (that would be the belly from C to D plus the running line.
Then the front taper can be severed from the front of the belly and attached at C.

Now the top diagram would be great if you could join the segments successfully such that the joint passes through the guides smoothly, but with this
diameter of line that would be a trick. I've tried. The techniques I've seen on the web deal with thicker diameter line and I have been unsuccessful applying those
techniques to smaller diameter line, but my failure doesn't mean it can't be done.

Another thing I wanted to mention. Before cutting up the line, reverse it and see how the 2wt running line casts with the 0 wt line. You would be casting
a level line; that's all we had when I started fly fishing and it worked just fine. I will weight my 2 wt running line and see what I come up with and post it later
tonight.

Ah I see, I was having a hard time making sense of it as I was considering the taper.

So for my purposes, let's say the diagram I have right here is more or less to scale to the line I bought. Based off of your instructions, it seems like I'm just getting rid of a portion of the belly and reattaching both ends, is that right? I'm a very visual person, so it can be a little hard to envision all of this through just text.



If I get this diagram down, I think this could be a great resource for UL anglers. The options for UL lines are so limited and expensive, so this could be a great alternative.

Thanks for chiming in linecaster.. Would it be wise for me to just add an extra 3 feet of belly in the diagrqm that I whipped up then? The model I have right now would be about 40grains, making it rated as a 0wt line, so if I add another 3ft, it shouldnt change the rating too much, right?

Seeing as the grain ratings for a 0wt are more or less the same as a 1wt rod, can I just get away with using the 2wt line then?

Ok, so I weighed out the first 30ft of some 1wt Aquanova flyline that came with the rod. The first 30 feet weighed in at about 80g, meaning that it should be rated as a true 2wt line. It's a whole weight heavier than what it's rated for! It's no secret that linemakers like to make lines that weigh out a little heavier than what they're actually rated for [GPX line comes to mind], and I do prefer that my lines a touch heavier.

Seeing as the 0wt would be rated at 60-65grains and the MaxCatch 2wt line is rated for 80grains, shouldn't the combination work out without any tampering? Or am I missing something?