What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

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mmwaggie
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What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by mmwaggie »

So I started fly fishing about two months ago and I'm learning quickly that this is a sport where the old adage, "you get what you pay for" really applies. Saltwater reels above 200 for medium quality and fly lines around 80 bucks. Don't get me started on rods.

I was hoping to start a discussion on which fly line you like the most and why you like it. Does it load your rod quickly with minimal line out? Does it shoot with ease? Is it the price/quality point you like the most? I know that the rod you use can affect these aspects more so but the line is definitely key. The original setup I started with had 20 dollar cabella line on it and was extremely frustrating because it didn't shoot well. I upgraded to a used SA line and it was a world of difference.

Also, if you have a line that you disliked with a passion please list that as well.

I'm not sure which model I have since I got it secondhand but the SA Mastery 8 wt line has been my favorite for the coast so far.
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karstopo
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by karstopo »

I haven't found the perfect line. I think my favorite might be my 9 weight SA Sharkwave Titan Taper paired with the 8/9 weight G. Loomis Short Stix. I think the head is 33' and it shoots like no other line I've owned, at least paired with that rod. I feel like I'm in control of the distance and accuracy of the shot so what more could I want? The negatives are that it makes an annoying sound going through the guides when stripped in and it's a little too slippery when handling making strip setting a challenge at times.

I like my 8 weight Airflo Bruce Chard Tropical Punch. It works well on with My 7/8 weight CGR, my 6/8 weight TFO minimag and My 8 weight BVK. It stays clean, shoots well, doesn't stretch much on the set, isn't slippery when handling and floats high. The negative is that it's a little prone to reel set and a little stiff when just marginally cool outside. It's not a good handling line on a cool day. I know it's designed for tropical conditions, but other tropical lines seem better when things cool off some.

I use the Cabelas 6 weight Prestige line, not the plus, with my 5/6 CGR. It doesn't shoot wonderfully, but with enough line out works well enough. It gets a little limp when its hot outside and a bit sticky, but I think it isn't terrible.

I have a 5 weight SA bonefish line on my 4/5 CGR, but it rarely sees action. I do like it when I've used it.

I didn't like my Rio Quickshooter line mainly because it got real dirty fairly quickly and wouldn't come clean. The running line never handled all that great and especially so after getting dirty. The welded loop cracked and there was other spots where the coating came loose from the core near the tip. It did shoot pretty well, but not as well as the SA Titan taper. The overall durability was the big negative for me.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by karstopo »

One other line I liked was my 8 weight Cortland 444 peach. It cast beautifully with a variety of rods. I gave it to a friend along with a 7/8 CGR.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by mmwaggie »

Karstopo thank you for the great response. I've enjoyed reading your contributions to this forum. Do you think the performance of the sharkwave titan taper outweighs the negatives you listed?

Have you tried any other Rio lines? Do you think the dirty factor extends to other lines made by them?


off topic of the thread but how do you like the TFO BVK rod? I've been looking to buy an 8 wt BVK. Currently use a 7wt TFO Lefty Kreh.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by karstopo »

I'm not sure about the other Rio lines. I have a Rio clear tip intermediate line on my 10 weight and it's been good, but I hardly ever use it.

I don't use my BVK very much. It's my wading rod, but I hardly ever get out of the kayak. It's not my favorite rod. It's powerful, but swings heavy and just doesn't feel that crisp to me. It's not a rod I enjoy as much as the others.

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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Ron Mc »

Hands down, my favorite lines are Airflo Ridgelines. Supple Tactical lines are my go-to coldwater and warmwater floating lines - soft enough for cane and glass rods. Why? They zing through the guides like they're on Boca bearings.
I also have a couple of their intermediate sinking "slime lines" for salt - any fishing from knee to waist deep.

But I tend to buy lines on closeout - MRFC, etc., and I'm really happy with a Rio floating redfish line.

Then there are Teeny lines - BS, T series sinkers - they're actually sinking shooting heads spliced to running line. I fish them almost exclusively for warmwater, and have TS saltwater sizes, as well for fishing deeper than waist deep. The ultimate bottom-bouncing lines. The slower-sinking lines, BS-100 and T-130 will fish streamers from riffle water to 10' deep, and great for countdown fishing in still water. The BS-100 works best on 3wt to 5-wt rods, and T-130 on 5/6 wt. Sinking lines fish best with 4-5' leaders and 18" tippet.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by karstopo »

mmwaggie wrote:Karstopo thank you for the great response. I've enjoyed reading your contributions to this forum. Do you think the performance of the sharkwave titan taper outweighs the negatives you listed?

Have you tried any other Rio lines? Do you think the dirty factor extends to other lines made by them?


off topic of the thread but how do you like the TFO BVK rod? I've been looking to buy an 8 wt BVK. Currently use a 7wt TFO Lefty Kreh.
On the SA sharkwave line, I think the positives outweigh the negatives.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by mmwaggie »

Ron Mc wrote:Hands down, my favorite lines are Airflo Ridgelines. Supple Tactical lines are my go-to coldwater and warmwater floating lines - soft enough for cane and glass rods. Why? They zing through the guides like they're on Boca bearings.
I also have a couple of their intermediate sinking "slime lines" for salt - any fishing from knee to waist deep.

But I tend to buy lines on closeout - MRFC, etc., and I'm really happy with a Rio floating redfish line.

Then there are Teeny lines - BS, T series sinkers - they're actually sinking shooting heads spliced to running line. I fish them almost exclusively for warmwater, and have TS saltwater sizes, as well for fishing deeper than waist deep. The ultimate bottom-bouncing lines. The slower-sinking lines, BS-100 and T-130 will fish streamers from riffle water to 10' deep, and great for countdown fishing in still water. The BS-100 works best on 3wt to 5-wt rods, and T-130 on 5/6 wt. Sinking lines fish best with 4-5' leaders and 18" tippet.
Thanks. That is a lot of good info and will take me a while to digest. I appreciate the response.
karstopo wrote: I don't use my BVK very much. It's my wading rod, but I hardly ever get out of the kayak. It's not my favorite rod. It's powerful, but swings heavy and just doesn't feel that crisp to me. It's not a rod I enjoy as much as the others.

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Okay thank you. This may change my mind. I'll have to look at more rods before I pull the trigger.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by preast »

If we're talking any line weights, Sage Quiet Taper II is the best line I've ever used. For salt, all my lines are several years old. I have an SA Saltwater floating and a Cortland Little Tunny clear intermediate that I like. Absolutely hated an Orvis Wonderline SW All Rounder (seemed sticky) but I think Orvis hated it too because the didn't keep those around very long. I have a couple RIO saltwater lines that I like OK but I do think they might be starting to get a little less shootable. I think any line that starts off with a shiny finish (other than the slime lines) is going to get weird after a while because it gets scarred or something. That's something I noticed with the Cortland peach I had years ago. Not sure why no one else has that problem. I also don't care for the overly textured stuff, instead just a bit of a surface rather than slick. I think the standard old SA finish is awesome.

I'm with Ron on the closeouts--I've rarely paid more than half price and paid full pop for a line exactly one time.

It just goes to show the subjectivity though, because I didn't like the Airflo Ridgeline Supple Tactical lines. The coating was great but it was too... what I call "drapey". Even tried it in below 50degree weather, maybe colder. Just didn't hold its own to me. So if you like it, it's good for a range of temps. Except they're overweighted. I hate hate hate lines that are overweighted in weird tapers. Just give me a normal/shortish front taper that meets AFFTA standard and I'll decide whether I want to overline! (sorry for the Mommy Dearest moment there)

Oh yeah, I did just buy a Triangle Taper in a 3wt and I'm really liking it. Granted it's kind of a weird taper but not really overweighted (I weighed it).
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Ron Mc »

I called out the Airflo Supple, because where I'm using it, I only fish cane and glass rods - trout and warmwater.
The only place I fish graphite rods is in the salt - that's the only place I need 9' rods and 7-wt and higher line weights.

Except for my salt neutral-density slow-sinking lines, I don't have one of the harder-coating Airflo lines that matches a graphite rod. Harder coatings lines will typically be given a moniker like "Distance"
I just checked, the current Airflo models are called Distance Pro and Impact.

I will say with 35 years of throwing slime lines in the salt, SA Mastery, etc., the Airflo is by far my favorite neutral density sinking line, because it's finer diameter for the same line weight, and zings through the guides.

Here's me (ok, 20 years ago) on a dead-calm foggy November morning at S. Padre, throwing a slime line at schoolie specs - it was a dues-paid-up morning - the fish sign was frigging semaphore - their submerged backs made V-shaped wakes on the dead calm surface, and sometimes I'd see 10 vees coming right at me.
Image
Image
Image
only cooler thing I've ever witnessed was blackwater in the surf, when each wave crest carried a daisy chain of specs, and finger mullet were trying to hide around your legs.
(I still have the hat - gotta respect karma)
Last edited by Ron Mc on Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:35 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Zackthefisherman »

Ron, I bought the 5 and 6 wt Airflo ridgeline from Sierra Trading Post after you posted a heads up a while back. They were on sale for fifteen bucks or something ridiculous like that. These were by far my favorite lines for my 5wt Bvk. Unfortunately, they seemed to have a problem with coiling up. The 5wt line got so bad that I had to eventually toss it. I still use the 6wt line, but I run into this problem from time to time. Do you know why I'm having this problem and how I can avoid it? I have now learned a few tricks to straighten the line out, but I would like to avoid it if possible. I also use the Airflo Kelly Galloup nymphing line on my 10ft 4wt Bvk nymphing rod and have been very pleased with it so far.

To the op, I really like the Rio Redfish line that came with my 8wt Bvk (I really like the Bvk series if you can't tell). I bought the combo used from a fellow forum member. I have used it for everything from small Redfish flies to big streamers for Stripers.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Ron Mc »

Zack, I've never had that problem with that line coiling, and I mostly fish mine in winter, but that could be why it was on closeout - could have been a bad polymer batch. The line is still made, and sold for $75 retail everywhere.

I have this line in several forms, Japan Special Taper in 4- and 5-wt (paid retail) and Chalkstream Special 6wt (UK closeout).
Image- I know this is the Chalkstream (pink)

Image - this is the JST 3-wt
the two lines in the photos are obviously limp as all getout, and in cold water.

This is for sure the same line in 4-wt as the closeout line, Supple Tactical, and it's on my dry-fly rig - another thing I like about this line, It's very visible even against a glare. Of course this line is under load, there's a fish on the other end.
Image
I don't know what to tell you, because I haven't had coiling problems with these lines.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Kayak Kid »

Don't listen to Ron Mack about fishing line. He is so far above my head when it comes to the technical jargon, that I must suggest what I know to be the best acting and frugal line one can use.

Attached to my ll ft cane pole is 15 feet of kite string. Kite string is light, subtle, casts well, and is very affordable. One roll of kite string can last for a lifetime. And, you can also use it for flying kites. :D
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Zackthefisherman »

Thanks for the reply Ron. I've only had this problem in the warmer months so maybe that's the issue.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Ron Mc »

Airflo is an English line, so maybe it acts better in the cold.
Plastics can be really strange in their reaction to temperature. (For Kayak Kid's sake, I'll avoid dipping into my education and mentioning fringed micelles - oops, did it anyway.) Braided nylon rigging lines on my kayak get longer in the cold weather, and shorter in warm weather - the opposite what a piece of metal would do.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

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Kayak Kid wrote:Don't listen to Ron Mack about fishing line. He is so far above my head when it comes to the technical jargon, that I must suggest what I know to be the best acting and frugal line one can use.

Attached to my ll ft cane pole is 15 feet of kite string. Kite string is light, subtle, casts well, and is very affordable. One roll of kite string can last for a lifetime. And, you can also use it for flying kites. :D
As far as jargon goes, there are 3 kinds of specs -
nursery trout, which hang around - we call them tourist trout when they're 13";
schoolies, which travel 25 mi/day;
and big lone sows, which stake-out a winter breeding turf.

Same with with fly lines. Only 3 kinds, though they'd like to sell you more.
Floating (self-explanatory);
intermediate sinking, which only have a use in the salt for me;
full sinking lines - Teeny are the best because they're the easiest to handle and cast the farthest.
I tried a sink tip once it the 80s, but they're pointless - their only good use is high-sticking deep, fast chutes (Coneyos R.), but that I can also do with a Teeny line or a bunch of lead on my long-leader floating line.

When you're fishing a sinking line, start everything with a roll cast. This brings everything to the surface, and then you lift it for your back-cast just like it's a floating line.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by mmwaggie »

Thanks for all the input guys. Lots of good info to digest. I ended up picking up some SA Mastery GPX 8 wt line for 30 bucks at Cabela's. I mainly bought it for the price so I could buy a new setup as well.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by Ron Mc »

smart move - always shop closeouts first, and save retail prices for something you Know you Really want.
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Re: What is your favorite fly line but more importantly why?

Post by mmwaggie »

exactly my thinking as well. I didn't want to be disappointed after spending 80 bucks on a line I didn't really like. Thanks for your input Ron
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