Fly line selection

[Neil Owens]

I'm sure this is covered somewhere on this website but my search foo is sadly lacking.

My £4.99 ebay practise line is knackered and I want to 'step up' without spending ££££ on something from Rio or SA or whoever.

A Bario line looks affordable.... But I don't know what characteristics of a line make it different from another line. Short head, long head, long belly, DT, WF...

Paul's advocating a DT line for the essential course ove a WF line. I have no idea why or what difference it would make...

It's obviously more than just a length of plastic but I can't go to a shop and ask to try out half a dozen fly lines so I'm asking on here...

Can anyone link to a reasonably concise description of what types of lines do what and when? Otherwise I'm throwing a dart at a wall covered in adverts....

[VGB]

Neil

I have a range of lines you can play with and feel the difference taper makes if you want. I’m in Wiltshire.

Regards

Vince

[Paul Arden]

Hi Neil,

There won’t be much difference using a long belly line for the distances involved here. Apart from standardising the test so that it’s the same for everyone, I do think that the DT line is one of the best casting and fishing lines we have. The move to overweight short flylines impedes the development of the fly caster. And the further the trend towards heavier and shorter heads the closer we get to throwing a bubble float or a ledger

Some of the lines coming out of China are fine. Not as slick or smooth as the US manufactured lines (this is why Sexyloops lines are from US - RIO), but with a coating of shoot they work fine - in fact with a coating of Shoot all lines are slicker than any line out of the box. My 4WT DT is Chnese and I have a DT6 fast sinking line that’s Chinese too. In fact It’s the only DT fast sinking line I could find since Cortland, RIO and SA have stopped making them.

I’m planning a trip over there in the next 8 months. Fly fishing is taking off in China in a big way. Unfortunately they haven’t discovered that very thin porridge that tastes of cardboard - and may in fact be cardboard - and no coffee, does not make a breakfast. I can handle the cardboard but I can’t handle the coffee. So I had to have beer for breakfast.

Cheers, Paul

[Neil Owens]

I agree with you about congee. And they put dried shrimp into it as if that'd improve things???

Paul - sorry but your response has left me none the wiser Unless you're saying you have to do the test with a DT line in which case a 10' front taper DT line it is!

Vince - you have a message!

[Paul Arden]

I don’t know what the current cost of taking an FFI fest is. It used to be 160USD with membership. Borrowing a flyline is free.

It needs to be standardised, Neil, otherwise someone with less ability uses a line that makes the test easier that it should be. That is now in every association. They make lines for AAPGAI and FFI tests.

My options are a) to standardise the line and charge you for it and b) to specify a line taper.

Now I could have chosen a) and made a premium. But I have not done that.

I’ll have some bog standard DT6 lines made up - they willl be cheap.

Cheers, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

What kind of line would make the FFI tests easier?
Asking for a friend

Cheers
Lasse

[ACW]

Just an update on my new WBR ,aka HT#4 ,it certainly does rather well with a barrio DT #4 ,took me 15 minutes to make the change from using a WF #4/5 which is a Hiviz and will be used for staight lining teams just because of the vizibility.
.
Adding a dressing to the line has recently become a habit it certainly adds a yard or two and iimproves floatability.

[Paul Arden]

I haven’t tried that line Andy. I know that I would want to weigh it. With the 125 on the HT6 I use a 5 line and not a 6. That line is on the upper end of the scale.

Hi Lasse, Ballistic are making some lines for this test. Easier may not be the word - “optimised”. I used a 5WT MED of course and I think you did too. I guess we were reckless fools back then

Cheers, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

Just because someone claims to have made a line to pass a test, doesn't mean its the best tool for the test, or that it makes the test easier
Yeah, we where young, reckless clean shaven fools, and where told it should be taken with a 4wt DT

You know the current CI test, what kind of line would you use if it should be as easy as possible to pass it?

Cheers
Lasse

[Paul Arden]

Lots of people think they will struggle with distance. So 7WT with a head long enough for the shorter work but no longer. That’s the way people think nowadays.

Optimising the tackle instead of developing their casting. You know my first exams had no distances. Distances only appeared in those tests after the FFF became more global (sorry about that).

Cheers, Paul