Fly Lines

Choosing a Fly Line

If trout and other species of fish only fed on food on the surface of the lake waters, fly fishing would be easier. Since fish feed at a variety of depths, fly fishing becomes a little more challenging. Especially, when it comes to selecting a fly line. You need a selection of sinking fly lines and also a floating line to cover all environments. For beginners a floating line is a good start.

Floating lines actually have multiple uses because of the versatility of the fly line. You can use floating line when fishing with dry flies on the surface, as well as nymphs and streamers from just below the surface to the deep waters of the lake. Floating lines have their limitations. How deep you can fish with the floating line is dependent upon the length of the leader, the weight of the fly and the fisherman’s patience. The floating line is the top choice for general fishing conditions for streams and lakes.

The Intermediate slow sinking fly line sinks about 1 to 2 inches per second depending on the manufacturers line. This fly line is a good selection for shallow to medium depths of water because of the slower sinking rate of the line. With the use of this line the amount of time you have to wait for the fly to sink is decreased.

The fast sinking fly line sinks about 3 to 5 inches per second. You can get a variety of degrees of sinking lines, depending on the brand, some are medium slow to ultra fast sinking. This type of fly line is perfect for fishing in the drop-off area of the lake or from boats. On hot days trout like to occupy these drop-offs because of the cooler water temperature closer to the bottom. This can be very important to the trout during the warm summer months. The plants in most drop-off areas are still photosynthesizing, so the plants are still growing making for the abundance of insect or fish food.

The use of the fast sinking fly line makes more sense than a slow sinking fly line if your species of fish is active deep down. You want to make sure that you are retrieving your line as close to the bottom as possible. So you will need to do some calculating. Count the time it takes for the fly to reach the bottom using the specifications on the package. This will help you know when you should retrieve your line, however, if you are constantly getting snagged on the vegetation at the bottom, you will want to wait less time before retrieving your fly line.

The good thing when looking into fly line, even though there are several different manufacturers that make fly line, they all have the same name and classifications for their lines. If you choose a 6-weight fly line from one manufacturer it is the same (Supposedly so) as the 6-weight fly line from another manufacturer. The only difference in the fly lines is the quality, the core, the outer material or how high the floating line rides or sinks. However, most good quality lines are basically the same.

In choosing a fly line you must know several factors before making the purchase. What fly are you casting? Is it a wet fly or a dry fly? Will you be making short casts or long casts? Will you be making a delicate dry fly presentation or slogging saltwater flies in windy conditions?

So while you are taking all of that in, I will tell you about some of the different types of fly lines you will have to choose from.The “DT” line is designed to be tapered at both ends.Since both ends are tapered, when one end wore out, you could take the line off the reel and rewind the worn out end first.It has been used for a number of years as a general fly line.It is good for dry flies, as it delivers the fly delicately on the water (dependingon the caster).

The “WFF” also known as Weight Forward Floating line is used for fishing nymphs, streamers, and artificial bait. It is good for windy conditions and shoots out easier.

Then there is a newer line called the “TT” or Triangle Taper, which has a longer distance of taper. It is a good casting line and rolls out smooth. This not only makes it a good dry fly line, but also a great line for roll casting.

“Level” line is used for steelhead or blue-water fishing from boat or shore. It is a specialty distance type of line. It is used as running line for shooting heads. Shooting heads with lead cores can be very heavy.

A “WFS” also known as Weight Forward, Sinking is good for some special uses such as fast bottom fish or lakes. When you start pulling up a full sinking line out of the water and casting the line can be tough.

You can also get floating lines with a tip section, about 10 feet or so, will sink and take your fly with it. There are sink-tips that sink fast or very fast and you can also get the ones that sink slow and even slower than that.

It all boils down to matching the type of fish, fly and water you will be fishing in to choose the best line.

Basically, you can get a combination of fly lines from the size, to the way they are designed. Such as a double taper, or to the way they float or sink such as a fast sinking fly line. You can also get different colors in them, depending on the manufacturer. The colours range from high visibility fluorescent lines, clear ones to camouflaged fly lines.