3WT line suggestions

[Nate540]

Ok so I just ordered a new St. Croix 3WT Blank to build. Its 7'9" Fast action. Looking for suggestions on fly line. Longest casting I'll be doing might be 25' but most will be well under 20'. This is my first 3WT and looking for help on Line choice. I've had good luck with Rio in the past but open for anything.

Also as far as the fishing it will be about 50-50 on dries and nymphs. Will also be doing a lot of roll casting. Actually roll casting is quite important as about 70% of my casts will be roll casts.

Any help would be great

 

[jacob]

I've got an orvis hydros superfine 3wt line. It roll casts nicely on my redington CT 3wt (Which is more of a medium action). if I remember correctly the line is a double taper.

I like the line a lot - very smooth.

I've had problems with the tip sinking on me, but that is to be expected with thinner lines. Keeping it nice and clean has mitigated that issue for the most part.

 

[dano]

DT4F 444 peach.

 

[redietz]

dano wrote:
DT4F 444 peach.

That would be my gut feeling, to overline for a fast action rod that I expected to only cast short distances, but perhaps a rod that's 7'9" for 3 weight already takes the short distance into account when they rated the rod. I'd try both a 3 and a 4 before making up my mind.

I agree with the DT, unless they only make the line chosen in WF. No reason to get a WF at the distances talked about here -- you'll never see the running line. (And this is the perfect situation for cutting a DT line in half.)

 

[krayfish2]

Rio gold wf3f or in a dt4f.

 

[moon1284]

I'd go with peach 444 dt3f. But I like using lines on the lighter end of the spectrum.

 

[bigjohn58]

I just got Hook&Hackle's WF 3wt line. Seems just fine.

 

[tomgamber]

my personal opinion is that on a rod that short you can save money on 3wt line. if its a 10 ft rod and you're laying out dries on a big river to finicky fish, spend the money. if you're fishing small streams you won't notice a huge difference.

 

[Nate540]

Thanks for the input guys. Will over lining it help with roll casts or hinder? I have a 4wt GLomis that i have 5wt on and I love it but have never tried 4wt line on it

 

[dano]

I assumed it was the St Croix Legend Elite Series you purchased. I've fished that rod. liked it.
The 444 DT4F on that 3 wt rod should work out well for the type of casts you described. The 444 Peach has a fine 6" level tip so you might want to test cast and decide if you need to cut and shorten it an inch or two. I'd definitely cut off the welded loop.
Then use a .018" or a .017" dia. leader butt.
H&H has their in-house DT lines for $30. Unfortunately, they only come in olive and I've never cast them. Not sure if they are heavy versions of standard line weights.

 

[SteveG]

A 4wt will likely help with roll casting, because the mass is increased, therefore helping to load the rod. Heck, if you have a 5wt line already, try that, with the type of leader you plan on using, on the 3wt rod.

 

[tridentfly]

Nate - which St. Croix rod is it?

 

[Number6]

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of both the Rio single handed spey and Wulff triangle taper, both in three weight.

 

[Nate540]

Its a Legend Elite blank

 

[LetortAngler]

+1 Rio Gold WF3F

 

[10November]

I have a St Croix Imperial 8'6'' 4wt and use both the 4wt and 5wt peachy line. Both roll cast well. I have also have Rio DT 4wt line and it acts in a similar manner as the 5wt Peachy line. The 5wt Peach DT line casts dries much better than the 4wt at longer distances which is expected but the 4wt line has its advantages on still water and finicky fish which are spooked more easily. I like using the DT lines much better than the WF lines.

 

[3oh4]

The problem with fly fishing, the longer you do it the more variables your mind processes.

It really depends on what your doing with the rod. If its a very flexible rod and supposed to be more of a dry fly rod I would keep it at 3wgt. line proportions. If it has some *** behind it and your going to be nymphing/streamer fishing primarily then you can over line it and it will be much easier for you to cast/roll.

But at 7'9 I have no idea why someone would want to buy a 7'9 rod and want to make it a nymphing rod, unless your are nymphing native sized streams all the time.