4 Wt Intermediate Line (Not Clear) isn't available

[mtelesha]

My 4wt Intermediate fly line just died. I went to buy a new one and I can't find anything but clear at the shop or online. I usually am fishing wet flies and use the tip as my indicator. Everyone either doesn't make a colored line or if they do not as a 4 wt. It kind of shows that wet flies just mean across and hope to most people?

1) Does anyone know where I can find a 4 wt intermediate line?
2) Is it possible to color the clear lines so I can have a good 6 inches of color on the tip that doesn't effect the line coats?
3) Is there some sort of butt section I can make that will be as visible as a fly line tip?

 

[krayfish2]

After reading your post, I thought come on... you can't be serious. You are right, very few in four weight and the ones you can find are clear. With that said, I did have a little success......

Cortland ghost tip (3, 5 or 9). Colored line with a 3-ft, 5 ft or 9 ft clear intermediate tip. Another solution might be a slow sinking or clear poly leader that you could fix to a regular fly line.

 

[bigjohn358]

I know some people who dye their fly lines with DyeRite to get the colors they want. I purchased some of this dye but I haven't tried it yet. I'm unsure if the clear will allow the die to penetrate though. Here is an article I found with a quick google.

Dying Fly Lines

Joshua asked about dull colored lines. During the fluorescent wave a few years back, I couldn’t find lines that weren’t so hot they melted the packaging they came in. So I started dying…

www.garyborger.com

 

[hooker-of-men]

RIO ELITE SUB-SURFACE CAMOLUX FLY LINECAMO/DARK GREEN / WF4I

An intermediate sinking line built for camouflage and stealth with low-stretch, ultra-slick performance Incredibly easy roll and overhead casting line design Unique camo coloration on CamoLux for stealth and blending in under water Low-stretch ConnectCore Plus for the best in performance and...

www.tcoflyfishing.com

?

 

[mtelesha]

After reading your post, I thought come on... you can't be serious. You are right, very few in four weight and the ones you can find are clear. With that said, I did have a little success......

Cortland ghost tip (3, 5 or 9). Colored line with a 3-ft, 5 ft or 9 ft clear intermediate tip. Another solution might be a slow sinking or clear poly leader that you could fix to a regular fly line.

It's the tip that I am concerned about but if I can dye the clear line that is a win!
I don't like sink tip lines. My strong opinion is that sink tip lines are a bad for catching fish.
1) You got instant sag in your line. I mostly fish upstream and I can feel over 50% of the strikes. When you have a sink tip you do not have a direct connection to the flies.
2) Myth - Sink Tip lines mean you can mend. You can not mend a sinking tip line and effect the sinking part of the line.you again are putting sag into your line and making it more difficult.
3) Sinking tip lines make you position and cast incorrectly because you can't properly mend when you cast a full sink line you make sure you are casting into the same seam of current UNLEss you are swinging and you then need to adjust your angle to your cast and move your feet to the proper spot to get a successful presentation.

 

[mtelesha]

RIO ELITE SUB-SURFACE CAMOLUX FLY LINECAMO/DARK GREEN / WF4I

An intermediate sinking line built for camouflage and stealth with low-stretch, ultra-slick performance Incredibly easy roll and overhead casting line design Unique camo coloration on CamoLux for stealth and blending in under water Low-stretch ConnectCore Plus for the best in performance and...

www.tcoflyfishing.com

?

YES! When I first saw this I just thought it was a clear line with a dye that was translucent.

 

[Sharknado5]

Barrio Fly Lines from the UK sells olive intermediate sink lines that are great. Zero memory. But I just checked his website and the lightest line listed is a 5-wt. I had previously bought a 3-wt IS line from him and there's a review of a 4-wt. I guess he eliminated some line weights. You could ask him about 4-weights, might have one lying around! He's very responsive to email.

The website says they're manufactured in the US. I wonder where--

 

[hooker-of-men]

YES! When I first saw this I just thought it was a clear line with a dye that was translucent.

Unfortunately, I don't have first-hand experience with the line to testify to the fact that it is not translucent. (I was just bored in the office and poking around to see what I could find.) From the handful of photos I saw, it did look to be regular, opaque line. The Rio site isn't particularly detailed in clarifying the issue...

 

[krayfish2]

I thought you were looking for colored line with a clear tip. My bad. The 3' ghost tip might also work. I'm not a big wet fisher so I bring little to this convo. I would think that you would feel more takes than see them indicated by line movement..... At least that's how I felt when I did any swinging of wets or nymphs

 

[redietz]

I thought you were looking for colored line with a clear tip. My bad. The 3' ghost tip might also work. I'm not a big wet fisher so I bring little to this convo. I would think that you would feel more takes than see them indicated by line movement..... At least that's how I felt when I did any swinging of wets or nymphs

He didn't say anything about swinging wets. If you're fishing either upstream or across, you need to see the tip of the line.

 

[Wetfly01]

Was getting my intermediate fly lines from Barrio Fly Lines for some years, but then Covid hit and couldn't get them. He produced a great intermediate line. Not sure if he's back up an running and selling fly lines again. A few months back I checked his website and no intermediate lines were available. Since then I did some searching and I found a good intermediate line from Cortland. This line has worked great for fishing wets. My son and I have been using it since the beginning of trout season and very bit as good as the Barrio intermediates. The lines run 5,6,7,8 weights. I see your looking for a 4wt line but that 5wt will work fine for you on a 4wt rod and shoot like a rocket. Here is the line from there website.

https://www.cortlandline.com/collections/fly-lines/products/intermediate

 

[bigjohn358]

It's the tip that I am concerned about but if I can dye the clear line that is a win!
I don't like sink tip lines. My strong opinion is that sink tip lines are a bad for catching fish.
1) You got instant sag in your line. I mostly fish upstream and I can feel over 50% of the strikes. When you have a sink tip you do not have a direct connection to the flies.
2) Myth - Sink Tip lines mean you can mend. You can not mend a sinking tip line and effect the sinking part of the line.you again are putting sag into your line and making it more difficult.
3) Sinking tip lines make you position and cast incorrectly because you can't properly mend when you cast a full sink line you make sure you are casting into the same seam of current UNLEss you are swinging and you then need to adjust your angle to your cast and move your feet to the proper spot to get a successful presentation.

Thats a rare style of wet fly fishing throwing up stream. I've seen it done before but not very often!

 

[redietz]

Thats a rare style of wet fly fishing throwing up stream. I've seen it done before but not very often!

Not that rare. I do it regularly, and was the style of fishing that north country wet flies -- aka soft hackles -- were designed for.

And across stream is even more common. In Trout, Bergman described 45 up to 45 down as the standard way of fishing wet flies.

 

[mtelesha]

Barrio Fly Lines from the UK sells olive intermediate sink lines that are great. Zero memory. But I just checked his website and the lightest line listed is a 5-wt. I had previously bought a 3-wt IS line from him and there's a review of a 4-wt. I guess he eliminated some line weights. You could ask him about 4-weights, might have one lying around! He's very responsive to email.

The website says they're manufactured in the US. I wonder where--

I emailed him and he emailed me right back. He had 4 wt lines but they didn't sell well so he was not planning on doing another batch. He stated the whole infrastructure for making fly lines just collapsed and is starting to recover.

 

[mtelesha]

Not that rare. I do it regularly, and was the style of fishing that north country wet flies -- aka soft hackles -- were designed for.

And across stream is even more common. In Trout, Bergman described 45 up to 45 down as the standard way of fishing wet flies.

The 45 degree up and 45 down with a 45' cast covers 90 feet. The issue is just to make sure you are managing the line correctly aka so you can recognize that a fish has taken the fly. Upstream means you see either the tip or the line move and down stream you usually just feel the take.
Another way is to cast directly upstream with a long leader and hit pocket water. This is the way things naturally react when trying to escape. It can be super deadly at times especially on pressured waters.

 

[redietz]

The 45 degree up and 45 down with a 45' cast covers 90 feet. The issue is just to make sure you are managing the line correctly aka so you can recognize that a fish has taken the fly. Upstream means you see either the tip or the line move and down stream you usually just feel the take.
Another way is to cast directly upstream with a long leader and hit pocket water. This is the way things naturally react when trying to escape. It can be super deadly at times especially on pressured waters.

45 degrees, not feet.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Saw those Rio CamoLux on sale this morning, if anyone is still looking:

Rio Products Lake Series Sub-Surface CamoLux Freshwater Fly Line - Save 55%

Rio Products Lake Series Sub-Surface CamoLux Freshwater Fly Line in Camo at Sierra. Celebrating 30 Years Of Exploring.

www.sierra.com