Advice with fly line

[Joerugs]

Not a newby by any means, but definitely not an experienced fisher. But I know enough to know to ask for help or advice. What kind of line would be advised to put on a 9' 6wt rod to be used as a universal outfit. Some say to go one line higher than the rod for casting ease. Do you agree?

 

[bigjohn358]

It depends on the line you choose. I have 6wt on my 6wt rod. It works great. I have 3wt line on a 2wt. It just loads it better. I also have an 8wt that in order to cast it right I had to jump up to a 9wt line. Its something you kind of have to experiment with. Also there are some lines you can purchase that are actually a half size bigger even just to slightly overload your rod. There are so so many line optons now days that its hard to experience them all. You kind of just have to pick one and go with it and if it works great if not on to the next!

 

[wildtrout2]

Its something you kind of have to experiment with.

Considering the cost, experimenting with fly lines can get expensive.

 

[Brianh]

IMO it really depends on the rod, and the type of fishing which you covered with universal.
Some people like a 1/2 heavy line with a fast rod. For a medium or slower rod, it's almost always a true to weight line with a tapered (not heavily WF) head. I personally like a true to weight line with a heavily tapered head for a fast rod (Rio gold or SA mastery trout).

 

[falcon]

The type of rod (action profile), the type of fishing (dries, indicator rigs, streamers) typical casting distance, stream or river size and casting ability need to be considered when choosing a line. Trial and error can cost money.

I can match any of my rods from ultra fast Sage Ignitor to Med Scott GS with one of the following, Rio Gold, Rio Tech Trout, SA Standard and SA Trout. Example would be Ignitor - Gold, Scott GS - SA Trout. Gold is .3 over standard weight and a good general purpose line. The others are standard weight.

There are others including 1/2 weight to 1 weight over for unique situations but the lines above is where I start.

 

[Bamboozle]

Not a newby by any means, but definitely not an experienced fisher. But I know enough to know to ask for help or advice. What kind of line would be advised to put on a 9' 6wt rod to be used as a universal outfit. Some say to go one line higher than the rod for casting ease. Do you agree?

Ahhh, the quandary of today's mislabeled fly rods and the mislabeled fly lines that were created to compensate...

Sort of like the "relaxed" fit jeans of the fly fishing world...

Joerugs:

The previous posters covered all of the issues and pitfalls but you would be MUCH better off telling the board what rod you talking about and asking about line preferences for that PARTICULAR rod.

The next thing is to figure out if the line you are using presently is a true to weight line or an over weight line by looking it up or mentioning which line you are currently using. Once that info is known, it is much easier to make recommendations as to whether you need a different weight line, a different profile or nothing at all...

Keep in mind, just because somebody SAYS you should overload a rod to make it more "universal" doesn't mean you should or that it is even necessary. If you like the rod & line combo you are using right now, you may not have to do a thing...

Good luck!!!

 

[poopdeck]

No I do not agree. Keep it simple. Complicating the simple seems to be a tenet of fly fishing. Cortland 444 6wt line. Peach of course.

 

[jifigz]

No I do not agree. Keep it simple. Complicating the simple seems to be a tenet of fly fishing. Cortland 444 6wt line. Peach of course.

I'm a peach supporter. I haven't bought anything other than peach in years.

I also fish slower action rods...... That's kind of outdated, right?

But I like peach. Rio Gold is solid, too, but costs a lot more.

 

[bigjohn358]

I'm a peach supporter. I haven't bought anything other than peach in years.

I also fish slower action rods...... That's kind of outdated, right?

But I like peach. Rio Gold is solid, too, but costs a lot more.

Last time I tried 444 peach it sunk right out of the package. I couldn't keep it floating. Then half way through the day the line actually broke on me. I've never had that ever happen with a fly line. Cortland did warranty it but when I got a new pack I ended up selling it to someone.

 

[jifigz]

Last time I tried 444 peach it sunk right out of the package. I couldn't keep it floating. Then half way through the day the line actually broke on me. I've never had that ever happen with a fly line. Cortland did warranty it but when I got a new pack I ended up selling it to someone.

You know what, my most recent peach has had a sinking problem, too, so maybe Cortland lines are going downhill.

 

[Bamboozle]

A recommendation for those of us with rods that bend...

...Try a Sci Angler Mastery.

I happen to prefer the DT and I realize it costs more than a Peach, but it's a great line in a not so horrible color. . It's all I've used on my rods for a long time.

 

[bigjohn358]

A recommendation for those of us with rods that bend...

...Try a Sci Angler Mastery.

I happen to prefer the DT and I realize it costs more than a Peach, but it's a great line in a not so horrible color. . It's all I've used on my rods for a long time.

I have a spool of that SA Trout Mastery line...I didn't like it. It was way too limp and didn't roll over enough for my liking when nymphing. My all time favorite lines were Cortland 333+ which was in an olive green color. They are no longer made. I currently have $14 no name ebay DT floating line on my main rod. It rolls the line so well. I liked it so much I have a backup spool of it as well! I've spent anywhere from $9 to $100 on fly line. Most of the expensive I haven't found worth it!

 

[Bamboozle]

I have a spool of that SA Trout Mastery line...I didn't like it. It was way too limp and didn't roll over enough for my liking when nymphing...

I guess it's a preference thing but I like the softest limpest fly lines I can find...

In addition to Mastery lines I have a few 20+ year old Rio Classic lines I love because they are so broken in they are super limp. I also fish real silk lines which just get more supple the longer you use them.

It's funny but I never found a limp line to be a hindrance to roll casting as long as my leader was up to the task. In my case that means a regular shorter knotted leader with a heavy butt or a shorter braided butt leader.

Possibly my moderate action rods may have something to do with it but that's all I use for trout so I wouldn't know if a different action would behave differently with a limp line.

 

[wildtrout2]

Keep it simple. Complicating the simple seems to be a tenet of fly fishing.

Could not agree more.

 

[PennKev]

What kind of line would be advised to put on a 9' 6wt rod to be used as a universal outfit. Some say to go one line higher than the rod for casting ease. Do you agree?

Disagree. Particularly with a rod rated already as a 6wt. A 7wt line is not a general purpose trout line so I would not be inclined to use it or recommend up-lining to one for general purpose trout use. Perhaps for certain situations, but not for any typical dry fly, nymph or light streamer applications.

As much as it has been in vogue to recommend putting heavier lines on rods than what is on the rod label, the need to do so is overstated in reality IMO.

 

[poopdeck]

Last time I tried 444 peach it sunk right out of the package. I couldn't keep it floating. Then half way through the day the line actually broke on me. I've never had that ever happen with a fly line. Cortland did warranty it but when I got a new pack I ended up selling it to someone.

Well that sucks. Maybe mislabeled because I have 444 on most everything and have never noticed a sinking problem. Now I feel an urge to check but it’s raining.

 

[bigjohn358]

I guess it's a preference thing but I like the softest limpest fly lines I can find...

In addition to Mastery lines I have a few 20+ year old Rio Classic lines I love because they are so broken in they are super limp. I also fish real silk lines which just get more supple the longer you use them.

It's funny but I never found a limp line to be a hindrance to roll casting as long as my leader was up to the task. In my case that means a regular shorter knotted leader with a heavy butt or a shorter braided butt leader.

Possibly my moderate action rods may have something to do with it but that's all I use for trout so I wouldn't know if a different action would behave differently with a limp line.

Dry fly fishing limp is great. Nymphing with an indicator limp isn't that great. The rollcasting just isn't as good with a super limp line. The line needs some backbone plus I'm not worried about a super delicate presentation often when using an indicator. Same thing can be said when streamer fishing as well.