redietz
Well-known member
Horse hair lines were the originals.
I know several people who fish silk lines and love them, but the cost and extra maintenance required have prevented me from pulling the trigger.
Bamboozle
Well-known member
I use real silk exclusively on my bamboo rods.
I find the maintenmce easier than plastic lines, IF you are inclined actually clean & dress plastic lines...
Cost... I'd rather pay double the cost for a real silk line versus a plastic line that will last me a lifetime versus a plastic line at half the cost that will last me a seaocn or two...
I find the maintenmce easier than plastic lines, IF you are inclined actually clean & dress plastic lines...
Cost... I'd rather pay double the cost for a real silk line versus a plastic line that will last me a lifetime versus a plastic line at half the cost that will last me a seaocn or two...
TimMurphy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 2,915
Dear kbf64,
Buy Cortland Sylk fly lines. Much less than half the cost and much less than 10% of the hassle of real silk.
The biggest problem with bamboo rods and modern fly lines is the diameter of the modern line vs. the diameter of the guides on the rod. Cortland 444 Peach was a great compromise, but Cortland Sylk makes 444 Peach irrelevant for bamboo.
And the Sylk line works just fine on fiberglass and graphite too. Imagine that!
Regards,
Tim Murphy
redietz
Well-known member
Bamboozle
Well-known member
I tried a Cortland Sylk when they first came out and didn't care for them at all nor do they cast anything like the real deal.
An alternative to real silk that performs similarly is the Revolution artificial silk lines made by Terenzio Zandri in Italy, the chap who makes me my real silk lines. The Revolution casts more like a real silk line with less need for dressing and drying.
All Terenzio lines are handmade to order and have to be purchased directly from Terenzio who can be contacted via email.
In regards to bamboo rods and line guides, only really old rods (think pre 1950) really had the smaller guides people assume require a thinner line. All of my 1960's - 2000's bamboo rods work just fine with any true to weight plastic line. All I used before switching to real silk a few years ago was the long discontinued Rio Classic DT or a Sci Anglers Mastery DT line.
I also own an 1947 Orvis Bakelite 9bamboo) with smaller guides that I cast with no problem using an Orvis DT7 plastic line I bought back in the late 1980's or early 1990's.
An alternative to real silk that performs similarly is the Revolution artificial silk lines made by Terenzio Zandri in Italy, the chap who makes me my real silk lines. The Revolution casts more like a real silk line with less need for dressing and drying.
All Terenzio lines are handmade to order and have to be purchased directly from Terenzio who can be contacted via email.
In regards to bamboo rods and line guides, only really old rods (think pre 1950) really had the smaller guides people assume require a thinner line. All of my 1960's - 2000's bamboo rods work just fine with any true to weight plastic line. All I used before switching to real silk a few years ago was the long discontinued Rio Classic DT or a Sci Anglers Mastery DT line.
I also own an 1947 Orvis Bakelite 9bamboo) with smaller guides that I cast with no problem using an Orvis DT7 plastic line I bought back in the late 1980's or early 1990's.
