Is the line important? Isn’t line just a way to get your lure out to the fish? In fly fishing, the line is more than just “string” to get the lure to your target. For fly casting to work you have use a line for the weight to load the rod. Meaning if you have just basic monofilament fishing line on your fly rod it won’t cast well, if at all. The line has a weight and that is what causes us to be able to cast those weightless flies to our target. Over the years, I have used lines from many manufacturers – some worked well and others completely hindered the performance of the rod. So the line is very important. A very nice, read expensive rod, can cast horribly if paired with a poor quality line. Yet a decent, affordable rod will cast infinitely better with a nice line.
BRANDS WE LIKE
We are getting closer now so let’s talk about the brands we find most successful and what our experience has shown us in this area. After using various lines, I have found two brands that across the board offer the qualities I find essential – performance, durability, customer service and quality. I have found that Rio Products and Airflo fly fishing lines offer those qualities and more. They have great lines that consistently perform and do not disappoint the angler.
If you look at Rio’s website for a list of their trout lines there are 14 options there, but I recommend the Grand and Gold models for your everyday fishing situations. The other lines offer many specialty features that are great, but not necessary for most of the fishing community. Rio has a very smooth coating called AgentX on their lines that is great for a nice, efficient cast. They also use MaxCast and MaxFloat on them to create a superior performing fly line. The Grand model is built a line weight heavier to make sure you get a fully loaded rod on each cast. The Gold is designed with a specific line taper to load easily in close, but also give amazing control on longer casts.
Airflo has a model called the Super-Dri Xceed which will give you a great experience on the water also. Their page has lots of specialty options as well, but this is the best all-around line for most situations. The SuperDri technology has been developed for the serious floating line angler, featuring a friction-reducing coating, which lets the line glide through the rod rings and adds yards to your cast. Another new feature of the SuperDri range from Airflo is ‘Zone Technology’ ensuring the line doesn’t stick to the rod guides when hauling and shooting. This new line technology will minimize friction during the cast. The SuperDri Xceed has been designed to load today’s faster action fly rods. This slightly heavier weight forward head has a condensed taper optimized for casting into the wind and generating higher line speeds.
The long and short is that you can’t go wrong with any of these lines for your fishing. I have found the “you get what you pay for” analogy to be very true. Don’t skimp on your fly line; your time on the water will be infinitely more enjoyable.