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I am looking to replace some fly lines on my reels. With today's line running $60 or more for the top quality lines, I am looking at spending $180 or so for 3 new lines. That's a little out of my budget and I just need a good quality line for general freshwater use. Any recommendations on a more "popular priced" line? I am thinking something in the $25 to $45 range.
Thanks
Dr Bob
In in the brands/lines below, you will find good, durable, floating, sink tip, sinking, bass taper, etc. lines. I really like the Rio Mainstream lines and the Cortland 444 classic.
Cortland 444 Classic
Cortland 333+
Cortland 333 Pro
Rio Mainstream
Rio Classic
Scientific Anglers Mastery Headstart
Scientific Anglers Air Cell Supreme 2
I can recommend the Scientific Anglers Air Cel lines (for under $25 usually). This a green floating line.
Randy Knapp
I agree with tailingloop. The Cortland 444 Classic really is a nice line and they seem to last forever. I don't use one on my primary rod, but it usually is the strung up on my secondary rod in the boat. The line is now four years old and still going strong. The rest of the lines he lists are all pretty decent lines too.
You may want to try a Dorber fly line. At $14.40, they are hard to beat on price. I bought one several years ago and didn't like the feel of it, but the line did perform well. The reason I didn't like it is that it was kind of a rough line and felt like a golf ball going through the guides. One of my friends didn't mind it at all and used the line on a regular basis. Well worth $14 though.
[url=http://www.dorber.com/flylinesub.html:2b525]http://www.dorber.com/flylinesub.html[/url:2b525]
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Warren F.
Bozeman, MT
I think those Dorber lines are great! I bought two of them three years ago and at first I was a tad alarmed at the bright chartreuse color. The fish didn't seem to care. They've been wonderful - and at the family price! My favorite is probably the Cortland peach line (444) but the Dorber lines are probably the best deal in town -- or out of it.
Bill
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Name indicates where I fish and for what I fish.
Depending on the kind of performance you want from your lines you could get away with a Cortland Fairplay or SA Concept line but from my experience the best bang for the buck would have to be the Cortland 444 Peach line which is now called the 444 Classic.
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Jamie
[url=http://www.jamiescustomflies.com:4acb9]Jamie's Fly & Tackle Shop[/url:4acb9]
I've seen a lot of kudo's here, and other places for the Hook & Hackle lines....might want to give them a look also.
I'm a big fan of the 333 lines
I would guess that I own close to 20 of them.
Cheap from H&H
[url=http://www.discountfishinginc.com/:5d7bc]http://www.discountfishinginc.com/[/url:5d7bc]
This place has factory second lines for $8.50
I'm never tried one but I've been pleased with other items purchased from them.
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"The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life"
I have been very pleased with the BassPro line.
[url=http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=25195&hvarDept=175&hvarE vent=&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=bro wse:72fc7]http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=25195&hvarDept=175&hvarE vent=&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=bro wse[/url:72fc7]
They tell me it is made by SA. I have 3 of them that I use regularly.
Brian
you could try mill end or slight seconds, most are from branded companies and are very cheap, I use nothing else these days. 5 lines for $40 approx inc postage http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif
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Born to fish, forced to work.
The SA Head Start is a great line and can be had for $35 from a couple of different on-line sources. It's part of the Mastery Series which means it has the same AST coating as the $60 lines as well as the same core construction. The only downside (if there is one) is that it's an 85' line and not a 90', with my casting stroke I'll never know the difference. I got turned onto these a few weeks ago at a casting class I attended, the guy who told me about them is a retired guide among other things and he uses them almost exclusively, fresh and salt water. Good stuff!!
Thanks for the comments. I ordered a Hook & Hackle line to try it. I have a Cortland Classic line. It is a great line. It runs about $46 and I wanted to see what others have experienced with lower priced lines. I have not tried the SA Air Cell line or Rio lines. Anyone out there used Cabela's store brand line and how does it compare?
Dr Bob
Ask for used, but high quality lines on here. Should be able to get top lines for about half.
Look at one of the sponsors here:
[url=http://www.hookhack.com:8d69e]www.hookhack.com[/url:8d69e]
With the 20% discount on orders you could probably get a "high end" line and stay in your price range. Just a suggestion.
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Warren
Ron Kusse now has lines, they also come with a container of conditioner too. He's a sponsor here, give him a call!
I have gotten many Rio and SA lines on Ebay for 1/2 price of list ($25-$30). It takes a little time and playing around, but if you have some lead time and want to make the effort, that is one item that you can do some good on. Never had any problems with the transactions, most of the sellers just mailed them with priority mail and I had them in a couple days after winning the bid.
Also, I like Teeny lines for anything with a sink line need, and his lines are very good for this application, and a shade less than the big three. Also Sportsman's Wharehouse carries Teeny lines and sometimes they are discounted (end of season).
Good luck.
Hey Littlebrook,
Just out of curiousity, how did the Dorber line "feel" for you? Did you notice how rough it felt going through the guides? As I said, it seemed to perform well enough but just felt weird to me. Oh no, another it may just be me situation...... <g>
I agree that at $14 it is a hard deal to pass up. I actually was planning on buying a sinking line from them and am starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn't add on another floater and give them another shot. It isn't like I have never bought a faulty $60 line before. Perhaps that was just the case for me.
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Warren F.
Bozeman, MT
Hi troutbum,
At first I could feel the "roughness" of the line. If I thought about it, yup, it was there. But when I stopped thinking about the line and instead thought about where I wanted to put the fly, the "roughness" disappeared. If you don't pay attention to the feel, it's no longer an issue.
Also seems to me that some line company several years ago "featured" a textured, or bumpy, surface. They said that it had less friction against the guides than a smooth line. Only the bumps hit the guides, not the whole line. Probably hype, but it would allow you to consider the "roughness" of the Dorber line a feature.
For $15 it's great.
G'luck
Bill
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Name indicates where I fish and for what I fish.
I'm a big fan of the Wulff Triangle Taper lines, and they recently put a new coating on their lines. So last years (and previous years, I'd assume) lines can usually be found in discount bins of flyshops and on the web. I've picked up a couple of these myself (in a shop).
Just another voice in the wilderness.
Bob,
I highly recommend the Scientific Anglers Air Cel Supreme 2 lines. I think they're selling for about $38 these days. I could buy more expensive lines (and have tried them) but I don't. All the so-called "new and improved" lines are just a bunch of horse puckey, in my opinion.
Common sense might tell you that in fly casting, the rod is the most important element. It may be, or it may not be. If the fly line is not the most important, it comes in a darn close second. My point is, the vast majority of fly casters put far more attention to the selection of a fly rod than the fly line. I suppose difference in cost would account for that, but add up the cost of the fly lines you own, and you better be sitting down when you do...
Quotation from [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/cst/cst111197.html:51069]"Oh What a Line!" by James Castwell, November 3rd, 1997[/url:51069]
Gatabout:
Thanks. You have convinced me, I just ordered one to try. I have not tried the Air Cell SA line and it seems to have a satisfied following like yourself.
Parnelli:
Thanks for the quote from JC. With the cost of lines going up $5 -$10 per year it seems, I am not sure I can justify the latest and greatest fly line for trout, bass and panfish. Maybe if I am going for that once in a lifetime bonefish or tarpon!
Thanks for all the very helpful comments!
Dr Bob
I just bought a Cortland 444 Clear Creek WF4F in a drab olive colour for my 9'6". Love it so far. Nice slick coating, feels almost 'oily', but can't comment on the longevity as I've only used it the once. Cost in the UK was about ?35 - IIRC you pay roughly $1 for each ?1 we spend on fishing gear - so somewhere between $35 and $40 should be about right.
HTH,
SA, GPX or Ultra 4 i will by nothing else.
OK JC,
Now gadabout's doing it! Tyrone oh Tyrone...[G]
Good choice Dr. Bob. Make sure you get the Air Cel Supreme 2, not the regular Air Cel. The regular Air Cel is an OK line but it is a bit too stiff. The Supreme is nice and supple.
If they feel all bumpy have you tried to stretch them out before hand? it might fix the problem. I use the Cabelas 3wt line that came with my combo 4 yrs ago and it still does a good job. But then again I haven't got to fish like I use to. The Cabelas line feels like wire early in the morn when the temp is down but a good stretch and that is solved. I've been wanting to get a few Dorber lines to try myself so any input on them would be good . Thanks Matt AKA... STONEFLY71
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To each there own !
You might try the Cortland Factory Store [url=http://www.cortlandline.com/factorystore/:19d0d]http://www.cortlandline.com/factorystore/[/url:19d0d] I've gotten some good buys there.
Mike