Question about Airflo Ridge tropical line

[FlyFlinger]

Flyguy 66, regarding your advice about line-handling skills above, last weekend, before I read your advice, I began using my line hand as a third stripping guide on my delivery cast, and it really helped. Not only did I gain a little distance, it seemed to me that my accuracy improved, too. Not a bad lesson to learn; I had tried this on other lines before, but never kept at it because it didn't seem necessary for good results. You state that the Airflo Ridge tropic line is more responsive than other lines - another way to put it is that it's a bit finicky (semantics!). My tolerance level is high, so unlike jszymczy, I intend to stick with it and improve my skills.

[flyguy66]

Flyguy 66, regarding your advice about line-handling skills above, last weekend, before I read your advice, I began using my line hand as a third stripping guide on my delivery cast, and it really helped. Not only did I gain a little distance, it seemed to me that my accuracy improved, too. Not a bad lesson to learn; I had tried this on other lines before, but never kept at it because it didn't seem necessary for good results. You state that the Airflo Ridge tropic line is more responsive than other lines - another way to put it is that it's a bit finicky (semantics!). My tolerance level is high, so unlike jszymczy, I intend to stick with it and improve my skills.

Yes, that is right. Just like a high performance sports car or a thoroughbred race horse, "finicky" will work too. Ferraris have really tight gear gaps. If you can't double clutch and get the RPMs timed right for shifting, you will frustrate the heck out of yourself trying to drive one. It's not the car you want to take on leisurely Sunday sightseeing drive or a trip down the street to the grocery store. The Airflo Ridge Bonefish and Tarpon lines use a true zero-stretch core and a urethane coating. This combination is incredibly responsive...or finicky. It is also more supple, so slack line that is set up to tangle when pulled will do so more thoroughly than a stiffer line would. It's not for everybody, that's for sure. SA and Rajeff Sports are both fly line sponsors of mine for good reasons. But my personal saltwater rods only have a few lines on them: Airflo Ridge Tarpon and Bonefish, Airflo 40+ Extreme (switch rods), SA Mastery Redfish, SA Saltwater Streamer Express.

[jszymczyk]

Yes, that is right. Just like a high performance sports car or a thoroughbred race horse, "finicky" will work too. Ferraris have really tight gear gaps. If you can't double clutch and get the RPMs timed right for shifting, you will frustrate the heck out of yourself trying to drive one. It's not the car you want to take on leisurely Sunday sightseeing drive or a trip down the street to the grocery store. The Airflo Ridge Bonefish and Tarpon lines use a true zero-stretch core and a urethane coating. This combination is incredibly responsive...or finicky. It is also more supple, so slack line that is set up to tangle when pulled will do so more thoroughly than a stiffer line would. It's not for everybody, that's for sure. SA and Rajeff Sports are both fly line sponsors of mine for good reasons. But my personal saltwater rods only have a few lines on them: Airflo Ridge Tarpon and Bonefish, Airflo 40+ Extreme (switch rods), SA Mastery Redfish, SA Saltwater Streamer Express.

well, I wouldn't drive a Ferrari even if I could ever afford one, and I guess I'm not "good enough" to have fly line sponsors... LOL Thirty years ago, and even more, folks like Lefty Kreh were casting entire lines into the backing, with pinpoint accuracy, with the lines and rods available to them. Catching a whole boatload of fish too. Lefty would cast 80 feet of line with one false cast, and would cast an entire line without a rod at all.... that tells me that any amount of improvement or change in basic fly line properties might help the average guy, but won't really matter THAT MUCH in the big picture. As I said in my first post, the Ridge is a GOOD line. Just like all the other name-brand lines out there.

[flyguy66]

Oh, you're absolutely correct. There are no quantum leaps forward. You can take a bamboo rod using a design from the 1800s and a silk or horsehair line and cast 100' if you're good enough. But if you can do that you can cast a Ridge line without tangling it, too. LOL THAT is the point!

They say football is a game of inches. Fly tackle is a game of a few feet when it comes to casting efficiency. And the only reason we measure it in distance is because that's the easiest way to express it in a quantifiable way. The point is to reduce the amount of work you have to do to make the cast. But that assumes you have good technique. Frankly, your line hand and proper line management is one of the most neglected aspects of fly casting technique among intermediate fly casters. Learning to use the off-hand (line hand) well is a huge part of becoming an advanced caster. And here's the kicker: the better caster you are the more you will enjoy your fly fishing because you will be able to fish in a wider variety of conditions, put flies in front of more difficult to reach fish, make all casts using less effort so you can fish longer more comfortably, and things like that.

Your perspective/opinion is completely valid for the time-pressured angler who can't spend a lot of time improving their casting skills. You do not have to be an expert caster to catch some fish and have a great time! And any typical rod, reel, and line combo will do the trick. The advanced caster can also take a sub-$100 combo and make it "sing." But it won't do for her/him what their favorite gear will. And I promise you that gear will cost more than $100 for the rod, reel, and fly line. I also promise you that the fly line will MSRP for at least $50, because if we had to give up our choice of rod, reel, or line we would all give up the reel first, rod second, and line third.