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All our preparation, consideration and decisions regarding our gear come to the test at the moment we begin our first cast. The gear has to perform at the level we demand ... as we expect it to ... as we know it will. That's what this section is all about. Performance and expectation! The products ... rods, reels, lines and the rest of the angler's arsenal ... featured in these articles are evaluated by our staff of anglers. These anglers come from every level of the sport ... novice to expert. Each has a different perspective, and experience level from which they view and evaluate "quality and performance" in the products reviewed. This is good ... it provides you with definite information from the eyes of real anglers fishing their streams, increasing their knowledge and taking this opportunity to share it with you.
RIO LINE REVIEW - RIO OUTBOUND
I recently purchased a TFO 6wt Pro for smallie and larger trout streamers. I did some research on what line would be best suited for this.
I am a Rio fan, so I looked at the Clouser, Bass, and Rio Outbound. I was looking for something that I would be able to cast pretty easily at shorter distances but still be able to punch out there in the wind. There is not a lot of difference in these lines for the average caster (me). I opted for the Outbound Short. It seemed to have the best taper for repeated short distance casting, but also had a nice taper to the running line so it could be shot a longer distance.
The nice thing about the Outbound is it is specifically designed for a double haul approach with no false casting. This is a blessing for leaded flies since false casting seems to attract the fly to my shoulder/neck/head area. This is definitely heavier than a normal 6wt line; in fact it feels almost like a 7wt. This is good for slowing down the slightly faster action rods that are popular today. An added perk was the line, while being larger in diameter and weight, I was still able to tie on a nymph and indicator rig and cast it out there in pretty windy conditions.
Figured with all the smallie and streamer junkies out there, this might help someone. Definitely let me know your thoughts on the Clouser, Bass, and any other streamer-esqe line you use.
Zachary Hoyt
River/Stream Guide