Bamboo…Other than trying to copy a tarditionalist trend …What if any , are the advantages of using a Sylk fly line? Also what if any any maintenance is required over a standard fly fine? Also I’m looking at a Cortland 444 sylk and maybe that’s not the same as a “silk” line?
I have a 444 Sylk 6wt dt and I love it. They are a slightly smaller diameter for the older smaller guides but that is also good for modern guides. They also have one of if not the smoothest, supple finishes on a fly line. Treat that baby with ZipCast and you will be delighted with it!
I treat all of my lines with ZipCast.
SYLK and SILK, ain’t the same. 
http://colo2.flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/cortlandsylk.php
What JC said … Cortland Sylk is similar to regular fly lines. Silk are woven silk fiber’s.
As far as advantages to silk lines: they cast very nicely with grass rods but only float for maybe 4 hours then you either have to dry them out and re-coat with red muslin or swap ends by removing and switching ends on the reel. I use silk lines for nostalgia only. Their cost is significantly more than synthetic lines but if treated properly have a useable life span much more than synthetics. Kinda evens up the cost issue.
At my age 4 hours is about my limit without a shoreside lunch or sit so silk works good for me in that regard 
Ok that answered my questions. Thanks JC for that article also…big help. And one more question?..what the heck is “zip cast”?..This bamboo stuff is giving me a whole new education…lol…thanks again…Ed
ZipCast is a line treatment sold by Jerry Brumfield, a.k.a. dotman here on FAOL. In my opinion this is the best treatment for modern lines there is. I use ZipCast, Q-tips and Hoppes Gun Cleaning Patches to clean and treat my lines and rod guides. A very little ZipCast goes a long way. Here is Jerry’s site:
Jerry lives in Lancaster County, Pa. While you are there at his site might I recommend the other products he has. Those fly reel dots are one of the greatest things ever invented for our sport.
IMHO real silk lines are of significantly higher cost, maintenance and care for no real performance gains over the Cortland Sylk. At least not for me but then my casting skills leave much to be desired.
Someone correct me if I am wrong but aren’t real silk lines more abrasive than synthetics and harder on the guides?
Here is the article written by J.C.:
Sorry Eric, but IMHO, real silk line is narrower and faster through the guides (and the air) (SA Shark may be second) than any other fly line made. More expensive and require maintenance for sure. But, the ‘ease’ in the actual fishing/casting is remarkable. Perhaps half the effort.
The smaller body of real silk would translate into lower aerodynamic and hydrodynamic drag numbers for sure. I just never could get used to casting with real silk. I made a video of my fly casting once. It would have been a great gag for the Benny Hill Show.
Eric. Am I correct in stating that you use Zip Cast for your snake guides and fly line?
Bernie
Bernie,
You bet. You haven’t seen sparkling clean guides until you use the ZipCast on them. Heck, I even use it to spot clean my cork grips and the rod itself. Perhaps it is just my imagination but it seems to leave the same super slick coating on the guides that it leaves on the lines. No matter what it is doing it gets them super clean.
A Q-tip soaked with ZipCast will clean the guides and tell me if I have a guide going bad. The Q-tip will cling to any rough spots on the guide. Many thanks to the LadyFisher for that tip too.
I made myself up a little cleaning kit. I put the ZipCast, some Q-tips and gun cleaning patches in a Zip-loc bag. Fits nicely into a vest pocket and keeps everything dry too. I use large bore gun cleaning patches because they are inexpensive at Wal-Mart, soft and lint free. Get the cotton ones like Hoppes, Outers or Remington.
Sylk line from Cortland is a lot thinner like real silk line, however that’s about all they have in common. Real silk is denser, thinner and naturally floats higher in the water and picks up easier due to less surface contact/tension. Sylk is a plastic line that floats a lot lower in the water, tends to wants to sink after only a short period of time(I put floatant on it every 15 minutes or so to keep it afloat). It does not cut through the wind anything like real silk does, but much better then any other plastic line I’ve used. On older bamboo rods with small guides(some have very small stripper guides) the Sylk is nice and goes through them great. If you want to fish a plastic line on bamboo Sylk is your best option.
Host Ray,
Sounds to me like you may have a damaged or defective line. Personally I have not had any problems with my Sylk staying afloat for long periods of time. If you are not using the ZipCast already I suggest getting a bottle of it and giving the line several treatments with it. I have had that stuff revive lines that should have been tossed. I only use them for practice now but could easily fish them if I wanted too. After using the ZipCast on my Sylk the coating feels smooth as butter on it.
Ray’s not the only one. I had 2 Sylks. One a DT 4w and the other a WF5w. They make better sink tip lines than floating. Being a smaller diameter doesn’t help with the floating either. I’m guessing when you dress your line that’s what’s keeping it floating. I’d rather fish than keep coating the first ten feet of Sylk with a floatant, which is what I did. I sold both lines, picked up some Rio Trout Select II last year for my 5w and put some Sharkskin on my 4w. Both lines (TSII and Sharkskin) are a lot better than the Sylk in my opinion. I fish with glass, cane and plastic. Bamboo rods with modern size guides can throw any line out there. Like Ray said, the older rods had smaller diameter guides and that’s where Sylk has an advantage. Slight advantage. And if you have Sylk and it floats, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, right?
RS1 & Ray are not alone either!
I saw zero advantage to the Sylk except that I liked the color. I couldn’t get rid of mine fast enough. It was too soft, too sticky and floated so-so for a limited amount of time. I used it on a new bamboo and quickly switched to a Rio Classic which works fantastic on the rod.
As far as the diameter advantage with small guides on old bamboo; hardly anybody I know using REALLY old cane with small guides is fishing the line weight those rods were made for because many of those older rods are really slow by today’s standards. That means a lot of those 5-6-7 wt rods are being fished with 4wt or even 3wt lines. In those cases, the original silk line that SHOULD be used on those rods, isn’t a whole lot thinner than some of the lighter weight plastic lines being used on them today.
Bottom line, a 3 or 4wt plastic line goes just fine though those small guides made for a 5-6-7 wt silk line. I have quite a few older rods and I have no problems with modern fatter lines and I use the rated line sizes under all circumstance including a 7wt Battenkill, a 6wt F.E.Thomas, an 8wt Leonard, a 6wt Fenwick and some other old 6wt glass rods.
The only time I HATE the fat lines on the smaller guides is when it is below freezing, but guides icing is not a problem that is solved by having large guides or a small diameter line.
As far as real silk goes; I tried them, I liked them but I can’t be bothered with the hassles for the nostalgia which is about the only advantage I realized. If I want to go the nostalgia route that bad, I’ll go back all the way to gut and snelled hooks and really make myself miserable.
Out of curiosity how many of you, other than me, actually use the ZipCast to treat your Cortland Sylk line?
I don’t. I use Glide, and have some Rio dressing also. Haven’t had the chance to use Zip Cast yet. I haven’t use any dressing on my SS yet, just the Rio lines. (had the Rio longer) They seem to float great by themselves. I do use dressing to clean my lines but not to treat them for floating purposes.
ZipCast is great stuff, however it is NOT a floatant, nor does it claim to be. Zipcast will actually allow a sink tip line to sink faster(from their website). They make no claim as to it allowing lines to float any better, it’s design is to make the line shoot easier and faster through the guides, nothing more, that’s what it’s designed for and it works great. This is simple science, plastic lines float due to displacement, silk floats because it’s lighter then water. The thinner the plastic line the less displacement it can offer and the faster it will sink. Sylk is thinner then any other lines currently on the market, so it’s logical it will have a tendency to sink after minimum usage(and it does).
I never said it was a floatant either. I said it was a line treatment. There is a difference of opinions, experience and results here. The author of the thread got the different opinions they were looking for. They can draw their own conclusions.
As far as having to take time out from fishing to clean your lines that is a given if you are going to fish for the species I normally fish for in some of the best places I fish. No, I am not a gin clear water trout purist. If you are going to rip bucket mouths out of their lair you will be getting your lines dirty quickly in mid summer when the pond scum, lily pads and weeds start to grow rapidly. Just the nature of the waters I choose to fish.
I have to agree with Ray and the others …My 5wt Sylk line was terrible and I used it to tie up tomato plants …when I have to go plastic on my grass rods its Cortland Peach or Hook and Hackle line for me.