At the fly fishing symposium in NJ, I got a copy of “The Night Game”. It’s a defective DVD, because it ends prematurely, and I need to figure out how to get it replaced.
However, in the part that does work, Joe Humphries mentions the Cortland Deep Nymphing fly line. The impression I have is that the Deep Nymphing line is basically a coated running line that floats. So when you cast, you are actually casting the “weight” of the fly rather than the line itself.
It’s intended for use with heavy nymphs – hence “deep nymphing”. You probably could get the same result by loading your reel with mono, except that mono doesn’t float. And, of course, that would be illegal in fly fishing only water.
In Master Nymphing Strategies video, Joe does talk about using mono when nymphing bigger, deeper rivers to help get the nymph down in the water column quicker than using a fly line. It was interesting to see him use this method, but not something I think I will get to use that often as I don’t fish many “big rivers”.
I think you’ve got it. Joe has also said you could use, for instance, a 1 or 2wt line for the same purpose as the deep nymphing line. It floats and shoots and mends like a flyline should, but it’s (relatively) small diameter makes it a good candidate for dropping through the water column with a long leader and lotsa weight…and it keeps ya legal in FFO areas…
[This message has been edited by LigonierA1 (edited 10 December 2005).]