Hi
I do all my fishing in Narraganset Bay in RI from a boat. I have fished with several gudes and all of them use full sinking lines even around structure – I have carried Floating and Intermediate on each trip and never spooled them!. I am changing reels and want to avoid the cost of an additional spool.
Appreciate your input
Dave
spike-2 …
An intermediate line can be a welcome addition to your arsenal. On windy days it will cut through the wind while casting much better than a floater. You will find that you can cast much farther with an intermediate which means more time for the fly to be in the water in the strike zone.
On wavy days the surface waves will not interfere with the action of your retrieve.
There are many benefits.
Hope this helps,
DickM. 
DickM
Thanks for the response. But would not the sinking line do the same thing or do I not understand the difference. I’m thinking the RIO Outbound?
Thanks
Dave
I fished the Greenwich Bay section of Narragansett Bay, out of my kayak, 2-3 times a week this past fall. Maybe 10 weeks straight.
Floating line nearly every day.
Blitzing fish require quick casting and a floating line is easier to pick up and recast.
That said, what Dick said is all true too
It’s an either-or
I find I rarely use an intermediate at all anymore, preferring a floater or a full sink.
Then again I don’t fish Clouser minnows either
In my experience it’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
There are a lot of benefits to each of those lines, it just depends on the fish and what type of presentation they are looking for. I think if you start using an intermediat line on a regular basis, you’ll see that it can come in pretty handy when you do need it. You can certainly get away with using only the other two, but it could make the difference between a good day and a great day.
TT.
I bought an intermediate line on the advice of a number of saltwater types who said that no saltwater arsenal was complete without one. My experience has been that floating lines work well most of the time. If the floating line is not getting the fly into the zone, the intermediate line is not likely too either. Then I will switch to a sinking tip or a full sinking line. I still have the intermediate line but it fits in only a very small, selective niche and therefore doesn’t see much service. Just my 2% of a dollar. I’m sure others will disagree, they always do. 8T 
Dick M’s comments are right on on the castabilty and fishabilty of intermediate lines over floating lines in the wind. It is also true that a sinking line will also cast better into the wind. And Eight Thumbs is correct that you basically fish the same “zone” with a floater or imtermediate. Essentially floating lines and intermediate lines are almost interchangable for that reason. Where the intermediate comes into its’ own is fishing “shallow” in windy conditions. It is my experience that the intermediate will outfish a floating line in strong wave action. But as Thumbs pointed out there are also times where quick casting and easy pick up pays dividends as well and the floater wins in that department.
Guy
spike-2 …
An intermediate line is a sinking line. It is a very slow sinker. 1.25 to 2.0 inches per second.
Other full sinking lines have other sink rate characteristics up to about 6 inches per second.
Hope this helps,
DickM.
Dave,
I fish a Rio ?Outbound? in the saltwater. It really casts well and you can slam it into the wind when necessary. That would be a good choice as long as you don?t have to do too deep.
For going deep I use an Airflo ?Depth Finder? fly line.
Larry 
—sagefisher—
Thanks Everyone very helpful.
I “need” the floater for indicator fishing for salmon here in MI. I will get the full sinker for the Bay annnnnnnd if experience is any indicator I will apply my “faulty” marginal buying analysis and end up with intermediate – just in case.
Dave
Another option for a sinking line would be get an integrated or density compensated sinking line. These lines sink “tip down” first instead of “belly down” as is typical of full floaters. I don’t use my regular full sinkers very much anymore for that reason.
Guy
Good choice.
DickM.
No you don’t need and intermediate line for the Salt.
If you want one buy one if you want to save some money don’t buy one.
99 % of my RI salt fly rodding is done with a floater. The wind doen’t screw with it any more than it does with any of the other lines that I have used. Plus you can pick it up and move and mend with it any time while it is on the water which you can’t do with any of the sinkers, slow or fast.
Buy the line. There is nothing worse then getting into a position while fishing that you need something as simple as a $30 line that could make or break your whole trip. Think of it as insurance for your trip.
Ray,
That’s exactly the message that my salty friends gave me and I bought the intermediate line. So far, I’ve never needed the line, though I do use it on occasion. I really prefer the floating line even in a heavy wind and heavy waves. I’m just curious as to the type of condition that you feel an intermediate line would be necessary and a Clouser floating line wouldn’t suffice. This is an honest question and is not intended as a put down or a smart-Alec response. 8T
An intermediate is my go-to line most of the time.I fish the surf and jettys here and the int. line is superior for keeping the line under the waves and this keeps me in better contact with the fly.An int. line will also let you swin your fly at a specific depth.With a floater or sink tip,your fly is always swimming toward the surface and out of the zone where the fish might be.
Not picking on you Skip, 'cuz this is what 90% of salt anglers believe.
Just like in fresh water fishing, I feel I have more control with a floating line… even in the heavy surf.
With an intermediate, unless you strip, strip, strip, you’re not in contact with your fly. The current is in control of your line.
I often like to cast out and fish the fly in the strike zone before I pull it away.
Just like fishing a nymph on a stream, a dead drift in the longshore current of the surf (or along the edge of a jetty) is deadly and can only be properly controlled with a floating line.
I can also swim a fly on a floating line at a pretty good depth 'cuz I can fish it slow. There’s no need to strip like mad to stay in contact.
I don’t think of these methods as being “outside the box” cuz it’s the same methods you would use if you were fishing in fresh water.
Spike-2,
I fly fish RI also. Earlier this fall I was going to purchase intermediate line from my local fly shop. When I told the guy my intentions at the shop he said you would be better off with T-17. What this is is a loop to loop pieces of weight that go on before your leader. He will tie you pieces in different lengthes to accomadate any situation you may encounter. I have a one foot, three foot and a six foot individual pieces. I found that unless your facing storm conditions the one foot piece is good enough. What he said was you can make your floating line an intermediate and full sink line with the T-17. Otherwise you’ll be spending a hundred and some dollars for both and buying spare spools to make it easier for a quicker change. T-17 is alot cheaper than buying both sets of line. I am very happy with it and it takes less than a minute to add or take off pieces and does the same job as the other two.
Regards,
Shawn
Just Fish …
By using that system, what you will end up with is a sink-tip line, not a full sinking line.
You will still be at the mercy of wave action on the fly and will not have fly contact as with a full sinking line. There will always be a belly in the line at the front end.
Intermediate was probably one of the first sinking lines I bought. Going through just about every one on the market, I found Cortland Clear Camo which IMHO the best there is. Now they have the Precision series along with the regular and if I am reading it right, sinks just a tad faster. Anyway I will let you know later how it is LOL
Denny Rickards swears by the stuff, so I bought it, put on some of his 20 wraps of .20 lead and I have caught the biggest fish of my life.
I will use Intermediate all the time on shallower weedy bottom lakes, except if the wind kicks up then I switch to a TYPE II while been blown around to stay in the zone.
Deep lakes however it is Depth Charge or Type VII. I was surprised this summer how many more of the big guys I got getting down deep and fast, by passing the little guys.
One other thing, On the Snake I prefer Intermediate when fishing Nymphs, because it doesn’t sink very quickly, but I don’t have to add any weight. Fantastic WET FLY line.