I received my generic fly line yesterday. It is bright green (“fruit green”) and is 100 feet in length. It has welded loops on both ends. The finish on the line is smooth and without defects. The line casts well.
This is quite a bargain. Of course, I cannot comment on durability at this point, but I’m eager to see how it holds up to use. My first impression is positive.
Northern Sport of Ontario produces lines for private brand resale. That’s what the Global Dorber lines that RickZ mentioned are.
I have one of their lines on a reel right here on my desk that I bought sometime back in 1981-82. I don’t use it anymore, but I could. No cracks.
I get mine from a shop in Denver … $9.50. They say that the lines are factory seconds but I’ve never seen anything to justify that.
I’ve got 7 or 8 of 'em… no issues.
I’m not sure if there are only 4 manufacturers of fly line or not. I suspect there may be some in the US and a bunch in China, Korea, etc.
I know that a number of top rod companies have their rods built by manufacturers overseas.
The thing is this: even if they are actually made overseas, the company provides the design for the materials and the design of the line itself - taper, weight, etc. As with most products we buy, fly lines are built with varying qualities of material and quality of manufacture.
I would guess that a very popular fly line, built by or to the specs of a long-time builder of fly lines could command a higher price for their product.
If you read the George Anderson fly rod shootouts, he prefers a particular, and expensive fly line to be used in rod comparisons. I would venture to guess he knows a bit about fly lines and their quality.
Now, that may only matter to a small percentage of the fishing public, but I think it supports price differentiation amongst fly lines.