Good "memory" is bad and bad "memory" is good.

FAOL Community Sound Off
1

Yes, when it comes to flylines good “memory” is bad and vice versa! I seem to have a hard time to find a flyline that has no “memory” at all. Since I am from Iceland, fish only locally and the temperature is usually rather cool in the summer compared to most other countries the problem is even worse for me. So I like to ask, does anyone here know about flylines that have no or at least very bad “memory”? :?:

2

jhthorisson -

First of all, welcome and greetings to the FAOL Bulletin Board from SE Idaho.

If you haven’t been exploring this whole website, you’ve got some good wandering around to do in your future.

There are always plenty of good, helpful folks ready to lend a hand and offer an answer or opinion.

There may well be better lines for your purpose, but I’m very well satisfied with the Rio Selective Trout II. The line is well matched by wt designation to the rods I use.

We do get some pretty cold weather around here, and I use the Selective Trout lines on my 3 wt, 5 wt and 7 wt year round, fishing lots of days with the air temps at or close to freezing, occasionally down into the mid 20’s. Some “memory” on really cold days, but always very manageable.

Enjoy your stay. ( And someone is bound to say something like “the new guy brings the donuts” but it won’t be me. )

John

3

Thanks. :slight_smile: I am fairly new to the FAOL BB but the FAOL website has been one of my favourite websites for a few years and I have learned a lot from exploring it. After I discovered FAOL I have become interested in building my own fly rod and I almost certainly will build my first one next winter. I want a good line on the upcoming “masterpiece” so that is one of the reasons I posted my question.

Usually the rivers and lakes open for business 1st April or 1st May and you can be fishing in temperatures below freezing point. I was once fishing in -2?C it was tough because the line kept freezing in the guides on the rod but it was fun and the temperature rose up above freezing point later in the day. Not many lines will be without memory in that kind of situation and I will not be looking for the impossible. :slight_smile:

Anyway about the Rio lines my brother has one on his 5 wt (I don’t know which kind of Rio line he has), he only got it this summer so it is not fully tested yet. He let me try it and I loved the line and indeed it seemed to have no or at least very little memory.

So I was already interested in the Rio lines before you mentioned them. So thanks to you I am even more interested in the Rio lines.

Rio Selective Trout II could very well be a good choice for me since I mostly fish for Brown Trouts and Arctic Char but hardly ever for Atlantic Salmon. There are local shops that sell Rio lines and I am sure to get some good advice about which one to buy.

Jon

4

i like my Wulff triangle taper for winter steelhead fishing. very little memory and many times the guides are freezing up.

5

never personally fished it, but have some friends who have used the scientific angler xps series of lines. they liked em. specifically made for cold water fishing.

6

I don’t get any real memory in my Cabela’s Prestige line. Great stuff.

7

Another vote for Rio Selective Trout and Sci Angler XPS. The Sci Angler Trout line is also very limp.

8

I really like SA XPS lines in part due to their lack of memory. I would advise against a Rio Salmon/Steelhead line. The one I bought on the advise of a flyshop employee was a horrible cold water line, never did straighten out the coils from being on the reel.

Dennis

9

So far the following lines have been recommended both here and in an Icelandic BB as memory free or near memory free lines:

Rio Selective Trout II and Outbound
Snowbee XS
Wulff triangle taper
3M Scientific Anglers XPS, Trout and Sharkskin
Cabela’s Prestige
Jim Teeny Long Shot
LOOP Opti-Stream and Stillwater
Cortland 555
Airflo (newest type)

A few of these lines are not available locally but I can order them online. There is obviously a jungle out there but there seem to be a few lines that have little or no memory. This is going to be a headache for me! :smiley:

What about lines with interchangable tips? I have one from Airflo 9 wt used on a two handed rod which is ok but it just does not feel right on a one handed rod. I am not sure that I would like such line on a lets say 4 wt one handed rod. I did see a promising line from Rio Coldwater VersiTip http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=14

What do you guys think, is this line usable on a light weight one handed rod?

10

Jon,

I’m probably not going to offer up much “new” in the form of suggestions to try. I second (or at this point in the post, third or fourth) the opinions offered on the Rio Selective Trout lines. I’d also mention the Rio Nymph line as a line worth a look. I’ve used the “Nymph” line on some pretty frigid days in pursuit of steelhead. While the majority of the techniques I use on the Lake Erie tribs is confined to relatively short line casts I’ve been really happy with the performance and lack of memory in this line in the coldest conditions (air temps below freezing and water in the low 40’s F range).

You’ve got a bunch of good recommendations so far, sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you. Isn’t it nice to have choices!

11

Jon -

The VersiTip thing is very flexible, and kind of pricey. Another Rio alternative is their VersiLeader. You can add a length or lengths and sinking rate or rates leader or leaders of choice on a more selective basis and at somewhat less expense.

Take a look at http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=70

I’ve got a 12’ fast sinking VersiLeader that does just fine on my 7 wt, and I think will do fine on my 5 wt if I get around to trying it. One of the advantages of the VersiLeader thing is you can use them across a broad range of rod / line weights with whatever floating line you already have on that rod.

John

12

Yes, it is when you got two choices especially if one is clearly good and the other one clearly bad. If there are more choices and most of them are good one feels like a kid in a candy store very exited and confused! :smiley:

13

VersiLeader looks like a good choice, one can always buy one leader at a time suiting the needs and budget. But I would have to buy a memory free floating line first.

What is most appealing to me about Coldwater VersiTip is that it is designed to be memory free in cold weather and based on the WindCutter fly line. We do have both windy and cold conditions especially when fishing sea trout in the autumn and early winter.

I am always skeptical about lines with interchangeable tips but after reading some customer reviews on Cabela’s I must admit I am less skeptical about the VersiTip. I might try it on my 6wt when I feel I can afford it. :wink:

What do you read out of the following: “Packaged with the floating tip, plus a 15 ft water-clear AquaLux Intermediate tip (1.5 ips 3.8 cm/s), Type 3 DC (3 - 4 ips 8.9 cm/s), Type 6 DC (6 - 7 ips 17 cm/s) and a Type 8 DC (8 - 9 ips 20.3 cm/s) sinking tips (sizes #8 - #10 only).” What does that only refer to?

14

Jon -

The way I interpret the “only” is that the Type 8 DC sinking tip is “only” available on line weights 8 through 10.

John

15

Would that mean that it only comes with 5 tips if you buy 8 - 10 wt lines? The VersiTip costs the same it seems regardless of the line weight. There must be something you get instead if you buy lighter weight line than 8 but what? They don’t say.

16

Jon -

All I can give you is my interpretation of the language used on Rio’s website. I’ll try to remember the next time I go down to Jimmy’s, probably later today, to check that out.

John

17

Thank you.

18

Jon -

While at Jimmy’s, I opened and checked the contents of two boxes of VersiTip 7 wt, two boxes of VersiTip 8 wt and one box of VersiTip 9 wt.

The results are : The two boxes of 7 wt each contained four tips - the floating, intermediate, and two sinking tips. The two boxes of 8 wt and the one box of 9 wt each contained five tips - the floating, intermediate, and three sinking tips.

Not being satisfied, we called the General Manager at Rio ( since he is a friend, it is fun to bust his chops once in a while ). He confirmed my earlier interpretation of the website language and the results of the “scientific” inquiry into the matter at Jimmy’s.

The rationale for not including the fastest ( heaviest ) sinking tip in the 7 wt and lower weight lines is that they will not support the fastest sinking tip and continue to float.

All five boxes that we looked into were priced the same. I did not think it was my place to raise an issue of pricing with Rio’s GM ( friends or not ).

John

19

Thanks, that was fast! :slight_smile:

It is a bit odd to sell a line with four tips at the same price as the one with five tips. Unless you look at it this way, the buyers of the heavy lines 8 wt and higher get a bonus tip. Rio should promote the VersiTip lines like that. :slight_smile: