I’ve read several posts on different boards about how “Sharkskin” flylines cause abrasions on the fingers. I’ve never fished a sharkskin line, and have no connection with the line, or the stripping aid shown in the link below. Saw it in an ad in “Flyfisherman Mag” and thought I’d put it up, in case it will help solve someone’s problem. I also don’t know how well it would work, or how durable it would be. Can anybody chime in?
I’ve cast the sharkskin lines and there is a good chance for abraision of the stripping across your fingers. During the warmer season, I have found that a three fingered glove used for shooting pool works very well with regular fly line, and is thin enough that, if you fish by feel like I do most of the time, you can still feel everything that goes on with your line. Some stripping finger protectors have leather pads or other materials on the joint section that make it difficult to feel subtle takes. If the opportunity is available to anyone in need of such a product, I would recommend one that is thin or sheer, so to speak, that would allow one to fish as they normally would.
At least on individual has been posting a gripe about the line on numerous boards. A rough surface would not dissuade me from using this line. There are a number of sources of lycra stripping guards that are slipped over the fingers. Petersen Stripping Guards is one. Google “Stripping Guards” and you will get many hits. These products usually run 4-6 bucks for a pack of three.
I have been using these for years. Started using them when I started fishing with shooting heads for striped bass and other species. Even with a nice smooth line, if I pull more than a mile of line across the fingers during the day, which does happen in a 12 hour day of fishing, my fingers get irritated. As a habit, I know where one on a finger almost any time I fish. They are very durable.
If you have sewing skills, you can make your own.
I fished and lawn cast the line for a week in Idaho with no sore fingers ever. Of course, I do not pull my line in at 90 degrees over my finger either. I hold my rod over toward my left and pull the line almost straight. Have to to do a good line strike and I have a wide degree of control of the pull that way.
Not just for the sharkskin…
Stripping guards are pretty much mandatory on the salt
I use a couple of wraps of duct tape
I am with JC on stripping line. I strip straight back or slighly up, but never 90 degrees downward. Doing that causes the friction and those nasty cuts on your finger. Ouch!
Note that the ad for finger protection is in a salt water setting depicting a salty outfit. I do considerable salty fly rodding and always use finger protection because of the strength and speed of bigger salty fish.
The shark skin is another matter. I used one at the ID Fish-In for 5 days and had no problem with finger abrasion and did not feel any protection was warranted. They are just little bumps on the line that apparently keep the line from touching the rod guides as much yielding much better shooting.
If you need long casts on bigger water with a 5 wt or bigger fast action fresh water rod the Shark is a step up superior to any line I have cast.
If you are going to cut your fingers on something like that, you are probably going to end up wearing a band-aid anyway. Why not put it on before you start up and then abrade the band-aid? A band-aid of prevention is better than one of cure?
Ed
just wrap the area on your finger with some tape the golfers use on theirs. or some sort of bandaging tape.
When I first started salt and big water I noticed two lines seemed a bit ‘rougher’ than others. I tried to avoid these and it did help. I also used a bandaid on one finger to further reduce line cutting. It was only when I learned how to correctly strip in by phasing the rod to my left and pulling straight in that there was no line cutting and a proper ‘line-strike’ could be performed. If not done this way the strong mistake is made to engage the rod tip which anyone knows is the mark of the rank beginner.
There has been much talk about finger abrasion, but I have not heard any definitive answer to what this line does to the guides. Has anyone out there read any reports on guide wear?
I wouldn’t expect the line to have any effect on the guides. The texture causes the line to have less contact with the guides, which reduces friction. I still is made out of typical fly line materials, which are not as hard has the guides. After years of using other textured flyines I have never had any wear effects on guides.
Last weekend I head a report on the sharkskin line from an acquaintance and his wife. They had just spent two weeks fishing in New Zealand using Sharkskin lines. They had no issues with the lines being harsh on the fingers.
i would expect the harder material to outlast the soft material. 
what do your current rod guides look like ??
I’ve seen several posts out there on the net about skin abrasions with the sharkskin line. Here is one:
http://singlebarbed.com/2007/11/12/i-get-5-more-distance-and-35-less-fingertip-not-a-fair-trade/
I’ve not tried the line. But I don’t think I will. I just don’t want to think about wearing some type of protection for trout fishing. And I’m not knocking SA lines. They make some of my favorite lines including the mastery trout.
Greg
Loop, I have worn out guide sets before, on several occasions, including a carbide set. You run line over them enough, under enough tension, and especially in ice or with a dirty line, you can wear out a guide set. Nothing is immune to friction.
Yes, guides will eventually wear, but you have to really put a lot of time into it.
I meant to say “I wouldn’t expect the line to have any greater wear effect on the guides.”
S.A.'s faq sheet addresses this question .
The following quotation is from that FAQ sheet which is available on their website:
All lines wear out guides.In our standard laboratory tests we did not notice any wear on the guides. We expected wear to be less since it is the same material with less surface contact area. In fact, we have seen no wear even with about a million cycles on our durability testing equipment. We are continuing long term tests on guide wear of standard lines versus Sharkskin? lines.
One good thing about SA, they really test their stuff!
Photo below is of a (reasonably cheap, considering the rod it was on) tiptop I replaced after roughly a thousand fish, using an SA XPS line. I wonder if they test their guide wear with the rod bent or with the line just running freely through it without any lateral tension.
Dennis
The sharkskin does cause skin loss, but it is a wonderful line that I use daily.
If you’re fishing mostly dry flies you won’t suffer any hardship, if you are spending the entire day stripping nymphs or streamers you’ll get a nice rope burn that’ll make your finger quite sensitive.
It’s still a good line and the “gripe” was an FYI post, so anglers are not surprised.