I know, it’s futile. Instead of buying a new fly line, I should just give in and buy a whole new outfit. Actually, I should buy an outfit for every line weight from 0 to 12, and multiple outfits for the weights I use the most to cover the different lengths, rod actions, and rod materials that I may need. Then when I get to the river, I can pick from dozens of rods in addition to the choice of hundreds of flies. :oops:
But I’m still naive enough to think I can get by with just two rods (actually 3, but the other one was my ‘training rod’, department store type, and I just keep it as a backup). I have a 4-weight 8-foot rod that I really like for small stream fishing, especially dry flies. It does well in close areas for shorter casts. It does not do so well with larger and weighted flies. That’s why I have a 6-weight 9-foot rod.
My 6-weight has had Bass Pro Shops Vanguard line on it for the last year or so, which I’ve really liked, but is getting worn out from all my grass trout fishing (casting practice). And it still doesn’t have as much oomph for casting things like poppers and clousers as I would like. I really enjoy roll casting, and have been learning some single-handed spey techniques, and want to get a line that will help me pull Clousers and poppers out of the water on a roll cast, without being limited to two rod lengths for distance. One option would be to get an 8-weight setup, but I’ve been thinking about just upgrading to a bass taper or clouser taper line.
Ideally, I would like to keep using my 4-weight for my lighter, close-in stuff, such as streams for panfish and trout. I would like my 6-weight to be setup for my heavier and bushier flies, on rivers, ponds, and lakes for bass and larger fish. I’ve been looking at Scientific Anglers’ Mastery Bass Bug fly line and RIO’s Coldwater Clouser fly line. I am leaning toward the RIO, mostly because not all of my heavy fly fishing is in warm (70-plus) water.
You cant go wrong with Rio! If you want to do a bit of single hand spey maybe a shooting head would be good? The rio AFS lines are great, not the most delicate presentation but they shoot a mile and roll cast very well.
All the best.
Mike
You will need more mass in your fly line to move heavier weighted or bulky flies. A 6wt bass bug taper will help a little turning over a cast due the the shorter front taper compared to a standard WF 6 line but the mass will be about the same so may not provide the benefit you seek.
There are a couple of other different ways you can go with fly lines for your 6wt.
I often fish an 8wt floating line on my 6 wt rods when fishing bass bugs or Clouser minnows and keeping the casts within 50-55 feet or so. I haven’t met very many graphite 6 wt rods made in the last 20 years than wont handle the 8 wt line fine. I have several 8 wt rods but still often prefer to fish the lighter 6 wt lid with the heavier line.
The other option is to get a Rio Outbound Short or Scientific Anglers Titan Taper line. These are really like an integrated shooting head line with a 30ft head and a thin shooting line behind it. The heads on these lines a 2 to 2.5 weights heavy (i.e. the 30 foot head of a 6wt Outbound Short line actually weighs about the same as an 8.5 wt line). These lines excel at casting big or heavy bugs at short and long distances. Due to the shooting head like taper you do have to shoot line on all casts longer than the head plus leader and you always need to retrieve until the back end of the head is at the rod tip to cast.
The Rio Clouser taper fly lines have been discontinued and replaced by the new Power Fly lines. These lines have a more traditional WF taper compared to the Outbound Short, but like those lines also have a head that is a couple of weights heavier than the standard.
Overline it with a 7 wt bass bug taper line. Any line from a recognized company will do just fine. Save yourself 30 or 40 dollars and get a Cabela’s Prestige Plus which is the quality of a 75-80 dollar line. Done.
I have to disagree on the quality of the Cabela’s lines. They will cast reasonably well, but they are not nearly as tough as higher quality lines. Cabelas does not make their own lines and they do not get more for their money than the name brands.
I agree with most of this but would add the AirFlo Forty Plus is an outstanding choice for all the same reasons. Some ultra high-end AK lodges have all of their loaner rods lined with them and they are an amazing line!
Pick it up (after retrieveing to the shooting marker on the line) and haul once for amazing distances. It has the stuff to turn over those big flies.
AirFlo lines last extremely well in my experience with heavy use on big fish and brutal conditions. IMO the SA lines last nearly as well and Rio has not shown me anything special for durability.
Does anyone want to weigh in on the difference between lines marketed for cold water Vs. warm water? What’s the difference, and what are the draw backs of using one in the wrong temperature water?
Casting a tropical line here in winter will be a bit limiting… you can feel how much stiffer the line is… and it will lead to the early death of the line through cracking and shedding chunks. I have a pale blue tropical line I just love for photography, but it handles poorly even in the summer.
Using the wrong line for the conditions can lead to a lot of frustration. Tropical lines used in cool to cold conditions can be very stiff and almost slinky like. Cold water lines in tropical conditions can be too limp and sticky to shoot through the guides well. In my experience cold water lines work pretty well in cold to warm conditions that you encounter in most of the U.S., tropical lines only being necessary for tropical areas like the Florida Keys (generally speaking that is).
Some manufacturers will note a line as being for warm water conditions. These lines are usually bass, or pike, or redfish specialty lines or similar. Most of these lines that I have tried will work quite well in cool conditions. I have used bass. It tapers for like in Northern Manitoba just after ice out as well as for stripers in California with water temps in the mid 50’s and air temps around 40.
So what are the temperature ranges for cold water , warm water, and tropical lines? Well the manufacturers don’t tell us. I have found my tropical lines become aggravating when the water temps are below the mid 70s and air temps below the low 80s. I have found that my cold water or standard lines become problematic at about the same range. Some of the warm water lines work well in slightly warmer conditions. But there are a lot of variations between lines.
All of the lines mentioned thus far in this thread will work fine most of the year in all but the coldest or hottest conditions you will find in the U. S.
agree to disagree. Your experiences are very different from mine. A person who is in a position to know has told me Cabela’s lines are Scientific Anglers lines with a Cabela’s logo on the package. Having used several of both, I have no reason to doubt it.
I can assure you your source is correct on the Cabela’s lines being SA made. But they are not the same quality as the high end SA lines. They are made to a price point and it is not the same price point as SA lines. There is nothing wrong with the lines and for the money they represent a reasonable deal for new fly fishers.
Here is what I have learned about the fly line industry:
There are only four domestic fly line manufacturers: Scientific Anglers, Rio, Cortland, and Monic.
Outside the U.S. there are a few more. AirFlo is the most notable and recognized.
Just about all other brands that you see out there (BassPro, Cabelas, Orvis, Wulff, etc) are made by one of the above companies and packaged for them.
Scientific Anglers handles the majority of that market.
That being said, the manufacturer isn’t going to be using their best technology on these lines. This would be detrimental to their high-end line market.
I have bought lines from just about all of the manufacturers I have listed and I believe there is a difference.
I feel “bqreer” is 100% correct on all points. Many years ago I worked for Amana Refrigeration and was on the end of an assembly line and was boxing Amana window air conditioners. After a 15 minute break, I returned to my post to find that the boxes I was using which had Amana printed on them, had been changed to boxes which had Trane printed on them. The post above me had their Amana labels, which they were putting on the air conditioner units, changed to Trane labels. I have been told that there were some minor changes further up the line, but, I do not know what those changes were. So, different brand fly lines can be made by the same manufacture with minor changes made so that the cost of the finished product can be less than the original. I have used Cabela’s fly line and have used fly line that only cost $12 shipped to my home and they all can be used and will work. I have also used Sage fly line and I can tell a difference between top dollar and bottom dollar fly line. The higher cost fly line, to me, can be cast with less effort on my part and more enjoyable to fish with all day. When I need to replace fly line, I will replace it with what my wallet can afford at that time and use it until it needs replaced. I do not need to have the most expensive fly line for my type of fly fishing because I fly fish for the enjoyment of being on the water, enjoying the surroundings and catching fish with a fly rod.
So, purchase the best fly line you can afford at that given time and just enjoy fly fishing.
You will be surprised how well a fly rod that you did not enjoy, performs with a top of the line fly line. An inexpensive fly line can make a good fly rod cast poorly and I feel some good fly rods were sold because of this. Just my opinion…