it seems the selection of DT lines has really narrowed. It is really hard to find them.
What happend? Is everyone fishing and casting long distances now ?:shock:
For my trout fishing, I most often fish within 30’, and even farther than that my DT is fine. Seems like a WF only helps out the shops and the line manufacturers when you fish like I do. Do you really need a WF line with your 3 weight ?
dont know where you are looking but i just went through the cabelas website and they have a bunch of DT lines for sale. rio, cortland, scientific anglers all have them.
Yes, I still use DT’s regularly and love them. I have not had trouble finding any whenever I was so inclined. Just a mater of personal preference and application for me.
Kelly.
Sort of on topic. Does anyone know where to get larger weight DTs? I would like to find something in a 14 and 15 weight.
Something to consider regarding Double Tapers vs. Weight Forward lines: http://flyanglersonline.com/begin/101/dtvswf.php
Kelly.
The DT lines are still around. I just picked up a 5wt., last week. I don’t think there as many as there use to be. I think more people are using WF lines, these days. Rio, Airflo, Orvis, all make them. Kerry, I checked Orvis last week and a 6wt DT was the heaviest I could find. Maybe you could find it on ebay?
I still think that the manufactures and retailers push the sales of the WF lines because they only last half as long as the DT lines…which = more sales.
Since DT’s are the ONLY lines I buy ( never need to cast past the “down” taper in my fishing environs), I have NO problem finding what I need in any sporting goods retailer. Maybe the “shortage” is exclusive to YOUR market
I use DT’s on smaller boo’s and rods 5 wt. and down. Gives me an extra end if the line starts looking gnarlly, mid season. I use WF for 6’s and up because I do get caught doing bigger water and salt. Like lake fishing for bluegill and below the dam in Mio on the Main Branch of the AuSable. Don’t need WF fishing the beach for running snook but you sure do off a flats boat. I have never made a 50 foot roll cast so that is not an issue. Haven’t seen a big problem with availability on either so buy what you like.
Bob
I’ve looked at SA, Rio, and Cortland. I do not see many offerings in DT. SA has 2 DT lines, and 54 WF… Cortland’s Precision Trout Specific line doesn’t even come in a DT, which is wierd to me b/c I would think that would be the DT niche.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that there are not as many DT offerings in the manufacturers lineup. I wish I had old catalogs to compare.
Locally, I would definitely say the fly shops (not necessarily sporting goods stores) don’t carry many DT. I could not get RIO DT in stock at my 2 local shops, only SA. I live in prime DT land, IMHO. Small streams abound, and the water is rough, allowing you to fish close.
After reading this post I decided to check our sponsors for DT line. I looked at Hook and Hackle. They sell a bunch from several different companies. Even H&H’s brand has a lot of DT lines on sale. Looks like from DT 2 wt to DT 6 wt. J Stockard’s site has Rio DT from 3 wt to 8 wt. I’m thinking there’s an abundance of them. Jim
There are probably as may DT lines around as always, its just that there are a lot more WF line types now. All of the speciallty lines are WF since most of the major differences between them are head length and front and rear tapers. Except for maybe the front taper, these items are irrelevant to a DT line so there it little reason to make a specialty DT line.
I’ve be looking to get myself another 10 DT for surf fishing. They’re great for long distance mending over breakers
I saw that the Cortland outlet store has some Hardy fly lines marked down to $18, but the heaviest that they listed was 11 DT
Bingo! Dunfly is correct, there are SO many more “specialty” fly lines out there that you may not find the line you want in a DT. For example, the Sharkskin GPX isn’t available as a DT but the Sharkskin Ultimate Trout is. The Rio Gold is another example of a specialty line not available as a DT.
That being said, I use DT’s almost exclusively and have no problems finding what I want since I base my choices on performance not hype. For the fishing I do and the tackle I use, all I need are basic double taper fly lines. Rio, Sci Angler, Cortland and others all offer fantastic products in double taper. You MAY not find them in every tackle shop, but they exist.
I’ve used both and just don’t see that DT’s make that much of a difference anyway. I like having the flexibility of making the long cast whenever I feel the need which the WF provides. Anyway, I seem to be using sinking head lines more and more and always have a reel loaded with it in case I come across a deep hole where I need to get a streamer down deep.
Those are lines that I find it odd that there isn’t one in the DT. Could it be that the GPX is not in DT, b/c if you are making a line for fast action rods, that you are probably then targeting guys who tend to cast further? And they do talk about the RIO Gold’s rear taper, so maybe that is the main difference (and you don’t have a rear taper in DT, obviously).
I admit, that my initial post seems a bit wrong, and it was biased that way when I went to the shop, and they basically said that DT’s are not selling anymore, and that the manufacturers aren’t making many anymore.
Thanks for your thoughts guys.
Mark
I haven’t noticed the trend so much in lines as I have in rods. It seems like every year the rods get faster and faster in action. As rods become faster and faster, it seems logical that folks will be buying more and more WF lines, as Mark just said.
As an aside, my home river seems to get busier and busier every year, so I have a chance to watch alot of people fish. My home river is a larger river, probably 125’ across, so there is plenty of temptation to let long casts fly. As I watch people fish, I can pretty well predict who is catching fish, and who is not. Almost universally, as the length of the cast goes up, the catch goes down. Of course, this inspires even longer casts.
My wife is a pretty casual fisher person, she doesn’t wear a vest, is a pretty timid wader, and fishes the same fly I tie on all evening. She only casts 30 feet or so, she out fishes 85% of the people on the river.
Of course this is only one set of conditions, fishing for trout in a moving river using dry/damp flies. Obviously there are other conditions, where the ability to fish far is going to be an advantage.
But the trend definitely seems to be longer is better.
Yeh, I fish close in for the most part, b/c I mostly fish for trout in the Colorado and Wyoming. I imagine saltwater is very different, as of course are other species, and environs. I’ve been fishing with folks who tell me that I need to get farther back, b/c I’ll spook the fish. I find that funny.
Kerry, I’ve always associated Double Taper fly lines with delicate presentation of flies. I have never associated 14-weight fly line with the same. Perhaps there are enough people with that mindset to make DT-14 lines finiancially unsustainable for the manufacturers.
Ed
Ed,
Likely the story there. The line makers used to make DT Spey lines in the weights I am looking for but they stopped a number of years ago. Could be with the coming of the newer Skagit and Skandi lines the market for DTs dried up. Those of us that used these lines to create custom lines for our 2 handed rods may have hasten the discontinuing of the Spey DT by designing lines such as the Skagit which the line makers soon realized a market for, then took our designs and mass produced their own.