Fly Fishing Gear Reviews

Today I took a long hard look at the fly line on my 4 weight rod, my go-to fly rod on the waters I usually fish.  I finally had to admit that the fly line had lost most of its functionality and needed to be replaced.

Now, I know fishermen who fish pretty regularly and will replace their line annually.  I, however, have a genetic condition that makes me look at all things broken, worn, battered and obviously at the end of their lifespan and see nothing a little spit and polish wont fix.  I usually use most things well past their retirement party and like Dr. Frankenstein, try to bring them back from the dead.  Sometimes (it has happened) I fix it so that it is completely functional.  Its these few victories that cause me to suffer when I’ve deluded myself into one more quick fix that is beyond the miracle of duct tape.  Instead of just throwing down the coin and replacing it, I have a miserable experience trying to use the sort-of-working-but-you’re-fooling-yourself-because-its-broke thing.   Before I go out to my yard to bury my old fly line (my very, very, very old fly line) I might as well spend some time talking about fly line.  

Before I get started, if you haven't checked out River Bum or Leland's yet, don't make a purchase until you do - They have some of the best prices online.  We personally buy from both.

The line I will be replacing is a WF-4-F line.  If you are an experienced fly fisherman you know immediately that I will be putting on 90 feet of weight forward floating line in a 4 weight.  There are several kinds of fly line out there for different kinds of water, conditions and needs.  They come in different weights, tapers and colors.  Some float, some sink and they all use a code for sorting them which, at first glance, is a bit confusing.  All right, let the demystification begin.

Fly lines are classified by the weight in grains of their first 30 feet.  Regardless of the type of line you purchase, make sure it is the right weight for your rod and reel.  So, my #4 weight rod  and #4 weight reel get #4 weight fly line.  I know I’ve hammered away at this when I discussed rods and reels, but it really will affect your fly fishing experience if your fly reel is loaded with a line too light or heavy.  Remember, in fly fishing it is the weight of the line that is used to cast the fly out.  Recently on a fly fishing trip, I was stripping streamers with a #6 weight reel that had 6 weight line on a #4 weight rod because I snapped one of the sections of my #6 rod (Doh…  more on this later.)  Oh yeah, I felt it.  The rod just didn’t load right.  It felt wrong, and I’m embarrassed to say I got smacked in the head more than once with a #8 Wooly Bugger that had been approaching the speed of sound before my head got in the way.  At least I caught a bunch of trout.

Alright, I’m done preaching the obvious.  Now, let’s talk fly line taper.

Taper

Well, as I’ve mentioned a few times, the weight of the fly line is what is used to cast.  The weight distribution of the line along its length varies by different tapers Basically you have four choices: Level (L), Weight Forward (WF), Double Taper (DT), and Shooting Taper (ST). 

Level lines have an even distribution from one end to the other and have no taper at all.  These lines are really for live bait fishing, and since you are fly fishing, it seems like an oxymoron.  So, unless you have something specific that you are doing with a fly rod (like chucking bait) skip this line.