Questions on quality/durability of fly lines

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psguardian
I have been looking for a 5/6wt floating line & have come upon some oddly cheap models of line.

Scientific Anglers : Air Cel, general purpose, pan fish,
Cortland : Silver Stream, fairplay, +333

Each for $10-$15. Is this a list of good deals, or Are these low prices due to poor quality/durability? Are they simply on closeout?

~psguardian
 
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lilsalmon
Thats a good question. I am still unfamiliar with lines and what is the best. I got my oldest son a cheap rod for when he hikes. I can't spend a lot of money rigging up the reel so I got some of the cheap stuff from Walmart. Mitch at Two Rivers Fly shop said it is just that, although he hasn't used it in quite a long time. His Cortland 333, I think it is, was the most inexpensive. I guess its one of those things that you get what you pay for. I am interested in seeing what others say.
 
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bigsteel
with fly line you typically get what u pay for,,but with being said it all depends on how your gonna use it,,,,if your just gonna dredge nymphs i would get cheaper line cause its not worth tearing up good line on the bottom of the river.cortland 444dt is a great multi use line,,i finally tried the royal wullff triangle taper ambush and i love it but its also 75 bucks,,i will give it a year and see the results,,,scientific angler makes decent line.
 
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Spydeyrch
Well, I personally have a cortland +333 on my 5wt. And I love it. I haven't really used any other lines other than the 3wt I have but I don't know who made that one. It came with my 3wt Wild Waters setup.

I went with the +333 due to price. I could get 57 yards with Scientific angler for like $30 or 98 yards of the +333 for $40. For $10 I almost doubled my line length. So I went with the +333. It works well for my needs. But again, I am not a really experienced fly fisherman. :D

-Spydey

P.S. There was one other line that I did cast a few times. It was Bigsteel's trinagle taper line!! Man can that thing shoot like nothing else!! it is awesome!!! I would love to see it on a double haul!!! SWEET!!! :D :shock:
 
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psguardian
At this point in life I'm not out to win any distance contests, not can I afford those types of line. I see mostly streams/lakes with crowded backdrops, so this is what i'm after;

Floating line
___I like dry flies, my wets can be weighted
Durable
___There will be snags/scrapes
Near/far
___Good in close to 50'/60', I don't see casting further then this

The cortland silver stream kit I'm using came loaded with an orange WF(5/6)F. It has a nasty memory right off the reel, but loosens up after a few casts.

My second pole it's much older, has nearly identical action & is in need of a new line.

~psguardian
 
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bigsteel
cortland 444dt
 
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psguardian
444 looks good, & I have been leaning towards a DT... But $50 is hard to choke down right now.

Has anyone used any of the lines in my op? They are all $20 & under online, which is easier to get through the purse strings.

~psguardian
 
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Trout
For average day in day out fishing I've always had good luck with Cortland 333 or 444. I refuse to spend more than $40-$50 on a fly line. Keep it simple.
 
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Modest_Man
I picked up Cabela's brand fly line for my 3wt for $20.99, It's better than the whatever brand that was on there before!
 
GungasUncle
GungasUncle
I fish/have fished with everything from the cheapest, crappiest Crystal River (South Bend) lines to Scientific Angler's Mastery GPX lines. In the cheap line catagory, the best line by far is the Scientific Angler's Air Cel lines and the Cortland 333+. The Air Cel is typically a $20 line, with the 333+ being a $30 line. The Air Cel has a couple variants - a short half-length line (54 feet) Weight Forward tapered line, and a full length (85 feet) line that comes in WF, DT, or level flavors. If you don't need distance, the short lines are great. Right now I'm using the crap out of 2 of the short lines - a 5 weight and a 6 weight. They're great knock around lines - they cast reasonably well, and they work great for my small stream and panfish rods.

I would avoid Crystal River lines, and the Cortland Fairplay lines. Both are pretty much junk, and for the same cash you get a better line with the Scientific Anglers lines.

Cabela's has some good sales pretty regularly, in fact I think there's one going on now, where you can get one of their basic Prestige lines for $21 plus shipping. These are OK lines - not as good, IMO, as the Air Cel, but better than the Fairplay lines.

When you can swing the extra cash - a Cortland 444 would be a better performer, or even better, one of the Sci Angler's Mastery lines. I've heard good things about the AirFlo lines, but I haven't used them yet.
 
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psguardian
GungasUncle that was exactly the kind of hands-on side by side I was hoping for! Thank you very much. I saw Crystal River for $8-$10 but left it out of my list, something told me an $8 full length line couldn't be worth while lol.

Since I am currently shore bound, or wading in warmish waters (no waders as of yet) I doubt I'll need to get out much beyond 30'-50' at this point, & I'll likely be doing rock-bite repairs after a few trips so a decent performer in DT for $20 feels right. Looks like S.A. AirCel wins, unless something nicer is onsale when the $ comes in lol.

~psguardian
 
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Sinkline
Not ignoring your thread psguardian, just I've never owned an "entry level" fly line so I have nothing to offer here.


Randy
 
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psguardian
Man this is twice now I've had to re post a response on this thread, I thought my last response was a fluke failure... Wonder if there have been forum reverts lately...

No worries Sinkline. I figure most will have started off with better equipment then me, & therefore have little to no input. The 20+yr old 8' 5/6wt I am trying to line was given to me by my mother in-law, I have backing, if wimpy, just need a line to put on it.

I found & read through the 'common cents system' & measured both the old stick & the new cortland silver stream starter outfit I was given for christmas, they are basically the same in true line weight measure & action speed lol. Heavy 5wt / med action. (old =.5.94/61 new = 5.94/64)

I will likely be perfecting my roll cast with the tight locations I end up in so a DT just sounds good. I'm just glad I don't have to fork out $75 for decent line on a $40 rod from the 80's lol.

~psguardian
 
GungasUncle
GungasUncle
PSG - I'd probably go with a DT6 for that rod, since it's testing out at 5.94 on the common cents system. That's really on the heavy side for a 5, and the rod probably will cast nicer with a 6 (meaning less fatiguing to cast, since you won't have to power the rod as much.)

A $75 on a $40 rod might seem much, but if you ever get the chance to play with one - try it. You might be surprised. A good line on a mediocre rod will still cast better than a mediocre line on the same rod. By the same token, I usually take the same tack as you're taking though. Cheap rods normally wind up with cheaper lines until I decide I love that rod, or it's a specialty tool (like a little 3 weight small stream or dry fly rod, then it gets the best line I can afford for it.)

The DT floating Air Cel is probably your best bet. Your backing line is probably fine - I'd strip it all off the reel (tie the end to a fence post or something and lay it out STRAIGHT. I learned this the hard way. Backing line turns into knotted Spaghetti in an instant if you just strip it off and lay it on the ground. Great way to spike your BP...) - check the line for signs of fraying or rot. If there's no rot, it's not frayed, doesn't look damaged, and it doesn't snap when you tug on it - I'd keep using it, at least for a while. Might put new backing on if you know you're going to target bigger fish with it. By bigger I mean 20 inch trout. 12-15 inch fish rarely pull you into your backing line, even on light rods. Good luck man!
 
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OnTheFly
Don't forget psguardian you'll need at least two lines on separate spools. It depends on the type of fishing you will be doing and the conditions you encounter. For lakes you'll need a floating line and an intermedaite sink. For river and streams floating and a sink tip or full sink. You need to be prepared for feeding changes the fish make during the day and lines such as these will enable you to adjust as well.:)
 
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psguardian
I was thinking a DT5 would allow for a bit more distance before it overloads, but I'm new enough that I probly wouldn't get the 5 extra feet out of it anyway lol.

For differing conditions would it be cheaper to use loop-to-loop with 15' semi-sink/full-sink tips, or dive into spools?

If we start talking about multi spooling, we probly need to talk about a new reel... The 4" wide cortland I have does detach, but do they even sell just spools for it? They sell my reel preloaded with WF5/6F line at walmart for like $30, but it's the exact line I have now... They sell a large arbor version preloaded for like $45 but then it's the same line.

I don't know if I like the line, it coils up on me, & it's new.

~psguardian
 
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fish_4_all
I don't have a lot of experience but I can say this, I do not like the line that comes on the reels. I replaced mine shortly after I got my 8wt. and found out what using a descent line was like. DTWF8F SCI. Ang casted like a dream and layed out straight and flat compared to that cheap crap. So I bought some SA DTWF5F for my 5wt. and it casted just as well as the 8 minus distance of course and layed out flat and straight. I do pan on upgrading one day to courtland but until I get used fishing and catching with a fly rod I am not gonna get aline I may wind up chewing up and ruining anyway.
 
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psguardian
See that's my issue fish_4_all, striping line just coils up. It's likely the cheapest thing in the cortland lineup being put on those pe loaded reels.

here it's another question, for anyone still listening. I didn't trust the scrawny backing that came with the kit (8-12lb I think it says it was). So I filled it up with a better backing, but with fly line I can only fit about 125' of backing & then my fly line. Is that enough?

My thinking on backing is like this: if backing is 'fighting line' why the hell would you use a lower test then your $30-$100 fly line?! Since fly line in the 5-7wt range is typically equivalent to 20lb test the backing (in my mind) should be 20-30lb test. That way you can use up to a 10-12lb test leader & if you snag up or hook a monster the leader will snap before straining/damaging your backing & fly lines.

Am I right or is there a fundamental key that I'm missing here?

~psguardian
 
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OnTheFly
That is true. Most backing fill charts that come with a reel are based with 20lb. test. These charts will also indicate how much backing to put on your reel. Also, backing has two functions; the first one is obvious but the second is to allow the fly line to wind around the largest diameter possible to minimize small and tight coils in the fly line.
 
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psguardian
To figure out my max capacity for the new backing I put the fly line on bare, then backing until I was near the edge of the spool. looped it out onto the dining room floor & then put it on right.

I thought long about how to attach backing to fly line, finally came across an article on the web about lashing them together with tying thread & head cement. Laid about 1/3" backing onto the end of my WF5/6F line & set to it. Wrapped touching turns like a hook shank, cemented, dried. Then folded the backing down the other side of the fly line & touching turns back to the end, cemented & dried again. Pulled hard almost hard enough to snap the new backing, but the tying/cementing held. Welded me a loop in the front end of the line in the same fashion.

~psguardian
 

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