FLY LINES

[John Pierce]

FLY LINE - GENERAL
Unlike in spin fishing, it is the fly lines weight that allows the angler to cast the fly - not the weight of lure as with spin fishing.

FLY LINE - TAPER
1) WF - Weight-Forward Taper: This is the "standard" taper for trout fishing, it has additional weight and thickness added to it in the first 10 yards of fly line. The remainder of the fly line is then of uniform thickness and weight. This provides 1) additional "heft" to the fly line so that easier casting, especially onwindy days, 2) longer casts, and 3) helps larger flies turn over properly, thus landing on the water with proper presentation.
2) DT - Double Taper: Fine fly line taper for trout fishing, unless you need to make long casts or it's windy. First fifteen feet of the fly line gradually widens in diameter, the next 60 feet remains a constant weight and width, the final 15 feet of the fly line then gradually loses width and weight at exactly the same rate as was gained on the front of the fly line. One benefit of this type of taper is that it can be reversed as both ends of the fly line are equal. The lighter front-end weight allows for a "lighter touch" when casting and presenting the fly. However, the trade off is that it is more difficult to cast in windy conditions and shorter casts are more difficult to control.
3) L - Level Taper: Easiest of all fly line tapers to grasp as it has no taper, exact same width and weight throughout it's entire length. Line floats very nicely and cheapest, but they are significantly more difficult to cast and control than DT or WF as no "heft" to the front of the fly line, and have a nasty habit of slapping into the water due to their even weight, an event that is not especially desirable when fly fishing for wary trout. Stay away from Level Taper fly lines and beginners shouldn't use them at all.
4) ST - Shooting Taper: A Weight-Forward fly line on steroids, first 20 feet of the fly line is heavily weighted - far more so than a WF fly line, remaining line is then of uniform width and weight, but is especially narrow. Purpose ie for tournament casting - where anglers try to cast the fly as far as possible. Few anglers ever use this type of line while fly fishing since the hassles of the line outweigh its long casting benefits.

FLY LINE WEIGHT
1) Weight measured in grains from 1-14 (14 grains = 1 gram). Fiirst figure out what you will be fishing for, then make sure that whatever fly line weight you choose matches - exactly - the fly rod weight and the fly reel weight that you plan to use.
2) Weight 1-3: Primarily for small fish - panfish, very small trout or, in somewhat rare circumstances, larger trout very tiny streams.
3) Weight 4: Panfish and for all but the largest of trout. Best used on small/mid-sized streams and where longer casts aren't needed.
4) Weight 5: The "all-around" trout fisherman's line weight. Covers virtually all trout-fishing situations an angler is likely to find. Works ok for smaller fish too, but not as fun to catch small fish on as a fly rod outfit that has a lighter fly line. This weight also works ok for smaller bass fishing, particular smallies in rivers.
5) Weight 6: Another good "all-around" weight for trout fishing. Overkill for tiny trout and panfish since the stouter rigs needed for heavier fly line kills the fun out of catching small fish. But ideal for large trout and all but the largest bass, too.
6) Weight 7: For larger, more powerful fish such as bass, smaller salmon, and steelhead.
7) Weight 8+: For very powerful, very large fish, saltwater and salmon species in particular.
Info: Trout flies generally fall in-between the range of size 0 to size 22, with the most commonly used hook sizes being 10-16. These are small hooks and the flies are usually feather light, if you use too heavy of a fly line with these lightweight flies, what happens is that the fly slams into the water propelled by the heavy weight of the fly line, not desireable when fishing for trout, and it probably will not be properly presented, either (landing upside down or on its side). Conversely, lets' say you are chasing large, wary brown trout with streamers. Hooks on large streamers are sizable and the weight of the fly itself is often substantial. If you fish a big streamer on too light of a fly line, you'll have poor control over the fly and the cast. While you'll still be able to "make the cast," the cast is highly likely to go anywhere but where you want it to go. And, just like before, all presentation of the fly is likely lost as well.
9) New Anglers - For trout fishing, focus on line weights 4-6 (and matching fly reel and fly rod) as a lighter fly fishing outfit makes smaller fish more fun to catch. Smaller to mid-sized rivers, and rarely find myself wanting to make 30 yard casts.

FLY LINE - DENSITY
1) Floats sinks or partially sinks
2) Floating is by far the most popular and versatile, through the addition of weights an angler can always make a floating line a "sink-tip" line.
3) Sinking - the entire line sinks at a uniform rate, "sink rate" of a fly line will be noted on the box measured in fps. Sinking lines are great for big water fishing, particularly lakes and saltwater. They have limited utility in an average river.
4) Sink Tip - Only the first 10 to 30 ft of the line sinks, the remainder floats. Used as sinking lines have limited utility for trout fishing and floating don't always do the job of pulling down nymphs into the depths quick enough.

FLY LINE COLOUR
1) Topwater Daylight fishing - No consequence as fish can see the shadow of any fly line during daylight hours, thus, get a fly line that is easy for you to see, with orange, yellow and red probably being the most popular colors.
2) Topwater Dusk fishing - Colour is important, oddly pure black isn't the best color as few things in life are ever "pure black", instead the consensus is for various shades of dark brown/dark gray - depending largely on the color and clarity of the water where you'll be fishing.
3) For submerged fishing, generally you want to choose a darker color, with various shades of brown/black being the most popular and effective.

FLY LINE CODES
1) First series of letters/numbers first is the taper, second is fly line weight, and third is density (whether it sinks or floats).
2) WF4F = Weight Forward taper, Weight of 4, Floats.
3) DT-6-F = Double taper, weight of 6, floats.
4) WF-7-S = Weight-forward taper, weight of 7, sinking. How fast the line sinks (it's sink rate) will be listed on the box.