Choosing A Floating Fly Line For Trout

Before we start, we should have a look at the system. It goes; biggest fly, leader, fly line, and finally the rod. The number on the rod has nothing to do with the size of fish being caught, you can land 20lb trout on a #4 outfit, so long as you have an excellent drag and a low rod angle. The biggest fly size should govern the rest of the tackle, but how do you know what size line is right for fishing? Well, here are some approximates for true to weight lines;#4: size 12 - 22 fly#5: size 10 - 20 fly#6: size 8 - 18 fly#7: size 6 - 12 fly#8: big streamers

The first thing I do when choosing a line, is to have a look at the spec on the website which should tell you all you need to know. There is a trend in making lines that are overweight. A lot of lines say they are a #5 (140 grains at 30' minus the level tip) for example, but could weigh a #5.5, #6, #7, or even an #8! Fishing-wise, this presents a big problem. If you want to fish size 18-22 flies effectively, then you'll need a #4 line that's true to weight. If it says #4 on the box but it's really a true #6 or #7 then you are going to straighten the small hooks and/or snap the light tippet with the heavy line. You won't be able to see or feel the take very well either. 

So what to pick? DT or WF? Well, that largely depends on your fishing and health, DT and (long headed) WF are the most versatile for trout fishing, as they are good at carrying varying amounts of line in the air, just casting the leader to carrying 80’ perhaps. You may need a shooting head if you are consistently casting over 100’, fishing for sea trout on the coast for instance, but it's certainly not needed for Stillwater fishing (unless you have an arm injury for example) it will make life easier for you.

Lines have different tapers to control energy, which affect how they fly through the air, and ultimately how they deliver your fly. The front tapers purpose is to dissipate energy (the leader as well actually). Long front tapers allow the line to turn over with less energy (think delicate dry fly), shorter front tapers turn over more forcefully with more energy. A long rear taper is the thing that I look for, as this allows you to cast considerable distances whilst adjusting the amount of overhang. A good line should be able to do it all, presentation casts/mends, speys, accuracy and distance, which is why i favor long-headed WF (60-70' head) or a DT.  

My favorite line is the Ballistic Pro Performance and the SL Thunderbolt, which do it all remarkably well. Another great line is the scientific anglers mastery expert distance, which is what’s used in the WC accuracy and trout distance, the only thing with this line is that it's a little bit more tricky to spey cast (not impossible, you can spey cast any line). The reason for this is the fact it has a compound belly, and has a thicker front section. The purpose of this, is to delay the reduction in mass, which saves and delays acceleration. This conserves precious energy, and results in a very powerful turnover. The tip of these lines are also larger in diameter to help, but because of this compound taper, it is not the best for spey casting, where we want a lighter tip and most of the weight from the tip of the rod to the apex of the D loop, not right at the bottom. Having said that, they fish great!     

Let’s use an example. I’ve decided that the biggest fly I will attempt to cast Is a size 8 streamer, and the smallest will be a #16 nymph or dry fly. It’ll be used mostly for streamers and larger weighted nymphs, with the occasional dry fly, so a #6 line would be a reasonable choice. Now, a #6 weighs 160 grains at 30’ minus the level tip, with a tolerance of +- 8 grains, so we need to pick a line that falls within this boundary. The next step is to have a look at the front taper and the overall head-length. The front taper will be short/medium, where as the head length is determined based on your casting ability. For beginners, a head length of around 40’ is ideal, for more advanced casters then a 50-70’ head would be great, which brings me onto the next point; 

With short/medium length heads and a lot of overhang, the head almost always arrives in the loop with too much slack when going for distance (tension loss), and the results are hit and miss. This is the reason why distance tapers have long heads, to maintain control. But it’s not all about distance of course, especially for trout fishing. A common mistake is casting TOO far and lining fish. However, learning to throw a #5 100’ consistently gives you the skills to deal with the wind, which is important. To cast into the wind, it’s better to carry the length you want, and then present. Shooting heads are quite bad for this task, as are short headed WF’s.  

What are some good all round lines that are true to weight? Well, there aren’t actually that many, and not all of them do everything well, but these are the ones that have been tested with different casts, and perform quite excellently, short/mid length heads were tricky to cast 100’ consistently (down the tape); 

(Short length head) SA Frequency Trout: WF #3 – 8 

(Mid length head) SA Aircel: WF #4 – 9 

(Mid/long head) SA Mastery Standard: WF #3 – 8 

(Long head) Ballistic Pro Performance: WF #4 - 7 

(Long head) SL Thunderbolt: WF #5 – 6 

(Loooong head) SA Mastery Trout: WF #2 – 6 

(Loooong head) SA Mastery Expert Distance: WF #5 – 7 

SA Frequency DT: DT3-6 

SA Mastery DT: DT2 - 6  

I hope that helps somewhat! By the way, your leader should match the fly line in terms of mass and stiffness, which ensures good energy transfer. The Rio Powerflex Trout 9’ leaders are excellent with these. Tight lines!