What Fly Lines???

[Goldys_Fishin 0]

G'day Guys, I'm just after a hand with choosing some fly line. I have 2 rods 1 is a 6/7WT the other a 7/8WT. Now i havn't done alot of fly fishing but i want to do more. My fly lines would be 8 yrs old now and stuffed so its time to buy some more. Because i'm new to the sport i am going to get a weight forward floating line. I plan to target trout, bream, and maybe the odd schoolie on rare occasions. I was going to set one rod up with one line then the other with another.First question:In regards to line weight do i set one rod up with 6 and 8 on the other , 6 and 7 or 7 and 8?Second question:About backing???? What do i need? Amount? Breaking strain? I have no idea about backing. You tell me what i need and i will buy it.Third question:I was going to buy Scientific Anglers line. I just thought i cant go wrong with a well know brand... Will this be ok?Any help you guys can give me will be great.Cheers Goldy

[fishnuts 55]

Goldy,The 7/8 wt will be fine for Schoolies but I wouldn't use a floating line for them as you'll be wasting $100.00.Get yourself a full sinking line like a SCIENTIFIC ANGLER 7wt Striper IV, or a RIO OUTBOUND 7wt S6 Intergrated head sinking line. They are great. I presume you are fishing from a boat, if not get yourself a RIO STRIPED BASS 7wt Intermediate line as you can use that with a stripping basket while walking the shore or the lake. IMHO a floating line is not the best in the salt as it gets blown around by the wind on the surface too easily, here is where the Intermediate line comes into play. It can be used like a floating line by starting your retrieve as soon as the line hits the water or you can let it sink and use it subsurface as it's intended, it sinks at 1.5 to 2.0 inches per second. I still use floaters but only when fishing the shallow flats in my kayak. For trout I personally think 6wt is too heavy but that's my opinion from what I've found.I use a 4wt or a 5wt for Bream and trout and I've got some good fish on both weights. I'm in the process of building a new SAGE TCX 5wt at the moment thats going to be my new bream and flats fishing outfit. The 3 lines I've got for this type of fishing using the 5wt are a RIO LAKE LINE 5wt Intermediate, a SCIENTIFIC ANGLER 5wt SHARKSKIN Full Floater and a RIO DENSITY COMPENSATED FULL SINKING 5wt line which I use for bream e.t.c. around deep structure. These are just the setups that work for me and that I use very regularly with good results. You will find opinion will differ from fisherman to fisherman and area to area so use things as a guide and you should be able to enjoy the sport and catch a few fish aswell.Heres a couple of my catches from this year, good luck and hope this helps you out.Cheers Darren

[rollcast 1]

Gday Goldy,Some sound advice there from fishnuts.He is always on the ball.I tend to use scientific angler almost exclusively.The new sharkskin is an excellent line if a bit noisy.The problem with that line is that after long sessions when your skin softens up ,due to water, the abrasive nature can leave some nasty cuts on your index finger after continued stripping of line over it.I have seen two cases of this.I also have a TCX(7wt) and two TCR(5&6) sages as well as a loomis streamdance amongst my fly rod collection.I have found that the scientific angler GPS (general presentation series ) is a good line for these fast action rods.The GPS is half a line heavy so a six weight is really a six and a half.This aids when short fast casts are important and helps shoot line with limited false casting.If using slower rods I find the scientific angler trout taper is a fantastic all rounder.The XPS (exact presentation series ) is super soft and good on 4wt's and lighter.I use xps on the small streams.For bream fishing I use a scientific angler stillwater intermediate sinking.This is a clear line that can be fished with very short leaders which is handy for heavy flies.In NZ I have heard them called slime lines and they are a great lake line for woolly bugger fishing.I have tried a scientific angler bonefish line for bream but these tropical lines are for warm water and are too stiff for our cold water.Sink tip lines can be excellent for bream fishing,but this can be achieved by attaching a sinking airflow poly leader to the moulded loop now provided on many new lines.Or a tapered leader can be secured by a uni knot to the loop.On normal lines don't bother with the slide on braided mono loops ,instead stick with a needle nail knot.I have friends who swear by rio lines and they also make a line that is a half weight heavy ,but I haven't any experience with them.Cortland make good lines ,I have tried a few but prefer Scientific angler.I agree with fishnuts a 5wt is usually all you need for bream and trout unless it is really windy or extra long casts are required (which is almost never).CheersRollcast

[rollcast 1]

Goldy , Forgot to talk about backing.Most fly lines are manufactured on 28LB braided mono with various thickness of PVC depending on line weight, so it is not worth going over 30 LB backing.Also you generally will be fishing tippet under ten LB .I use 30 lb dacron and I have rarely seen more than 10 metres off the spool.Most of my six weight(lamson) large arbor reels only need 100 metres of thirty,with the fly line to sufficiently fill the spool.My Ross evolution mid arbour requires 250 of thirty to fill the spool sufficiently.It is best to try and fill the spool to avoid tight loops which have a tendency to leave coils (memory).This is where large arbour technology applies.20 lb is sufficient but requires more metres obviously.In salt water fishing many people now opt for Gel Spun Polyethylene(GPS) braids. Carrier and pik are the industry terms that describe the properties of braid.Pik rate refers to the weave tightness,with loose pick meaning loose weave and vice versa.the number of strands is reffered to as the carrier count.The best braids have an 8 carrier/8 pik constuction.These braids retain a round cross section that will wear for the life of the real.Makers producing 8 carrier braid generally say so.My most serious blue water real is a ross momentum,on which I have 300 metres of 30LB Hardy braid over 300 metres of 30 LB Dacron using the Peter Morse loop connection method.This leaves enough room for fly lines up to 10 wt.Cheers Rollcast

[rollcast 1]

Hi again just re read your question.I would use a 7 wt floater (scientific angler gps)on the 6/7 with 100 metres of dacron 30lb backing.A bit heavy for bream and trout but best for loading the rod.I would run a sinking 8 wt on th 7/8 and would probably use 30 lb gsp braid for schoolies etc.Cheers Rollcast

[Goldys_Fishin 0]

rollcast wrote:

Hi again just re read your question.I would use a 7 wt floater (scientific angler gps)on the 6/7 with 100 metres of dacron 30lb backing.A bit heavy for bream and trout but best for loading the rod.I would run a sinking 8 wt on th 7/8 and would probably use 30 lb gsp braid for schoolies etc.Cheers Rollcast

Cheers for the help Rollcast. as always you answers are very indepth.i have brought some line the other day from the states. 6/7 WT i brought SA Sharkskin WF-7-F7/8 WT i brought SA Mastery series wet tip clear WF-8-F/S (sinking tip) So thanks very much for your help Darren and Rollcast.