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Post by Simon, SJF or Otter Startler on Jan 7, 2008 10:26:16 GMT -1
More great advise cheer guys, just one question when you say silk lines, are you referring to the old fashioned line that needed greasing or are these just names of modern lines? Yes these are indeed plaited silk lines, that you grease to float. They require a little, but I mean a little, more care than plastic lines, but for river trout fishing. They have many advantages. They cast in to winds better, they do not "rip" the surface on lift off as rather than floating "in" the waster like a plastic line ( plastic lines have a lower density than water thus they are pushed up by it ) they float "on" the water as the greasing repels the water - on a molecular level they are not touching the water so the lift off is smoother and quieter. As they float "by repulsion" they are actually heavier than water, more dense and thinner - this means they have less air resistance so cast well in to head winds. Also - they have no memory, not little but none. They also last longer than plastic lines if cared for, 20-30 years, and smell great.
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Post by kingfisheryh02nxs on Jan 7, 2008 12:06:16 GMT -1
Wow cheers Simon, it shows how naive i am i didn't realise these lines were still available. What sort of price are we looking at for these lines?
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Post by Simon, SJF or Otter Startler on Jan 7, 2008 14:56:57 GMT -1
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Post by watermole on Jan 7, 2008 22:56:29 GMT -1
Not quite sure on the technical side of things, but with you all the way Simon, re. silk lines!
The main point in their favour I find, is their extreme sensitivity, rather like comparing braid to nylon spinning lines. When night fishing, you often can sense the slightest touch on the fly, something not always apparant in a plastic line.
The key to long line-life, is to get into the habit of always running the line off the reel after fishing; I store mine in loose coils on grease-proof paper (NEVER newspaper) in a drawer, so that air can circulate around it, and put on a light coat of 'Mucilin' before fishing.
In my experience, there has yet to be a plastic line made, that will cast as perfectly, or as precisely as a plaited silk one. My first one, in about 1948, was a No.2 'Kingfisher D/T, and cost 30/- (£1.50p); the last one I bought, was a 'Phoenix', from Noel Buxton, in the late '70s. It cost £60 and is still in use....
The dressing will inevitably go 'sticky' with age, but can be removed with spirits, and provided the silk is sound, the line can be re-dressed by gradually building up a dressing of a mixture of linseed oil and mastic varnish, available from artists' suppliers. It takes about six weeks to dress a line properly, but it will last for years before needing doing again.
Wm.
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Post by sewinbasher on Jan 8, 2008 9:52:58 GMT -1
I fished in the 2003 World Fly Fishing Championships and was very interested to see that a great many of the anglers in the top three teams used DT silk lines for better and more delicate presentation.
The lines were mostly obtained from a French supplier but were not cheap as I recall.
A Google search should reveal a few options in Spain, France and Italy but none will be any cheaper than the British ones.
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wcb
Parr
Posts: 12
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Post by wcb on Jan 8, 2008 15:14:10 GMT -1
There are a loads of good lines out there from PP's lines throught to an aircel @£19 going up to a snowbee xs,Sage quiet taper,xps cortland 444 peach and sylk lines.
All very good line.
WCB
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Post by Teifi Terrorist on Jan 9, 2008 8:41:41 GMT -1
I fished in the 2003 World Fly Fishing Championships and was very interested to see that a great many of the anglers in the top three teams used DT silk lines for better and more delicate presentation. Mainly the French, Spanish and Italian anglers I take it SB? Masters of the fine, clear water fishing. Never tried one myself, but will try and hunt one out for a try. Personally, it's either the Airflo ridge presentation, or the cortland 444 peach. However, in fairness, it's quite hard to fine a bad floating line nowadays, especially since they all come out of just a handfull of factories. TT.
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Post by silverinvicta on Jan 9, 2008 9:42:35 GMT -1
At one time I would only use the 444 peach floater, and then was recommended to try a Mullarkey's peach floater...I still use it occasionally after quite a few years, an excellent buy, regardless of the price....but as has been mentioned there are many, many good lines around now, just take your pick...... Si.....
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Post by silverinvicta on Jan 9, 2008 10:18:22 GMT -1
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Post by sewinbasher on Jan 9, 2008 16:47:49 GMT -1
I fished in the 2003 World Fly Fishing Championships and was very interested to see that a great many of the anglers in the top three teams used DT silk lines for better and more delicate presentation. Mainly the French, Spanish and Italian anglers I take it SB? Masters of the fine, clear water fishing. Never tried one myself, but will try and hunt one out for a try. Personally, it's either the Airflo ridge presentation, or the cortland 444 peach. However, in fairness, it's quite hard to fine a bad floating line nowadays, especially since they all come out of just a handfull of factories. TT. Spot on TT.
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Post by kingfisheryh02nxs on Jan 10, 2008 17:02:14 GMT -1
Will be scouring the Internet for the next month see if i can pick myself up one of these bargains.
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Post by kingfisheryh02nxs on Jan 12, 2008 18:10:18 GMT -1
Has anyone used a Airflo Platinium Chalk Stream line?
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Post by sewinbasher on Jan 13, 2008 0:20:01 GMT -1
Has anyone used a Airflo Platinium Chalk Stream line? Yes I had one in 2003 and in my personal opinion based on my experience with that line they are rubbish and not worth £6 let alone £60. To be more specific they come with loops on both ends which are way too clumsy for the weight of the line considering that delicate presentation would be part of what you expect from a "chalksteam" line. When I made some constructive criticism to Airflo about this and suggested a loop at one end and a tapered tip at the other their response was that I should use a Polyleader. I didn't feel that having bought a line for a considerable sum I should be forced to use another Airflo product to make it work. The loop also makes the line difficult to cast without the tip kicking to the left or right if a Polyleader is not used. On the positive side they are a reasonable colour and have a matt finish so don't flash too much in sunlight and they have less memory than most Airflo lines.
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Post by Teifi Terrorist on Jan 13, 2008 8:31:26 GMT -1
Has anyone used a Airflo Platinium Chalk Stream line? Nope, and to be fair KFNXS, a lot of the older lines are/were a load of crap. As mentioned previously, I use the airflo ridge presentation lines and they are great, as are the 40+ extremes for night fishing. But they are several fields ahead of the predecessors, such as the airflo gold! hmmmm. TT.
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Post by steelheadnut on Jan 13, 2008 9:32:10 GMT -1
Original question "Can anyone out there recommend a good fly line for my Trout rod, weight 4-5. Also with the use of dry flies would you go for a double taper or a weight forward, cheers guys."
What, with everyone I meet (just about)wanting to cast into the next county for a fish they've seen through binocular vision with a "fly" that resembles a full grown ostrich, and hoping to land it delicately in front of it makes me cringe and pack up for the day.
Dry fly fishing requires accurate casting and presentation. For this purpose I have an Orvis DT and a Lee Wulff TT. These are matched to my 7ft 6in 3,4 wt rods. Most of the fish are within 30ft with some as close as 2ft so delicate presentation and stealth are the norm. Cap
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Post by sewinbasher on Jan 13, 2008 11:25:57 GMT -1
Original question "Can anyone out there recommend a good fly line for my Trout rod, weight 4-5. Also with the use of dry flies would you go for a double taper or a weight forward, cheers guys." What, with everyone I meet (just about)wanting to cast into the next county for a fish they've seen through binocular vision with a "fly" that resembles a full grown ostrich, and hoping to land it delicately in front of it makes me cringe and pack up for the day. Dry fly fishing requires accurate casting and presentation. For this purpose I have an Orvis DT and a Lee Wulff TT. These are matched to my 7ft 6in 3,4 wt rods. Most of the fish are within 30ft with some as close as 2ft so delicate presentation and stealth are the norm. Cap There's an ongoing debate about the benefits of DT over WF or not as the case may be. I prefer to have a DT line with a long end taper for dry fly fishing as I am seldom seeking to shoot a lot of line and have the advantage of being able to turn the line round and use the other end once the orignal end gets cracked up and U/S. In your particular situation I might recommend the WF given the extremely close range at which some of your fish are and I would specifically recommend the Lee Wulff TT which you already have on the smaller rod as the taper profile of these allows the rod to load well with a very small amount of fly line out and yet will easily shoot line for a longer cast if required although delicacy of presentation is harder to maintain when shooting a lot of line unless you are able to hold the line up as it shoots and then let it drop. I would however only use the olive coloured variant of the Lee Wulff line as, for clear water dry fly fishing, I like to give myself maximum advantage and use only matt and dull coloured lines and of these two characteristics I think that the line being matt (no flash) is more important than colour. I would add that leader construction and length is almost as important in getting good dry fly presentation as the choice of fly line. I use Lee Wulff TT and Partridge Dry and Delicate in WF profile and I have an old Scientific Anglers matt grey DT which I seem to always revert to.
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Post by moose007 on Jan 14, 2008 15:14:47 GMT -1
Moose.i also had a Hardy Mach floater,was the worst line that i've ever used,both Hardy and Greys fly lines are made by made by Masterline know,Masterline also own Cortland Things just keep getting worse for poor old Hardy, the link to their fly lines on their USA site redirects you to a server on www.cortlandline.com ;D
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