Tag: fly line

RIO SlickCast Lines

Full confession. I’m terrible when it comes to my fly lines. I have boxes of lines in my office and even one of those line winders so I can easily change out lines … but I never do. I have lines on different reels and that's where they stay.  It’s not really because I’m lazy, it’s because I’m particular. When I find something I like, I use it – and abuse it – until it’s no longer usable. Case in point, this poor fly line. Every time I pull out my rod and cast this line I wonder if today’s the d

6/22/2020•Jen Ripple

Just When We Thought the Flats Pro Series Was Perfect

When I first laid eyes on RIO’s DirectCore Flats Pro fly lines the first thing I noticed was how beautiful they were. The color is what sets this line apart to begin with. But, what good is color if it doesn’t work? Then, I tried the Flats Pro and it has been my hands-down favorite saltwater line since. It is, in fact, the line I use when I’m fishing for saltwater species and (shhhhh) for big bass here in the dead heat of summer. These lines became so popular with anglers that  RIO has expanded

5/8/2020•Jen Ripple

Dealing with line twist

Does this sound familiar? You’ve been making long casts, but then decide to make a series of short casts, leaving a pile of line at your feet. You see fish blowing up bait near the shore. You bomb out a long cast, but instead of the fly heading to that perfect lie, the fly line ends up tied in a huge knot around the stripping guide. Or how about this? You’ve been fishing with an indicator all afternoon and then decide to switch to a dry fly.  Your first cast has the fly turning over, and over,

7/20/2018•Dun Magazine

Reading Between the Saltwater Line

We’ve all experienced it.  You put a new line on your favorite fly rod and, just like that, your cast falls apart.  It’s not you, necessarily.  It’s the line.  Pairing the right line to the setup is key.  Pairing the right line to the conditions – also key.  Let’s talk saltwater fly lines. It might seem like a no-brainer, but the fly line is arguably the most important part of the system. Without the line, it’s just not fly fishing (sorry, Nome).  Recently, fly line manufacturers have inundated

4/28/2018•Dun Magazine

Reading Between the Fly Line

When I first started fishing, I owned one five weight rod and one five weight line. It was the line that the fly shop owner suggested and told me would be perfect for the Sage Light Line I had just purchased. I almost swallowed my tongue when I realized that line I had just plunked on the counter was over $100.00. I’d like to think that the line made all the difference, but honestly I can’t remember. It was all so new, and so confusing those early days, that I have blocked it out of my memory. F

3/21/2018•Dun Magazine

The Loop to Loop Connection

The loop-to-loop connection is one of those simple, but really complicated things. Once you are comfortable making this connection, you can use it for all sorts of things.  The most common use for the loop-to-loop connection is connecting your leader to the fly line.  Gone are the days of having to know how to tie a nail knot just to go fishing.  A loop-to-loop connection is also used when connecting your fly line to backing and it can be used to connect bulky bite tippet to your class tippet wh

6/30/2017•Dun Magazine

Fly Line Tapers

In this edition’s Firming Your Foundation, we are going to talk about line weights.  Now, remember this is a brief overview, and by no means a comprehensive package.  For the sake of time and sanity, we will be talking about weight forward, double taper, shooting head and level lines.  For the most part, the name of the line already explains a bit about it, but just to firm your foundation a bit more, we will go into detail below. Weight-Forward taper: As the name suggests, the weight forward (

2/1/2017•Dun Magazine