Line for H2

[Edward Snowden 0]

Can anyone tell me if a Lee Wulff TT4F line would be a good choice for an Orvis Helios H2, 4wt, 8.6", mid flex rod? I am fishing small streams in the southern Appalachians. Thank you in advance.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Orvis has quite a tendency to underrate their rods to make them feel faster to the consumer. Factor in that plus tight streams where you won't have a lot of line out from the tip, if it were me I'd suggest lining it with a TT5F probably.

[Edward Snowden 0]

Is it only the line weight you think is not right, or are there other factors too?

[utyer 0]

To be casting a full 4 weight you need the whole belly of the line beyond the rod tip. That means about 35 to 40' of line out of the rod. With a leader, that makes for a 50' cast. Not often on a small stream can you make a 50' cast. With a #5 line, you will have the necessary weight out with less line. Almost every rod I have works better with a step up in line size.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Is it only the line weight you think is not right, or are there other factors too?

 

Line wt is what I think is not perfect, but for the exact reason utyer said above

[rstaight 0]

Utyer,

 

That may be the reason ome of my favorite lines is the Orvis Clearwater. It's inexpensive and a half weight heavier.

[tjm 0]

Know nothing about the rod in question, but have liked the TT lines since they first came out, My Orvis rod- earliest model of Clearwater- rated as 5wt liked the TT7F very well, it worked much better than with 5wt or 6wt, so, I'd go along with Steeldrifter's recommendation that Orvis underrates their rods.

As mentioned small streams need some weight out in the first 15' or so, I never cast long distances, so load the rod up a line weight or two. I keep a few $10-12 WF lines on hand in several weights to determine what weight I like best with a new rod before laying out the big bucks for a quality line that might not be the best weight.

I think rod markings are suggestion not a mandate, everyone has a different stroke and the rod will act somewhat different for every casters stroke, or they seem to.

[rstaight 0]

With heavier I liked the Rio Clouser line. (Why did they stop it?) The first 30 feet of line weighed the same as normal WF line. It's just what they did with it.

[vicente 0]

Rstaight went not buy outbound short or Rio titan taper? Both are what you describe essentially just a 30ft shooting head with the running line attached.

[rstaight 0]

Vicente,

 

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[afishinado 0]

I fish H2 rods and they cast well with the recommended line weights. With that being said and as other have posted, any rod used for small stream fishing / shorter casts may be easier to cast with a size heavier line. What I usually do is fish a heavier line by changing out the spool or entire reel for smaller stream fishing, and use the recommended line weight for average sized streams where I need to make longer casts.

[vicente 0]

Oops staight just realized i had that backwards rio makes the outbound short and sa makes the titan taper.

[vicente 0]

Sierra trading post has the floating titan taper in 7 wt up.

 

https://www.sierratradingpost.com/scientific-anglers-wavelength-titan-floating-fly-line-weight-forward~p~462hc/?filterString=fishing-lines-and-fly-lines~d~132%2F&merch=prod-rec-prod-prod462HC