Inexpensive fly lines

[flytire 0]

last year i decided to take a chance and bought an inexpensive hook and hackle floating fly line and from the day i spooled it onto a reel and gave it a try, i always had trouble casting the damn thing

fast forward to yesterday and i still had trouble casting the damn thing. (i did get rid of the 🦨 on my back and hooked into some nice bluegills) 😀

ive always heard/read of good reviews for that fly line but i simply cannot give one

well no more of that! so yesterday i decided to go back to an old favorite fly line: cortland 444 peach floating line

while i understand there are folks that swear by inexpensive fly lines, i'm just not one of them. its my problem not yours 😀

what suits one person is not necessarily right for another person

[Lesg 0]

+1 on the Cortland 444. The cheap lines that I have tried in the past seemed to crack in the first few feet. I had no trouble casting them (other than my normal flubs) but the tip sections became waterlogged due to the cracks and turned into slow sink tips.

[Steeldrifter 0]

I've never been a fan of the cheap lines either Norm. To me the fly line is actually one of, if not THE most important part of the whole system. Because a good line will still cast decent on a bad rod, but even a good rod can't help with a bad fly line. Just to show ya how much I am not a fan.....with my business/wholesale I can get those exact same lines that H&H sells for only $9 my cost, yet I don't buy them to sell with my rods. So that should tell ya something.

[mikechell 0]

😒 I'm the cheap bass turd that likes, or at least is okay with, inexpensive fly lines.  I've been fishing with $9.00 E-bay lines for a long time.  Could be I would be able to cast better with more expensive lines.  I've now got some, bought on sale when Gander Mountain went out of business.  Once one of my 9 dollar lines needs replacing, I'll find out if the higher quality line makes a difference for me.

[DFoster 0]

I just put peach Cortland 444 on my Hardy 5 weight and for me it cast beautifully.  I currently have Scientific Anglers and Rio on my two other reels.  All three lines were in the $50 - $60 price range.  My casting skills are serviceable but not advanced enough to give an opinion about which one of them is the best.  I'll just say each one cast well.  I do clean and dress them so I expect them to last.  For me the best part of premium fly lines is their lack of memory found in some of the less expensive lines.   Nothing ruins a day fishing like fighting with tight coils of line wrapping around everything

[flytire 0]

@DFoster @Lesg

yup its back to the old reliable cortland 444 in peach color

you have to have a doctorate degree to choose todays gazillion specialty fly lines out in the market place

some of them go for $$$

for ME, bluegill fishing is not highly specialized 😁

[Mark Knapp 0]

It's a quandary man. It's hard for me to believe you have to be scientist like SC to buy a fly line. I hate it. So many variables. Fortunately I fish for stupid fish.

[tjm 0]

I use level lines for most of my fishing and either Cortland or SA work pretty well, I think I have three 444 peach DTs on reels right now and one 444 WF and I used AirCel Supreme for years until they relabeled it as something else; for me the level lines cast and mend just as well as the more expensive DT or the exorbitantly expensive WF. I own several Fairplay WF lines that cost ~$15 and if I stretch them they are usable, but there is not much comparison with the better quality level lines.

About all the choices, there may not be as many as we are led to believe; this guy says the boxes make most of the difference- http://singlebarbed.com/2009/03/30/part-1-of-2-is-the-fly-line-industry-running-out-of-superlatives/

http://singlebarbed.com/2009/04/01/part-2-of-2-is-the-fly-line-industry-running-out-of-superlatives/

[Jacks Grampa 0]

I just put a S.A. Mastery bass taper line on my 6wt. for bass. I've fished 444 for decades but I'm not going back.

[Poopdeck 0]

I like cheap but super cheap fly line is not for me either. Cheap is also relative. Cheap fly line to me is somewhere in the 35.00 to 40.00 dollar range. Cortland 444 is one of those time honored battle tested lines that can  be found on sale close to my definition of cheap line. I am very diligent in waiting to buy stuff on sale with other discounts. It's not uncommon for me to buy a rod at a bargain price and then wait months for a bargain price on a reel and wait somemore until I find a great price on line. The order of purchase of rod, reel and line  can be in any order as well. It's part of my well honed cheapness but it also helps that I need more rods like I need more holes in my head. Finding deals on line is probably the easier of the three to find. 

You cant ever go wrong with cortland 444 at any price since it cuts out the need for a PHD and it's one of the lower priced expensive lines. 

[niveker 0]

@flytire

Good to know re: H&H lines.  I've been eyeballing them and have heard some good things, so Ill stay away.  .    

@Poopdeck

That's pretty much my philosophy.  

I wait for a decent price on any anything fly fishing related item, including line.  Having worked in very nice restaurants in my younger days, I learned that I can appreciate the difference between a $2 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle of wine, but not a $30 and $70 bottle.  I treat fly line the same way, and try to keep it below $30.  I also prefer a DT line, so I get two lines in one, as I just don't often cast that far, and never really felt a significant difference when casting.  

 

[vicente 0]

I know I mention them a lot but sierra trading post is a great place to buy fairly expensive lines for 30ish dollars instead of 70+, I like nice things but I also don't like paying high prices for them.

[Dave G. 0]

My experience with cheap lines is they will or can work pretty well in warmish water and decently warm weather. Soon as you hit cold water and a cool day ( typical mountain river fishing in the spring and fall) with maybe overcast sky and a north wind and they turn into a coil spring. That said Cortland 333 is a good choice with less coiling and not too expensive, and I've had 333 outlast 444 in the coating department. But if you just want a line that works, is soft through the guides and a sure bet then ya, 444 is that line after all is said and done. And if you want one of those rocket ship lines just go up 1 weight as long as your rod has anything fast about it and is not a straight mod action.. So mod fast or medium fast or outright fast.

Good choice Norm, one of my favorites too.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I'm not into cheap lines at all... but.... I'm also not enamored of the high end lines made for specific saltwater flats uses either... Where we are the conditions will chew up almost any line that actually gets used in less than a year so I tend to use general purpose saltwater weight forward lines for all my floating line needs.  I will spend whatever I have to for my full Intermediate lines since there just isn't a substitute for them when they're needed...   In some circumstances  up inside rivers big tarpon can simply destroy a brand new line (or actually take it home with them...) so spare lines are important (as well as spare backing for when you've just lost 200 feet of backing to go with the new Intermediate that is gone as well... ).

 

Just nothing like the 'glades.... 

[flytire 0]

i got the 444 peach and even a new reel. its what I wanted

should go well with a sage rod that hasnt seen much use after it was factory restored (i broke it they fixed it)