Odd ball fly line?

[BobHRAH 0]

Need some advice. I acquired a Hardy Mach 2 Dbl Tpr 8 wt intermediate sink fly line in a club auction. Trying to figure out the purpose of a DT with that heavy of a line. Pitching #22 BWO emergers for musky?? #18 crayfish for carp?? Hardy website shows no current DT in a sinking 8wt; just weight forward. Would appreciate any insight into function of a line with this odd configuration.

 

 

Thanks, Bob H

[phg 0]

...maybe that is why it was donated. There doesn't really seem to be any real use for a DT line, which is why they are disappearing. The old argument was, when one end began to wear out, you could reverse it on the spool and get another season or two out of it. In reality, though, once the coating begins to crack, you may as well pitch the line.

 

Another "suggested" use is to cut the line in half. Then you have 2 shooting heads. That might actually be the best use, but you can find better shooting heads, so why bother.

 

Generally speaking, a DT line can be cast effectively in the 30' to 40' range, so, if you are fishing smallish streams for big fish (think salmon in Alaska) you should be able to get good use out of it.

[vicente 0]

We troll at low speeds while stripping to catch striper it would work fine for that as well.

[JSzymczyk 0]

there's nothing wrong with a DT line. Most people can't, or at least don't, cast the entire front taper of a WF line and into the running line anyway. If you've got a rod to match it with, just use it. You may find you like it.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Agree with JSzymczyk -- there are a number of reasons why DT lines should not be dismissed. Here are some excerpts from an article by Bruce Richards of 3M Scientific Anglers...a guy who knows what he's talking about when it comes to fly lines if anyone does.

 

Most WF lines have heads that are 35-40 ft. long. Add a 9 ft. leader and the distance to the fly from the end of the head is 44-49 ft. To that, add the length of the rod since roll cast normally end with the rod parallel to the water and pointed at the target. That is the distance at which DT and WF lines control and roll cast the same. There aren't many typically trout fishing situations that require roll casts longer than that, and not many casters who can roll cast that far. What this all means is that DT and WF lines work pretty much the same at the distances we fish most of the time...

 

Everybody knows that WF lines are better for distance than DT lines, but is that really true? Well, yes, but the difference isn't as big as you might think. Certainly WF lines shoot better because of their small, light running lines. But remember, this benefit starts at 44-49 ft. when the running line is in the rod. If you will be making a lot of long casts it is certainly a little easier to do with a WF line, but don't think that DT lines won't shoot, they will, just not as far. With the advent of new slick coatings like AST DTs shoot better than ever.

For most people it probably doesn't make a lot of difference which taper they use. Most of us fish at distances less then 44-49 ft. which is where WF's start to shoot better, but lose line control. Most of us don't have the need, or the ability, to roll cast longer than 45 ft...

 

...For most of us it doesn't make much difference which taper we use most of the time, make your decision based on how much short distance fishing, or long range fishing you do.

 

Here's the link to the full article. http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/wfvsdt.shtml

[whatfly 0]

Personally I do not think the double taper is the weird part, because as others have pointed out, a DT is still a very useful line, no matter what the line manufacturers are trying to sell you. The weird part is that it is a DT sinking line, which is pretty uncommon these days. Have to assume because it is Hardy that it was meant as a swinging line when you want to get down just a bit more than a floater. Here we would probably use a shooting head, or hover tip, or sink-tip for the same purpose, because they are easier to cast, but I could see using such a line when swing for steelhead or perhaps as suggested it might come in handy fishing from a boat for stripers. Not exactly a line I would use every day and phg's suggestion of making heads out of it (would match a 6 weight) would be about the best use I can think of for the type of fishing I do. YMMV.

[BobHRAH 0]

Thanks for your responses. I guess I'll just use it as a sink tip 8wt, regardless of the DT.

 

Thanks again, Bob H

[Chris_NH 0]

Is it a clear line?

 

DT's are a lot easier to mend at a distance than a WF line, and it's only an intermediate line, not a heavy sinking line... just going to hover and sink very slowly, so think of a situation where that might be desirable... I envision swinging wet flies in a river in somewhat shallow water with lots of pockets to hit where you'd want to hover the fly. But yeah, it's a pretty specialized sort of line.