Inexpensive fly lines

[tjm 0]

Nice.

[cphubert 0]

not a fan of cheap lines my preference is Cortland precision when on sale, have a orvis hydro that I got on closeout that is good also. the only cheap lines I use are for trolling and I loop to loop lead core to get them down. used to fish 333 for a long time never tried the 444 yet.

[skeet3t 0]

Just ordered another spool of Anglatech 6 wt. DT line from Amazon. Got some for my grandson's first combo. Casts great. I had a Cortland 333 D weight (now equal to 7 wt.) level. Tossed it. Duh. It was still in perfect condition for being over 45 years old.

[cphubert 0]

12 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Just ordered another spool of Anglatech 6 wt. DT line from Amazon. Got some for my grandson's first combo. Casts great. I had a Cortland 333 D weight (now equal to 7 wt.) level. Tossed it. Duh. It was still in perfect condition for being over 45 years old.

The coatings and feel of the new lines will probably have you asking why you waited so long.

[skeet3t 0]

The Cortland was in perfect condition- D weight, level which is what they had at the time. Still can't figure out why I tossed it. BTW, got my 6 wt. DT today. Backing, line and put the reel on my bamboo rod. Now all my fly rods have line and a reel! Now all I have to do is decide which one to use.

 

[Barbless Bob 0]

On 5/27/2020 at 6:41 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

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.... 

Like when you see a monster red fish finning next to a huge oyster bar or a trophy snook under a dock with lots of barnacles on the pilings  and your customer has a new $100 SA Bonefish line on his reel.... 😀

[utyer 0]

I am with Mike.  I have used cheap lines ever since I left the tackle industry.  These days, there are plenty of year old lines on sites like Sierra Trading.  These are from vendors like Scientific Angler, Rio, Cortland, Orvis, and Air Flo.  Good lines, at very reasonable prices.  I have been using Maxxon Outfitters lines for a couple of years now, and find them just as good as any other lines.  

[samsonboi 0]

I’m getting a Zen Outfitters silk DT. Definitely not inexpensive but it’s a trade rather than a purchase and if it lasts 20 years it’s better than buying 20 50-dollar fly lines. (I don’t wear out a line after a single season but I have a lot of lines in a rotation on several reels, so one usually bites the dust each year.) Lotta the lines I have right now were free or came on reels I bought or traded for. I only bought one of the lines I have- an Orvis Hydros easy mend textured- and it was on sale. All great lines, not cheapies but people just didn’t like them or were cleaning house and just didn’t use them enough. I was in the right place at the right time. (Here kid, want a fly line?) or (This reel comes lined with a Rio Gold) Everything else I was given or traded.

[tjm 0]

I have 444P lines on my most used rods that were new installed  2002  and still seem to as good as  they did then.  My first Wulff line was junk after 24 years, so your silk line should last longer than that. On the other hand the first two SA lines I had back in the '70s only lasted about a year each because of wear from being tangled and smashing into rocks, plastic can only take so much abuse.

[j8000 0]

garage sales are my favorite places to get line.  I'll buy a reel for 5 to 10 bucks, or better yet a glass rod with a reel for same price.  And wouldn't you know, more often than not, the line is still in great shape!  The best line I've been using for last few seasons came from one of  three reels I bought for 15 bucks.  Worst case scenario, I will still have a decent reel.  I weigh 30' of line to get an idea of what rod would work best for it and then sometimes I have really quality line for a great price.

 

Jeff

[samsonboi 0]

On 6/6/2020 at 5:13 PM, tjm said:

I have 444P lines on my most used rods that were new installed  2002  and still seem to as good as  they did then.  My first Wulff line was junk after 24 years, so your silk line should last longer than that. On the other hand the first two SA lines I had back in the '70s only lasted about a year each because of wear from being tangled and smashing into rocks, plastic can only take so much abuse.

Definitely true. I probably underestimated the silk line's life by about 55 years- there are 75 year old and older silk lines still out there!

 

The Orvis textured line picks up dirt like no tomorrow. I don't think its useful life is much longer just because of the dirt danger factor for guides. To be clear I have only worn out 2 lines and lost one, but I do give plastic lines forward as I don't use the dirty ones on nice rods.

 

The line I lost is a long story. Basically I was casting a weighted pattern into the foam at the bottom of a dam in high, fast water when the biggest fish of my life took and ran. I literally could not slow this thing down. Then I realized... it wasn't a fish! It was a log that had gotten trapped in place in the swirling whitewater. It was rolling in the foam and had literally rolled up all my line and backing; I noticed this when it got into the backing and I couldn't put enough pressure on the reel (this was my first setup with a nice rod and a cheap reel, and the reel was plastic). If I had put enough pressure on the spool to break the line it would have broken the reel right off and probably destroyed the first couple rod guides as it shot forward. So I let it spool off and tried to get to a point where I could physically use my line to yank the log out of the eddy but it was too late. The end of the backing had a not-great knot, luckily for my rod and reel, and it snapped off at the end. Thankfully it was a very cheap line anyway.

[mikechell 0]

10 hours ago, j8000 said:

garage sales are my favorite places to get line.

Jeff

I keep seeing you guys write about yard sales, garage sales and estate sales where you're finding great deals on fly tying/fishing stuff.  I cannot count the number of times I've gone to all of the above and I have yet to even SEE fly tying stuff, let alone get any deals.

[cphubert 0]

28 minutes ago, mikechell said:

I keep seeing you guys write about yard sales, garage sales and estate sales where you're finding great deals on fly tying/fishing stuff.  I cannot count the number of times I've gone to all of the above and I have yet to even SEE fly tying stuff, let alone get any deals.

Mike, my wife and I stopped at a big tag sale last year and where astonished,  they took Visa & Mastercard (not kidding) and there where no deals whatsoever, more expensive than Wallyworld and people with smart phones comparing prices scanning things it was a circus.

[Poopdeck 0]

I go regularly to auctions usually every Saturday morning. In attendance you have the hoarders, the collectors, the ebayers and people like me looking for a deal. Collectors are the worst and typically run the bids higher than the value because they usually really want the item. Hoarders spend pennies on junk, the ebayers are looking to make a 40 to 50% profit on the resale so they offer no harm to us deal seekers. I find most fishing related items at auction to be junk and not worth a nickel. I did score a lightly if ever used regal medallion vise for $22.50 and about 30 packs of dubbing for a dollar. The deals are there but you have to put the time in and if your specifically and only looking for deals on fly fishing they will be few and far between for anything in good condition.  I do run across a lot of bamboo rods, auto fly reels and old metalist reels usually in poor condition. They usually sell for 5 to 20 bucks but I'm not into bamboo or collecting old junk. 

[tjm 0]

Been married 48 years and She has seldom passed by a yard/garage/rummage sale, so have seen at least several,  been to quite  a few estate sales over the years and have yet to see any fly tying stuff or usable fly fishing stuff at either.  Walked through about a zillion flea markets over the years and one time I found a terrible looking fiberglass 7wt. circa 1970  that cleaned up really well for $18, so I got one ''bargain'' out of thousands of hours looking, percentage wise it'd been cheaper to have bough new at retail price if I was actually looking for anything.