For longer casts.... you can shoot more line with the thin running line than you can with the fat belly DT.
Exactly! +2
Read what
Bruce Richards of Scientific Anglers has to say about DT vs WF lines:
"Almost all WF lines have heads that are 35-40 feet long. Add a 9-foot leader and the distance to the fly from the end of the head is 44- to 49-feet. Up to this distance when both DT and WF lines control and roll cast the same. There are not many typical trout fishing situations that require longer casts. What this all means is that DT and WF lines work pretty much the same at the distances we fish most often. "
Double Taper Versus Weight Forward: Which is Really Better? | Fly Fishing Info Center
So unless you need the extra distance of a WF line or the front weighting of a bass bug taper, get a DT fly line. As a practical matter I use DT for 4 wt rods and below and WF for 5 wt and above.
If you need to save money, you can even make your own WF fly lines. We used to do that in the old days and you can still do that now.
When I began fly fishing, I didn't have much money. Both my wife and I fly fished, so it required two of every piece of equipment. One place I could save was to make my own fly rods, so I made two graphite rods from a Fenwick HMG blanks.
I also made my own WF fly lines from a single DT fly line and Cortland running fly line. It is very simple. Cut the DT fly line in half. Remove the coating from the back end with acetone and form a loop with the core by forming a loop and whip finishing it with nylon thread. Then coat the whip finish with flexible Pliobond cement.
Do the same by cutting the package of shooting fly line in half and forming a loop with it's core using the method above.
Connect the two loops and you have a home made WF fly line. You can reuse the running line and replace the section of DT fly line as it wears out.
I use Cortland 444 running line that comes in several diameters so you can tailor it to the weight of DT line you are using.
Cortland 444SL Classic Running Line at BEARSDEN.COM
If you do not need two WF lines, you can keep the half section of DT line on the spool and store it in a ziplock bag for later use.
With this system, you can make the front section as long as you want. If half of a DT line is too much, keep cutting back the line until is perfect for your casting style.
It seems to me that the
Welded Joint Repair of joining two section of fly line could make 2 relatively seamless home made WF fly lines from a single DT fly line. Once you fine tune the front section of DT, you can weld the running line to make a seamless custom WF line.
The running line portion of WF fly lines rarely wear out completely. With the next WF fly line that wears out, I'm going to see if I can cut it and weld it back together. If that works, I have some DT fly line that I can measure and cut to see if I can make a welded WF line a DT and the old WF running line.
