Fly Line Weights and Ratings & Line Selection Charts;

[Ard]

These links may prove helpful to you in sorting out the various manufacturers specs for weights.

RIO Fly Line Selector Guide

RIO Gold - Freshwater Fly Lines | RIO

Airflo Ridge Rangefinder Fly Line

Scientific Anglers Fly Fishing Lines: Freshwater, Saltwater, Spey, Shooting, Leaders, Tippet, Backing

Cortland - 444 Classic Fly Lines

AFTM Tables / Grains to line designation numbers

Links were rounded up thanks to many forum members

Ard

 

[caseywise]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

very helpful!
thank you guys. just another reason why this forum is so great!unk:unk:
excellent thread.

casey

 

[stuie675]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

Yeah agreed, great thread idea Ard. :thumbup:

 

[bass_smash75]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

Does anyone have information on the woodstock brand sinking line

 

[mojo]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

Does anyone have information on the woodstock brand sinking line

Designed by Max Yasgur?

 

[ia_trouter]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

Very helpful links. I have a couple questions. Do the major manufacturers rate their lines the same way? The advertised grain weight is only the head weight, whether that be 30ft or much longer? And what is weighed on a DT line?

 

[fredaevans]

Re: Fly Line Weights and Ratings; Company links Here

Very helpful links. I have a couple questions. Do the major manufacturers rate their lines the same way? The advertised grain weight is only the head weight, whether that be 30ft or much longer? And what is weighed on a DT line?

Bit of a mixed bag here LT. Under AFTMA only the grains in the first 30 feet are 'counted' and add additional line to that and the count continues to go up. Best example of this would be a double taper line. Every 10'ish foot adds about one line weight in the air.

The lines above really caught my attention due to the head length, those are amazing. We're talking spey line heads on these things!

 

[Ard]

Updated with two new tables and charts today 9 / 24 / 2019

 

[ia_trouter]

Good stuff. I see one of my earliest forum posts above, along with Casey's. This is one of the first things a new flyer needs to grasp at some elementary level, to avoid making this harder than it needs to be starting out.

 

[FlyFlinger2421]

What was said about a double taper is spot on. With a Weight Forward taper, there is very little weight added after the first 30 feet so longer casts do not become sluggish and slow. It took me years to figure this out. I always bought double tapers because I could turn them around when one end became worn. Double tapers, in my opinion, are not for distance casting.
I do have a problem with the way lines are rated. I have weighed the first 30 feet of a 5wt, 6wt, and 7wt and guess what? They all weighed 10 +/-0.1 grams which makes them all 6wts! I also weighed a 10wt and discovered it was an 11! At this point I just buy a line and figure out which one of my rods works best with it and then label it accordingly.
My VXP 6 and 7wts both cast the true 6wts well but the RPL 5wt doesn't like the true 6wts at ALL!! On the other hand, my St. Croix Avid 8'6" works well with the true 6wts, but I only use it for small streams so short casts are the norm. All this must be very frustrating for a beginner!

 

[FlyFlinger2421]

There are advantages to DT lines besides being able to reverse them when one end wears out. They roll cast much better than a WF line and they mend much better for the same reason. Choice depends on where and how you fish most often. Stillwater from a tube? WF. Fish from the shore? DT.
Fish streams with fast current? DT. My opinion is that WF lines are rarely a better choice than DT for most trout fishing.

 

[russlng]

There are advantages to DT lines besides being able to reverse them when one end wears out. They roll cast much better than a WF line and they mend much better for the same reason. Choice depends on where and how you fish most often. Stillwater from a tube? WF. Fish from the shore? DT.
Fish streams with fast current? DT. My opinion is that WF lines are rarely a better choice than DT for most trout fishing.

It's been a few years since I dusted off the fly fishing gear and 20+ year old lines just don't do the trick like they used to all those years ago. So I need to replace them. From what you said, I think I need to replace my WF lines with DT lines. I will either fish rivers or lakes around Utah. Do the sizes of DT lines equate equally from the WF?

 

[tcorfey]

Do the sizes of DT lines equate equally from the WF?

In theory yes a 5wt line regardless if it is WF or DT should have the same grain weight in it's first 30'. However, the line manufacturers have lines that are 1/2 wt heavy so a 5.5wt or a full weight heavy a line that is marked as a 5wt is actually a 6wt. Also even from the same manufacturer a line marketed as a 5wt Trout WF line may have a different 30' taper than a line marketed as a 5wt Trout DT line. Confusing huh? When buying lines you need to read the specifications for the weight of the head and also for the taper of the head in order to get what you want. Some manufacturers don't publish specs so you need to call them to find out.
To use Rio as an example:
Rio Trout LT WF Line specs:

Rio Trout LT DT Line specs:

In this example the body and tapers on this line is quite different if you buy the WF or the DT. But the first 30' weighs the same and they both are true to weight lines according to the AFTMA tables.
The newest Rio lines don't publish their actual weights but they do publish their tapers. In the case of the Rio Grand line they do say in the marketing that the line is one full size heavier than how it is marked. So if you buy the Rio Grand 5wt WF line you get a 6wt WF line instead.

Rio is not alone in this, all the manufacturers seem to play fast and loose with their specifications so you need to do your research.

 

[tcorfey]

Here is a line that is the same regardless of if it is a WF line or a DT line. They both have the same front taper and they both weigh the same and meet the AFTMA specs for the first 30'. It is the Cortland Classic Series Peach 444 line, very popular with the fiberglass, and bamboo rod aficionados, but it works great on graphite rods too especially the medium fast and/or full flex graphite rods.

WF line specs:

DT Line specs:

 

[FlyFlinger2421]

I think you are on the right track russing! The one advantage of a WF is that it will cast farther without overloading your rod and you can shoot more line. If you don't double haul and don't have a need to cast farther than 45 feet the DT will work best for you in my opinion. I prefer the lines that are a "half weight heavier" as I find them easier to cast with the newer and faster fly rods like the Sage Sonic and X series. Just my preference you understand.
I agree with tcorfey. I emailed Cortland and was told all of their lines meet the AFTMA standards and I have no reason to doubt that statement.
Other line manufacturers attempt to convince us that different tapers and weights make a big difference so we will buy a line for bluegill fishing, another for bonefish, as well as one for spring creeks and another for midge fishing. Most of it is smoke and 'mirrors although if you are a very good caster (most of us are not) and know the specific conditions you will be fishing, you may be able to make an educated choice. For the rest of us, an all-purpose line will work just fine.

 

[falconer57]

Maybe a little off-topic but, why are lines rated fresh or salt water? If they are basically string covered in plastic(PVC?), what is the difference?

 

[trev]

Maybe a little off-topic but, why are lines rated fresh or salt water? If they are basically string covered in plastic(PVC?), what is the difference?

I would say it's just a marketing theme, but here some other opinions-
https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/...e far more quickly than the saltwater version.

https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/...nce-between-salt-freshwater-fly-lines.323927/

https://www.scientificanglers.com/freshwater-lines-vs-saltwater-lines/

 

[Slightly_Jenky]

Maybe a little off-topic but, why are lines rated fresh or salt water? If they are basically string covered in plastic(PVC?), what is the difference?

For SA lines, we use a harder coating and stiffer core for tropical lines and conversely a softer coating and core for coldwater lines. The properties of the plastic coating changes with temperature. If you were to use a coldwater line in a tropical environment, you'd notice that it would feel sticky and would likely be so limp that it leads to tangling. Using a tropical line in cold weather will result in significant memory.

 

[trev]

For SA lines, we use a harder coating and stiffer core for tropical lines and conversely a softer coating and core for coldwater lines. The properties of the plastic coating changes with temperature. If you were to use a coldwater line in a tropical environment, you'd notice that it would feel sticky and would likely be so limp that it leads to tangling. Using a tropical line in cold weather will result in significant memory.

Salt is not always tropical. The difference you mention is not salt vs fresh but hot climate vs cold climate.

 

[Slightly_Jenky]

Salt is not always tropical. The difference you mention is not salt vs fresh but hot climate vs cold climate.

Yes, that's correct. Most SW lines we sell are constructed for tropical temps and most FW lines are constructed for colder temps. There are a few exceptions: SW striper lines, Tropical Jungle lines, bass lines, etc.

For the same application temperature, the only difference between a FW and SW line would possible be density. Because the salinity of SW increases it's density, you can use a more dense floating line that will cut through the wind better.