RIO LT Review

[czando]

Review: RIO Trout LT fly line | Hatch Magazine - Fly Fishing, etc.

Great article on a great dry line that was redesigned few years back and made the first 30 feet a size and a half but the line does not feel heavy. Just an excellent taper for long distance and technical casts/mends on bigger water.

I recently lined it on a Thomas and Thomas Avantt 4 weight and it is excellent




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[tcorfey]

I had this line Rio Trout LT in 2wt DT on my 6' Butterstick, but it did not perform well. I had a hard time to cast it the full 30' head length and it was not good at small stream roll casting with my shorter rod. I replaced the LT with the Cortland 444 peach 2wt DT which is a true to weight line and that rod/line combination performed much better in overhead and roll-casting. Not saying that the LT line is terrible just this line does not really work well on all rods which was the claim from Hatch (granted from what I can tell they only tested it on 5wt rods). I felt the need to comment because that part of the review where they claim it works well for dry fly fishing on all rods regardless of the rods action did not ring true for me.

I like the claim from CZANDO that the Rio LT is a half size heavier and works well for long distance, technical casts because that statement already rules out using it on my 6' 2wt Butterstick rod as that rod is not a rod for long distance casts. If I read that statement before I purchased the LT line I would not have purchased the line for my Butterstick. At the time of purchase I did not have that information. Actually, now that I think about it I should have figured out that LT meant Long Taper and that should have warned me right off the bat.

Just sharing my experience.

Regards,
Tim C.

 

[el jefe]

The article makes mention that the Trout LT is available in WF and DT versions, but then does not make the distinction that they are different tapers and weighted differently. That's a pretty significant omission, and does a disservice to the reader.

 

[proheli]

I also purchased a Rio line, recommended by a Rio rep, undisclosed to be .5 heavy, which was far too heavy for the glass rod I needed it for, and that was a wasted $100. I haven’t purchased anything Rio since. I haven’t cast it but I’m familiar with the #2 Butterstick. I can already tell I’d put on a true-weight line or even less.

 

[jayr]

The article makes mention that the Trout LT is available in WF and DT versions, but then does not make the distinction that they are different tapers and weighted differently. That's a pretty significant omission, and does a disservice to the reader.

Exactly!

I bought a 3 weight WF line and it is weight wise dead on with a 4 weight per AFTMA specs. Luckily I have several 4 weight rods that do like it.

 

[mka]

Czando...I'm currently running the LT line on two rods, both 7'6" 3wts. I've been using it for a couple of years on my Orvis Helios ION rod and have found it works pretty good for the environments I am fishing. At first when I got it, I wasn't sure about the line, but then I grew to like it very much. My other rod that I am using it on is a Sage X 376 and I am finding it works pretty much the same as the Helios rod. The line comes to life when punching the line out to the 15' to 30' range. I would rate it a 9 or 10 for long casts and a 7 or 8 on casts shorter than 15' or so. It works fine for close in work, but there is a learning curve on those very short casts off the tip of the rod with this line (for me anyway).

I'm going to leave the line on my Helios ION rod, but I may switch it for a Perception line on the Sage...Dave Anderson likes the Perception on this X 376 and I am inclined to follow him since he's a small stream angler. He says the Perception works better for the close-in work.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Czando likes Wulff Triangle Tapers and pretty much, WF LT is RIO's equivalent to that line. It's elongated front taper is 28 feet long followed by a thickened heavier belly and, like TT, a short and abrupt rear taper. Its continuously tapered front is .5 heavy (150 gr. for a 5 wt.) and its full 47' head is a whopping 242 gr. Fully aerialized, and the same with Wulff TT, this line performs like a shooting head affording big distance with a soft delivery attributable to the elongated front tapers. For in-close casting there may not be adequate mass to load some rods properly though.

I have one rigged in a 4-weight but none of my 4-wt. rods like it. I cast it with a 5-wt. SKY which was a better match weight wise but then I didn't like its characteristics...full discloser and with no disrespect to the great Lee Wulff, I'm not a fan of TT either though I confess Bermuda Triangle does launch a bonefish fly a long way. Some of my Delaware River cohorts swear by TT due to the influence of a famous angler there and some cast better than I do but I achieve more adroit presentations with a long head, elongated rear taper line like RIO's Gold and its design brethren from Cortland (Omni-Verse) and SA (MEDT/Trout).

 

[czando]

Thanks to the board for the comments. The context here is important as I really like this line for the fishing I do most which is long distance technical dries (think Missouri or Delaware)

These back weighted lines are not going to be your big bug or streamer lines but at distance for control, and accuracy they rock!


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[mka]

Thanks to the board for the comments. The context here is important as I really like this line for the fishing I do most which is long distance technical dries (think Missouri or Delaware)

These back weighted lines are not going to be your big bug or streamer lines but at distance for control, and accuracy they rock!

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Seems to me the LT would work great for that application, Czando...long distance with a delicate landing

 

[Ontarioflyguy]

Great Post and Article! Unbelievably this line is on clearance sale at my only local store that sells good fly fishing equipment so I am adding tomorrow

I have this line on a Greys 7.5 foot 3 weight and loved it on that rod. I am going to pick up some 5 wt to try on my Greys and Fenwick Aetos 5 weights...

Great article as everyone seems to write that you need the over-sized weights for fast rods and this contradicts as I have read a few others do as well....

 

[sweetandsalt]

I am one who does not buy into the overweight for fast rods dogma...some may and many may not, one has to try them on for size as each rod, habitat and technique and each of us is different.

There is though no reason to be surprised by a line's taper and 30' grain weight as this data is mostly listed on RIO's, SA's and Cortland's websites. There is nothing wrong with taking someone's recommendation but supplement it by doing your own homework.

 

[jeep.ster]

I went to the local fly shop looking for the grain weight of a rio creek wf3f for a sage dart. The rio fly lines at the local fly shop don't have grain weights on their products. For example the box just says for fast action fly rod and has the illustrated head taper lengths. The fly shop couldn't confirm any grain weight for rio lines and rioproducts.com doesn't have any grain weights listed for any trout lines. My old rio boxes at least say half line or full line heavy and you could determin grain wt from that. I wanted the grain weight to reference a scientific anglers fly line. The fly shop gave me the new sa fly line catalog which does have the grain weights included.

 

[flav]

I went to the local fly shop looking for the grain weight of a rio creek wf3f for a sage dart. The rio fly lines at the local fly shop don't have grain weights on their products. For example the box just says for fast action fly rod and has the illustrated head taper lengths. The fly shop couldn't confirm any grain weight for rio lines and rioproducts.com doesn't have any grain weights listed for any trout lines. My old rio boxes at least say half line or full line heavy and you could determin grain wt from that. I wanted the grain weight to reference a scientific anglers fly line. The fly shop gave me the new sa fly line catalog which does have the grain weights included.

Most rio trout (and other) lines have the grain weight at 30', grain weight of the entire head, and head length, as well as a taper profile, listed on the Rio website. For whatever reason the Rio Creek doesn't have those grain weights listed. It may be because the head is listed at 30' but looking at the taper profile most of the mass is in the first 15 feet and the back 15 feet is just a rather thin rear taper, more like a handling section. If the box says it's .5 heavy I bet the first 15 feet is about right on spec weightwise and the back taper is the remaining half line weight. If you cast it with just the front 15 or so feet of head outside your rod tip you'll be casting a true to weight line.

 

[boisker]

Review: RIO Trout LT fly line | Hatch Magazine - Fly Fishing, etc.

Great article on a great dry line that was redesigned few years back and made the first 30 feet a size and a half but the line does not feel heavy. Just an excellent taper for long distance and technical casts/mends on bigger water.

I recently lined it on a Thomas and Thomas Avantt 4 weight and it is excellent

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Having a line .5 overweight for distance casting doesn’t make that much sense to me, I get over weighting a rod for close in work, but not at distance.
But each to their own, if it works for others then crack on

 

[sweetandsalt]

I just looked on RIO's site and sure enough, no grain weight listing for Creek...I will bring this up with them at Edison. On my DART#4 I've been fishing a Gold...Creek was not available when I got it. I have been told though that Creek was developed specifically for DART with an emphasis on good loading for in-close casts.

 

[el jefe]

I just looked on RIO's site and sure enough, no grain weight listing for Creek...I will bring this up with them at Edison. On my DART#4 I've been fishing a Gold...Creek was not available when I got it. I have been told though that Creek was developed specifically for DART with an emphasis on good loading for in-close casts.

This begs the question, though, of why design a rod for small creeks, where close-in casting and loading are the order of the day, and build it so fast that you then have to overline it to get it to work at the designed fishing distance? Why not just soften it up so that it works at the designed fishing distances with a line that is designed for delicate presentation at short distances to spooky fish? It seems like the Creek line is a solution to a problem that Sage created by mis-designing the rod.

 

[sweetandsalt]

This begs the question, though, of why design a rod for small creeks, where close-in casting and loading are the order of the day, and build it so fast that you then have to overline it to get it to work at the designed fishing distance? Why not just soften it up so that it works at the designed fishing distances with a line that is designed for delicate presentation at short distances to spooky fish? It seems like the Creek line is a solution to a problem that Sage created by mis-designing the rod.

el jefe, Where do I start? OK, it has the action, medium fast, somewhat progressive with a quick recovering tip because...it is a Sage. I do not have a Creek but surely RIO Gold is a line capable of the most delicate of fly placement...one of my three go-to dry fly lines (along with SA Trout and Cortland Omni-Verse). DART loads smoothly and efficiently with little line aerialized and considering its very short 7 1/2' length, provides the gravity defying line speed and handling request for precise dry fly placement and drift control...as Sage is famed for. Now there are many, I think like you, who might prefer a slower, deeper flexing, softer tipped small stream rod in this configuration and, as luck and good fortune would have it, Winston offers their new Pure as an alterative. There are other small stream intended rods in glass, cane or Orvis's Super Fine or Douglas Upstream graphites but for those of us favoring higher line speed and tight loops for our dry fly techniques, DART was created to fill this void. It is a honey of a little rod weighing next to nothing.

 

[el jefe]

el jefe, Where do I start? OK, it has the action, medium fast, somewhat progressive with a quick recovering tip because...it is a Sage. I do not have a Creek but surely RIO Gold is a line capable of the most delicate of fly placement...one of my three go-to dry fly lines (along with SA Trout and Cortland Omni-Verse). DART loads smoothly and efficiently with little line aerialized and considering its very short 7 1/2' length, provides the gravity defying line speed and handling request for precise dry fly placement and drift control...as Sage is famed for. Now there are many, I think like you, who might prefer a slower, deeper flexing, softer tipped small stream rod in this configuration and, as luck and good fortune would have it, Winston offers their new Pure as an alterative. There are other small stream intended rods in glass, cane or Orvis's Super Fine or Douglas Upstream graphites but for those of us favoring higher line speed and tight loops for our dry fly techniques, DART was created to fill this void. It is a honey of a little rod weighing next to nothing.

True, you have accurately characterized my preferences in small stream rods. At the short distances for which creek rods are designed, high line speed seems irrelevant. More important to me is being able to lay down a fly gently. But how much difference is there in line speed that can be generated by any rod at 20', regardless of action? The Dart/Creek combo still seems to me like one-step forward, and one-step back.

I have the first generation TXL 1710. It is a fun rod, but I don't really use it much, any longer. Its sweet spot fishing distance was too long with a 1-weight line, and it fishes better with a true 2-weight line. (Sidebar: At the lowest line weights, the grain increments between those line weights become compressed; grain weights are not a linear progression. That is basically as one gets below a 1-weight, which makes the old Sage TXL 1-, 0-, 00-, and 000-line weights pretty close to the same rod.) If I go to a 2-weight line, then I switch to a ZXL 280, which is a rod better-targeted for that task, in my opinion. Now, once a fish is on, the TXL 1710 is great fun, as is the ZXL.

 

[sweetandsalt]

"At the short distances for which creek rods are designed, high line speed seems irrelevant. More important to me is being able to lay down a fly gently." el jefe

At all distances, near, normal and way out there, dry flies are best alighted upon the water gently and with precision. It is therefore my favored technique to never unfurl my line upon the water but always in the air wafting the fly down with a fully controlled articulated leader/tippet. Hence my use of rods adept at true tracking, minimum tip counter-flex that are designed to generate line speed and tight parallel loop formation. I always use long tippets and strive to have my offering arrive in the fish's lie fly first with no coil of tippet in front of it with the absolute minimal amount of surface disturbance. For me, it is not about a gentle "feel" rather a gentle presentation.

 

[ixoye]

I just looked on RIO's site and sure enough, no grain weight listing for Creek...I will bring this up with them at Edison. On my DART#4 I've been fishing a Gold...Creek was not available when I got it. I have been told though that Creek was developed specifically for DART with an emphasis on good loading for in-close casts.

According to Rio when i ask them by e-mail the Creek line in #3 had a full 30 feet headweight of 120 grains, a whole class over AFTM specification.