THE LATEST NEWS and advice on fly fishing, fly fishing gear, fly fishing trips, and fly fishing books and media.Fly Line Designer Bruce Richards
3M/Scientific Anglers chief line designer and all-around fly fishing guru Bruce Richards discusses fly line manufacture, the Sage Casting Analyzer, and why all those new rods are so darn stiff.
Listen to the Podcast (28:43 - 27MB)
Internet Explorer Users: right click (Mac: Control-click) on the link and select "Save Link As..." to download the file to your computer.
Interviewer: Zach Matthews | Itinerant Angler
Podcast Excerpt: "The basic process is simple. Use a braided or some sort of nylon core -- almost all lines are made on nylon cores -- and that core is run through an adhesive primer, because PVC doesn't stick to nylon, so you have to put a binder between the two. So then you have prime core material. Then that runs through a bath of PVC, which is a very viscous liquid. Then that runs through a sizing die with a variable orifice that opens and closes to give you the diameter of the line, which correlates to weight. And then it goes into a curing oven that thermal-cures the PVC, and there you have a finished line."
