MidCurrent Tested and Trusted: Fly Lines I Love Right Now

Fly anglers spend an inordinate amount of time drooling over rods, and I should know—I do more than enough drooling for all of us. One part of our kit that we regularly overlook, however, is the fly line.

Fly fishing revolves around fly line. Without fly line, the fly cast is impossible, and the way we fish doesn’t exist. Yet so many anglers are willing to just buy whatever line gets recommended to them, without doing the right research beforehand.

Correctly matching your fly line to your rod will help you maximize that rod’s performance. It’s surprising just how much different a rod will behave with the right line on it.

As an example, a few weeks ago, Alex Stulce and I were out fishing, and I lent him my new 8’6″ 5-weight Winston Air 2. That rod casts bests with a weight-forward true-to-weight line, but I handed Alex a reel spooled up with double-taper line. I didn’t notice, but Alex kept complaining the rod didn’t cast right. It wasn’t until later in the day that I realized my mistake. I swapped rods with him, and sure enough, that Air 2 just didn’t have the same smooth delivery and performance as it did with a weight-forward line.

Today, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite fly lines right now, and the rods they’re best suited for. The vast majority of trout rods made today fish best with a half-weight heavy line, but some work well with a quarter-heavy or true-to-weight line, as well. The line’s taper matters, and some lines will lend themselves better to dry fly presentations or roll casting, but I think it’s more important to match your rod to a line of the right weight.

406 Vintage Series Double Taper

• Recommended rods: Slow-action graphite or fiberglass, bamboo. Rods designed for small dry fly fishing.

I’ve been a huge fan of 406 fly lines for a while now, and if you’re in the market for line for your slow-action dry fly rod, look no further. These lines are durable, and they cast wonderfully on everything from my Tom Morgan Rodsmiths 8’6″ 5-weight to my 6′ 4-weight Sharpe’s bamboo rod.

SA Amplitude Infinity

• Recommended rods: Medium-fast/fast action graphite rods. Great for 5 and 6-weights.

The Infinity taper from Scientific Anglers is my current favorite line on nearly any rod. When I get new rods in for review here at MidCurrent, I almost always run an Infinity taper on them. It’s a half-weight heavy line, but it coaxes the best performance out of everything from the Winston Air 2, to the St. Croix Evos, to the new Scott Session. It’s a do-it-all taper for just about any trout rod.

Orvis PRO Power Taper

• Recommended rods: Fast-action graphite. Rods built for bigger flies.

The PRO Power Taper from Orvis is my go-to for big hopper-dropper rigs during the summer when the Wyoming wind really picks up. I love this line because of its aggressive taper and ability to load a rod quickly, which is imperative for good casts with heavy rigs. This line has enough of a back taper to it that you can do some dry fly fishing with it if needed, which is an added bonus.