Salmon lines

[ShedHed]

First question why are salmon lines rated as e.g. 9/10, what is it? a 9 or a 10? I know what it means on rods but not for lines.

After my last post and a bit more research, multi tips and spey lines in general are on the back burner. DT lines are reccomended to start with to get used to the casting. Any reccomendations on decent Salmon DT's

Thanks

[salmo6934]

First question why are salmon lines rated as e.g. 9/10, what is it? a 9 or a 10? I know what it means on rods but not for lines.

After my last post and a bit more research, multi tips and spey lines in general are on the back burner. DT lines are reccomended to start with to get used to the casting. Any reccomendations on decent Salmon DT's

Thanks

 

I've said it before, millends.

If you want to splash out abit, try Shakespeare Worcester's.

[Chris Goddard]

Millends all the way!!!

 

And as to the numbers?? I have been told by a wise old sage they mean (In MOST) cases bugger all!! It is all down to personal use. I don't mean absolutely nothing at all, but more the line weight is down to persoal preference? I know Mike has had lines as he tells me rated at 7/8 which he would gladly use with a 6 weight rod and others which would be better suited to a 9 weight rod.

 

But millends rule!! Cheap and no better or worse than anything else!! SNOB value rules KO!

[salmo6934]

Thank you Chris.

When I worked in a tackle shop the reps used to get onto me about me mill ends. "You will ruin the business if you kep selling mill ends". I awlays said "At least for a couple of quid you will find out which line suits your rod"

ps I have just lashed out for the dearest line Iv'e ever bought, £19.99 for a spey line. It works, but no better than the 2 millends I joined together.

:

[ShedHed]

Thanks Guys.

Any reccomendations to suppliers/make of millends or is it much of a muchness

[charlieH]

Any reccomendations to suppliers/make of millends or is it much of a muchness

 

Mullarkeys have a good reputation and have been selling them for a long time.

 

After my last post and a bit more research, multi tips and spey lines in general are on the back burner. DT lines are reccomended to start with to get used to the casting.

 

I'd be interested to hear the reasoning behind this. Apart from cost (and there are some cheap options) I don't think DTs have any significant benefit over WF lines. So far as I know, instructors don't start single handed casters off with a DT line, so why should it be any different for double handers?

 

Lines are one piece of tackle that really can make a big difference to your casting and fishing. They're far more important than reels, for example - for fishing in the UK there's absolutely no need to lash out big money on anything other than a very basic reel, yet so many people seem willing to spend £££s on the latest super-duper large-arbour, disc drag models. I'd advise anyone starting out to spend more on their line and less on the reel. Mill ends can be fine, but it's pot luck, as by their very nature you don't know what you're getting.

[salmo6934]

Mullarkeys have a good reputation and have been selling them for a long time.

I'd be interested to hear the reasoning behind this. Apart from cost (and there are some cheap options) I don't think DTs have any significant benefit over WF lines. So far as I know, instructors don't start single handed casters off with a DT line, so why should it be any different for double handers?

 

Lines are one piece of tackle that really can make a big difference to your casting and fishing. They're far more important than reels, for example - for fishing in the UK there's absolutely no need to lash out big money on anything other than a very basic reel, yet so many people seem willing to spend £££s on the latest super-duper large-arbour, disc drag models. I'd advise anyone starting out to spend more on their line and less on the reel. Mill ends can be fine, but it's pot luck, as by their very nature you don't know what you're getting.

 

We are talking salmon lines here and double handers.

You will have great difficulty as a novice spey casting with a WF line . Notice I didn't say spey line which is a WF but has a longer belly. An ordinary WF is ok for overhead casting but not for spey casting.

"Why spey cast". Usually said by people who can't do it. Get yourself a good instructor (APGAI) and learn it properly as it will open up the river to you.

I am asked quite often to teach people , I refer them to a friend who is an instructor, there is a great difference in "showing" somebody how to do it. I would say the instructor's greatest asset is being able to correct faults.

Also the first thing people ask when you make a good cast "what line, rod etc". They should ask "Who taught you to do that".

[charlieH]

We are talking salmon lines here and double handers.

You will have great difficulty as a novice spey casting with a WF line . Notice I didn't say spey line which is a WF but has a longer belly. An ordinary WF is ok for overhead casting but not for spey casting.

"Why spey cast". Usually said by people who can't do it. Get yourself a good instructor (APGAI) and learn it properly as it will open up the river to you.

I am asked quite often to teach people , I refer them to a friend who is an instructor, there is a great difference in "showing" somebody how to do it. I would say the instructor's greatest asset is being able to correct faults.

Also the first thing people ask when you make a good cast "what line, rod etc". They should ask "Who taught you to do that".

 

I agree with much of this, but I'm no clearer why a DT is better for a novice to learn on than a spey line. As you say, a spey line is basically just a long belly WF, albeit with a specially designed taper. However, I certainly didn't mean to suggest that a novice should start speycasting with a conventional WF - sorry if that wasn't clear.

 

I think a specialist spey line has two significant advantages over a DT. First, the front taper is typically much longer than you will find on a DT line, with the main weight of the line closer to the rod tip. It is therefore easier to transfer energy down the line and get good turnover of the fly when spey casting. Unlike with an overhead cast, the forward movement of the rod in the delivery stroke doesn't act directly on the tip of the line, so the transfer of energy from the belly is the only way the fly can be propelled forwards. Secondly, as with a conventional WF line used overhead, it is easier to shoot line into the cast because, assuming the back of the head is at the rod tip, the thin running line is so much lighter and offers less resistance than a DT.

 

I started speycasting with a DT line, because that's what I had with my existing setup; specialist spey lines weren't widely available at the time (mid 90s), though Michael Evans (who I believe was the first person to produce a modern spey line commercially) had in fact started selling them by then. But since these lines have become widely available, and in the past few years have got so much better, I don't see any reason to use a DT line, when a spey line will do the job so much better most of the time.

 

DTs are still useful on small rivers, where you may need to cast very different lengths of line and distance isn't a prime concern, but I think a spey line will still perform well enough in those conditions unless you're really casting a short line (in which case there is the option of using an overhead cast), and certainly they come into their own anywhere that you want to cast more than, say, 20 yards. This is true for novice or expert alike.

[Sportsman]

When I started fly fishing, trout and salmon, I used mill ends based on price. The quality was variable, to be polite. Now I buy good quality lines, based on experience rather than price, snob value doesn't come into it, I don't think anyone has ever asked me what line I use (maybe they have seen me cast )

Different lines and weights will suit different individuals casting styles and there is nothing worse than trying to adapt your casting to suit your line.

IMO a poor rod will cast a good line better than a good rod will cast a poor line, particularly in Spey casting.

The best advice given so far is to go to an instructor. He will not only teach you to cast, (and your right, Spey casting will help you fish effectively in conditions where you couldn't fish at all using an overhead cast), but he will probably have a selection of tackle, including lines, for you to try and experiment with.

Good luck with it