Techy Thursdays - What's My Salt Line?
When thinking about what type of fly line you need for saltwater fly fishing it pays to break it down and work your way through a few key pieces. This should help stop the vast array on offer becoming an intangible mess.
Thankfully Airflo and Manics involvement over the years has lead to some great salt fly line developments for the Australasian market. All the bases have been covered in a very concise collection for all your salty requirements, although I'd expect to see these evolving with the rapid pace of technological advancements used.
A good start is matching your line to your rod. Most salt specific fly lines are made to power the faster action rods typically used so up/down lining shouldn't be too much of an issue. Next think about your fishing area. Where are you most likely going to be using the line in question? Shallow waterways call for floating or intermediate lines, whereas if you're to be bashing the deeper water columns a fast sink line is an obvious choice.
My all round go to has to be the Airflo Flats Master. A wicked intermediate line with a muted grey tip and a nice blue running line to keep track of proceedings. This has been specifically created for the Australasian market and performs just right.
Full sink lines are generally super heavy as you'll be fishing deeper and want to get down fast. This is where the Big Game Depth Finder comes to play. You'll be hitting rock bottom quick and have the 50lb core working over time to keep 'em off the reef.
Otherwise you can just settle on a general line and add a suitable poly leader to your set up, allowing a greater scope all while saving precious space and money.The taper of the fly line loads the rod and ultimately delivers your fly to its intended quarry. Are you needing a punchy head and longer belly to send a bulky baitfish into the wind? Or are you wanting to achieve a quick delicate cast to a tricky customer?
The core of a fly line is very important here also. Often our prey is larger, quicker and more aggressive than some freshwater counterparts. The non stretch cores from Airflo not only set hooks hard they also offer sensitivity for subtle takes. Plus the option of a 50lb core is nothing to sneeze at when handling the true Bluewater brutes.
A big advantage of the polyurethane coatings used by Airflo allow for a far bigger climate scope. A lot of lines miss the mark in this regard, especially in areas that see hot summers followed by super chilled winters - New Zealand and parts of Australia being the perfect example.
Once you have demystified your needs all that remains is to rig up a bullet proof connection and go thrash it, then thrash it some more.