Fly Lines - What color?
John King
What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
John
Jon Porter
John King (joh...@erols.com) wrote:
: What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
: yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
IF I have a choice, I prefer natural camoflague colors, such as gray or
green. There is even a line that is "clear" in appearance. I say "if I
have a choice" because you are often stuck with the color that the
manufacturor gives you for the line with the performance capabilities that
you want.
In some case, such as salt water, I prefer a brightly colored line so that
I can see it in the water.
--
Jon Porter
jepo...@freenet.columbus.oh.us
Al Beatty
John King wrote:
>
> What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
> yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
>
Hi John
I select fly line color by purpose. If I'm taking pictures for a
magazine I like hot orange but if I'm fishing to real spooky fish on a
spring creek then I prefer gray. A white fly line "stained" in a strong
solution of regular old tea is also fine.
--
Tight Lines ..... Al Beatty
BT's Fly Fishing Products
On line catalog - tips & tricks at:
http://www.btsflyfishing.com
mailto:btsfly...@mcn.net
L. Burton Hawley
Al Beatty wrote:
>
> John King wrote:
> >
> > What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> > colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
> > yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
> >
> > John
> Hi John
>
> I select fly line color by purpose. If I'm taking pictures for a
> magazine I like hot orange but if I'm fishing to real spooky fish on a
> spring creek then I prefer gray. A white fly line "stained" in a strong
> solution of regular old tea is also fine.
> --
> Tight Lines ..... Al Beatty
Al,
You give your choice but provide no reason for this selection. Why grey?
The fish looks up and sees the line against a backdrop of the sky. Why
not choose a blue line? Just curious.
-Burton
--
L. Burton Hawley
2330 NW Hummingbird
Corvallis, OR
Jason Beary
John King wrote:
>
> What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors.
> John
John:
I fish over spooky browns here in S.E. PA. I used to use a Mastery XPS
in Grey. I now use an Airflow Delta taper in white. I think that it is
a bit bright, but it is still easily seen. I'l like to dye it slightly
to a light blue color. First, I think it will blend-in well with the
background in bright conditions when line color is (maybe) significant
and, Second, I still ought to be able to see it. Light green is another
possibility, but there is no "green" around from Nov.- Mid May.
One thing to remember is that the line may very well be sillohetted
against the sky, and a hard lay-down, lining, or casting directly over
the fish will spook it regardless of line color.
Jason B.
A. Gades
>In article <339B66...@alpinet.net> Al Beatty <albe...@alpinet.net> writes:
>
> From: Al Beatty <albe...@alpinet.net>
> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly
> Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 19:13:20 -0700
> Organization: BT's Fly Fishing Products
> Hi John
>
> I select fly line color by purpose. If I'm taking pictures for a
> magazine I like hot orange but if I'm fishing to real spooky fish on a
> spring creek then I prefer gray. A white fly line "stained" in a strong
> solution of regular old tea is also fine.
> --
> Tight Lines ..... Al Beatty
> On line catalog - tips & tricks at:
> http://www.btsflyfishing.com
> mailto:btsfly...@mcn.net
First it was chicken soup steam on flies, now tea on your flyline
(Earl Grey?). I'm wondering what you use on your leaders? Crumpets?
cheers to you,
-tony
--
Tony Gades. Seattle, WA. USA
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades/Fishing/fish_page.html
email: replace the "this_address_is_wrong" with "tgades"
Paul Bunchuk
It can depend on what type of fishing you are doing. In the salt if the
fish are not spooky I prefer a line the is very visible to the angler. If
the fish are spooky, than the Monic lines have produced very well.
Paul Bunchuk
PNB Graphics
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl
pnbg...@pnbgraphics.com
><<)))`> For Tarpon Fishing - please visit:
http://www.geocities.com/~tarponhunter
John King wrote in article <339B25...@erols.com>...
>What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
irish-...@worldnet.att.net
John King wrote:
>
> What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
> yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
>
> John
Next time you go fishing (for any type of fish that are easily spooked),
look up. What color(s) are the fish used to seeing? Blue skies? Gray
skies? Green leaves? Brown branches? Of the colors you come up with,
which is the easiest for you to see? That would be my first choice in a
color.
Anglerboy
John King wrote:
> What color fly lines do you prefer?
The color of the fly line matters a whole lot less than how gently it
hits the water and how long your leader is. Frankly, I don't pay any
attention to the color of the fly line.
Anglerboy
--
Trout fear me,
Women want me.
Ralph H
In article <r6c206b...@saul4.u.washington.edu>, this_addre...@u.washington.edu (A. Gades) says:
>
>>In article <339B66...@alpinet.net> Al Beatty <albe...@alpinet.net> writes:
>>
>> From: Al Beatty <albe...@alpinet.net>
>> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly
>> Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 19:13:20 -0700
>> Organization: BT's Fly Fishing Products
>> Hi John
>>
>> I select fly line color by purpose. If I'm taking pictures for a
>> magazine I like hot orange but if I'm fishing to real spooky fish on a
>> spring creek then I prefer gray. A white fly line "stained" in a strong
>> solution of regular old tea is also fine.
>> --
>> Tight Lines ..... Al Beatty
>> BT's Fly Fishing Products
>> On line catalog - tips & tricks at:
>> http://www.btsflyfishing.com
>> mailto:btsfly...@mcn.net
>
>
>First it was chicken soup steam on flies, now tea on your flyline
>(Earl Grey?). I'm wondering what you use on your leaders? Crumpets?
>
>
clotted cream.
Stephen Welsh
wayne trzyna (trz...@flatt.cs.colostate.edu) wrote:
: I go back and forth over whether color makes a difference. I don't think
: it it too important. Regardless of the line's color, they all cast a
: similar shadow. I don't think fish are spooked by a line which floats over
: them naturally. They are used to seeing all sorts of things float by.
: But abrupt or unnatuaral motion of the line and its shadow will spook them.
: Bright color might add to this alarm.
:
: --
:
: -Wayne Trzyna
: trz...@CS.ColoState.EDU
I tend to agree with Wayne - having tried bright green, gray, blue, brown
and tan - I can honestly say there is no difference once the thing is
on the water at least where I fish. I used to wonder just how visible an
aerialised line is to fish until a few weeks ago on a lake. A cast between
two cruising fish caused them to scatter while the thing was still in the
air.
A plane passing caused a similar reaction - it was at about 2000ft
in a dead calm. Its movement that is the problem. I guess camouflaged
lines are harder to detect against a backdrop of trees, mountains etc -
but in the open against a bright sky ....
BTW: Victoria has a salmonid season again! After 25years of open slather
and 25years of complaints from responsible fishos the Fisheries
"Management" people have relented and _all_ Victorian streams are closed to
salmonid fishing from June till September. Now if we can just get them to
assign bag limits, size restrictions and perhaps even a few "Blue Ribbon"
waters.
Steve
(Melbourne, Australia)
Tony Bishop
There may be another consideration and that is what happens
in the air. Some line colours produce a flash, colours like
white and fluoro green for instance. Down this way
we tend to think that line flash is more important than the
colour per se.
--
Tony Bishop
Taupo New Zealand
bish...@voyager.co.nz
http://bishfish.co.nz
wayne trzyna <trz...@flatt.cs.colostate.edu> wrote in article
<5nhkod$g...@flatt.cs.colostate.edu>...
cob...@csionline.com
John,
Different types of fly fishing actually demand certain types of
colors. Take for example bone fishing, a sand color is used to blend in
with the flats because it is such a spooky fish.
John Bushell Jr.
Betty and Nicks
http://www.bettyandnicks.com
Richard Ward
> What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
> yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
It depends on how successful at catching fish you want to be. Bright
lines are for demonstrating what a fancy caster you are. Dark drab lines
are for catching fish.
Lines for dry fly fishing in particular should be as drab as you can
possibly buy. There used to be available in the UK a wonderful line by
3m called Aircell Supreme. It was available in mahogany and was perfect
for the task. You may be able to still get one of these in the USA. I
can't find them in the UK, maybe they are not made anymore. Now I buy
them in ivory or white and dye them with brown/olive Wash n'Dye in the
washing machine inside a knotted sleeve of an old shirt. They aren't as
good but catch more fish than the bright lines.
If you want to catch fish avoid any bright coloured line.
richard
Neil Grose
Jason Beary wrote:
>
> John King wrote:
> >
> > What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> > colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors.
>
>
> John:
> I fish over spooky browns here in S.E. PA. I used to use a Mastery XPS
> in Grey. I now use an Airflow Delta taper in white. I think that it is
> a bit bright, but it is still easily seen. I'l like to dye it slightly
> to a light blue color. First, I think it will blend-in well with the
> background in bright conditions when line color is (maybe) significant
> and, Second, I still ought to be able to see it. Light green is another
> possibility, but there is no "green" around from Nov.- Mid May.
> One thing to remember is that the line may very well be sillohetted
> against the sky, and a hard lay-down, lining, or casting directly over
> the fish will spook it regardless of line color.
> Jason B.
always use one I can see.
Neil Grose
Tasmania Australia
ngr...@tassie.net.au
Richard Ward
> >> I select fly line color by purpose. If I'm taking pictures for a
> >> magazine I like hot orange but if I'm fishing to real spooky fish
> > on a
> >> spring creek then I prefer gray. A white fly line "stained" in a
> > strong
> >> solution of regular old tea is also fine.
> >
> >(Earl Grey?). I'm wondering what you use on your leaders? Crumpets?
> >
> >
>
> clotted cream.
Aaargh!! Bait fishermen in our midst!!!
:-)
richard
DGracia
>
>What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
>colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
>yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
Hi John,
I prefer to fish with floating lines that I can see. As long as the
floating line floats it will appear to the fish as more of a silhoutte
than anything else. Pick up a bright yellow pencil and hold it up between
yourself and a light. You see a silhoutte and the color vrtually
disappears. I usually fish with a light yellow or a chartreuse line
because I can see what it's doing on the water. I have a gray floating
line but rarely use it because it is harder to follow.
Goddard and Clark did a study years ago about lines and they came to an
interesting conclusion. They said that a white line was the most
difficult for the fish to see while casting except that the white line
would flash and the others wouldn't. They suggested not using white lines
and they had the photo's to show it.
In New Zealand if you show up with a brightly colored line, the Kiwi's
will either pull out a magic marker or die the front 30 feet of your line
some subtle color. Of course if you spook a fish on the South Island, you
may have to hike 1/4 to 1/2 a mile to find another fish, so maybe it's
worth going a little overboard (especially since the smallest fish you'll
see will be around 3 lbs.). If I ever get over there I'll probably take
my gray line with me.
Good Fishing
Dan
Dan Gracia
Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools
dgr...@aol.com
Tony Bishop
The comments about New Zealand guides fanaticism about brightly coloured
lines should apply to the South Island only, and back country at that. In
the North Island bright coloured lines make it much easier to see where
your line, hence the fly is, and this is what is important.
When first starting out fly fishing line control on the water to ensure
your fly is in the right place should perhaps take precedence over any
other factor. Once skill has developed to the point where you can chase
very wary fish in crystal clear water, then changing to dull coloured line
is important but until then stick with bright lines.
DGracia <dgr...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19970624005...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> In article <339B25...@erols.com>, John King <joh...@erols.com>
writes:
>
> >
> >What color fly lines do you prefer? I have seen such a plethora of
> >colors, I am confused why there are so many different colors. Green,
> >yellow, gray, flourescent yellow, flourescent orange?
>
> Hi John,
>
> I prefer to fish with floating lines that I can see. (Cut)>
DGracia
In article <01bc80e5$70302200$221815cb@bishfish>, "Tony Bishop"
<bish...@voyager.co.nz> writes:
*SNIP*
>The comments about New Zealand guides fanaticism about brightly coloured
>lines should apply to the South Island only, and back country at that. In
>the North Island bright coloured lines make it much easier to see where
>your line, hence the fly is, and this is what is important.
*SNIP*
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the clarification on the line fanaticism. As I said, I haven't
been there yet, but hope to get there sometime in the forseeable future.
Most of the stuff I have seen from NZ is from the South Island. A good
friend of mine, Dean Schubert, spends entirely too much time in NZ and has
the gall to bring back pictures of his exploits. Probably wouldn't bother
me so much if he was a lousy fly fisher, but he's one of the best I've
ever seen so he always has great fish pictures. He got married last year
and this time I think he only spent 2 weeks instead of the typical 2 to 3
months there.
Good Fishing,
A. Gades
>In article <19970624005...@ladder01.news.aol.com> dgr...@aol.com (DGracia) writes:
>
> In New Zealand if you show up with a brightly colored line, the Kiwi's
> will either pull out a magic marker or die the front 30 feet of your line
> some subtle color. Of course if you spook a fish on the South Island, you
> may have to hike 1/4 to 1/2 a mile to find another fish, so maybe it's
> worth going a little overboard (especially since the smallest fish you'll
> see will be around 3 lbs.). If I ever get over there I'll probably take
> my gray line with me.
>
> Good Fishing
> Dan
For what it is worth, in my 3 - 1month trips to the S.Island NZ, I've
had great success with large spooky back-country browns by doing 2
obvious things.
1) reduce or eliminate false casting
2) use long leaders
All of my lines are just the tan color of the SA Ultra3 lines.
I think that the 2 factors I mention are far more important than line
color.
-tgades
Mr. G.
DGracia wrote:
>
> In article <r6cd8p9...@saul4.u.washington.edu>,
> this_addre...@u.washington.edu (A. Gades) writes:
>
> >Dan
> >
> >For what it is worth, in my 3 - 1month trips to the S.Island NZ, I've
> >had great success with large spooky back-country browns by doing 2
> >obvious things.
> >
> > 1) reduce or eliminate false casting
> > 2) use long leaders
> >
> >All of my lines are just the tan color of the SA Ultra3 lines.
> >
> >I think that the 2 factors I mention are far more important than line
> >color.
> >
> >
>
>
> you need someone to carry your reel bag or something on the next trip *8^>
___________I'm sure you had a wonderful time and your advise is correct.
Mr. G.
DGracia
Richard Ward
> For what it is worth, in my 3 - 1month trips to the S.Island NZ, I've
> had great success with large spooky back-country browns by doing 2
> obvious things.
>
> 1) reduce or eliminate false casting
> 2) use long leaders
>
> All of my lines are just the tan color of the SA Ultra3 lines.
>
> I think that the 2 factors I mention are far more important than line
> color.
Tony do you fish dry fly? On the streams I fish in Derbyshire you are
often at close quarters to the trout and grayling. False casting is
needed to dry the fly enough to keep it standing on the meniscus and
Leaders are rarely as long as 10 feet. Whilst some anglers catch a few
fish using light lines those of us using dark drab brown and green lines
catch more successfully. I just wish I could simply buy Scientific
Anglers Aircell in mahogany or similar colour. Right now dying in Wash'n
Dye in a knotted old sock in the washing machine is how I get the line the
right colour.
richard
Thomas
In article <ECqqt...@cix.compulink.co.uk>, rwa...@cix.compulink.co.uk
Richard,
having fished gin clear, shallow water with spooky fish for the recent 3
years I can say that line color doesn´t matter. If you false cast several
times over fish you will spook them in any color once the shadow hits the
fish. I fished regularly a fluorescent chartreuse line and still had an
better than average catch result.
But if you read your Hugh Falkus carefully you will notice that he deasl
with that matter thoroughly discussing that dark colors are the best
colors to be seen by a fish and therefore white is the best color you can
fish, especially with sinking lines (although I haven´t found out where
to get a white sinker or sink tip (except intermediate)).
Cheers
Thomas
--
Thomas Urbig
Ur...@biokemi.su.se
Richard Ward
In article <Urbig-0707970920420001@gvh_lab_power.biokemi.su.se>,
Ur...@biokemi.su.se (Thomas) wrote:
re white lines being harder to see.
My concern is not when the line is on the water. (Hugh Falkus observations
were about lines on the water). If any colour line lands with a plonk near
a fish the fish will cease feeding immediately. A brown line drifting
dead stick over a trout won't scare it if there is no disturbance any more
than a white line or a fluorescent line. It is the aerial flash of a
light coloured line that spells disaster. It is the same flash that
piscivorous birds make. The fishes instinct makes them bolt when such a
flash occurs. On the Derbyshire Wye (a gin clear limestone spring fed
river) anglers are often tricked into casting away at rings they saw a few
minutes earlier thinking that they were casting to rises. In fact they
are usually casting at fish which have already left. The rings were made
by bolting fish. My drab lines are safer to false cast with (unavoidable
with dry fly).
If you want a white sinker you could try the monofil lines used for sea
fly fishing. They are available clear but they are shiny.
richard
Tony Bishop
Could not agree more about thew comments regarding line flash being the
biggest no-no. This can of course be avoided by false casting behind the
fish and then changing direction for the delivery cast, if there is room!
If line colour is a problem try running an indelible marker with a slit cut
in it down the last ten or so feet of the line. Fish seem to react to
*immediate* danger, that is line flash or shadow that is close.
Thomas <Ur...@biokemi.su.se> wrote in article
<Urbig-0707970920420001@gvh_lab_power.biokemi.su.se>...
> In article <ECqqt...@cix.compulink.co.uk>, rwa...@cix.compulink.co.uk
> ("Richard Ward") wrote:
>
> > > For what it is worth, in my 3 - 1month trips to the S.Island NZ, I've
> > > had great success with large spooky back-country browns by doing 2
> > > obvious things.
> > >
> > > 1) reduce or eliminate false casting
> > > 2) use long leaders
> > >
> > > All of my lines are just the tan color of the SA Ultra3 lines.<snip>