Fly Line Color

[Duncan7709]

This is my first year fly fishing and I bought a cheap rod and reel with line on it. I am looking at upgrading my outfit and was wondering does fly line color matter?

[DEADhead]

depending on the situation. fly line color tends to be more critical in clear water situations, like streams during low flow conditions, or during periods with little surface runoff. Still water like lakes or reservoirs are another situation where line color can be critical. The one thing is, most fly line manufacturers that market specialty lines, often pick drab colors for their lines used in these conditions, e.g. SA makes a clear fly line for their still water line, olive drab for their mastery trout lines, etc.

that being said, the quality of the line far outweighs its color. A high end $60-70 line will hands down outperform a $30 line. The lone exceptions to that may be the SA Lefty Kreh line or the mastery headstart line, which is basically the mastery bass bug taper.

[Magneto]

There seems to be two schools of thought on this. On the one have there are those that say fly line color is extremely important, and then there are those that say any fly line will cast a shadow no matter what color it is and that is what the fish see and react to. I fall under the latter. All my fly lines are brightly colored, mostly because as I age, I can’t see those drab colors anymore while casting. I personally haven’t noticed the color being a problem. My personal believe is that presentation is everything and if you’re casting within range of a fishes field of vision their going to see it, no matter what color it is.

Just my thoughts

Mike

[thistlekicker]

following up on Magneto's comment about being able to see brighter lines more easily, if you are just starting out it may be better to get a bright line, just because its visibility will help you locate your fly, make mends, and even detect strikes if nymphing. Plus, if you're just learning fly casting, you're unlikely to encounter situations where fly line color will be the determining factor for your success.

[csprau]

I am of the thought that fly line color doesn't matter to the fish, and I agree with magneto that it is nice to have brighter fly lines for ease of seeing it better.

-Critter

[turiprap]

I gave up on my last Wulff Triangle Taper line because of its dull olive/gray color. I love the way the line cast, but I found that in the evening, I absolutely could not track it on the water. That made mending tough, obviously, but I hadn't realized before that how dependent I was on the line to point me toward the fly in the gloaming. And, I don't think flyline color makes much difference to the fish. What the fish sees when the line is on the water is a dark outline, regardless of the color of the line. Leonard M. Wright once wrote that he'd had a conversation with an RAF pilot about why his country's warplanes were painted white on the bottom. The pilot said that the military had drawn on nature - most predatory birds are dark above, but white on the belly. So, white may be a good choice, if your favorite style of line is available in white. If it isn't, I wouldn't shy away from a bright color if I liked everything else about the line.