# Fly Line



## GreenFletchings (Aug 29, 2014)

I am brand new to this stuff. I have a 5 weight rod/reel. What is an affordable fly line that I could use? I think I want stuff that floats.. (that seems to be the norm?). Idk. Any advice would be great.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Some questions first. What size of rivers/streams do you intend to fish? Small streams? Medium Rivers like the Provo or Weber? Big like the Green or Snake? Still water? 

And what kinds of flies? And how long and what action is your rod?

If you are fishing the Provo, and your fly rod is 8 1/2 - 9', then you'll probably want a 5 wt,Weight Forward floating line. A good fly line will do wonders for casting. But on a small stream or medium river, you won't be making really long casts. So that said, get the best line you can afford. Price does make a difference. 

You can spend $15 on a line, and you can spend $100 on a line. As a beginner, something in the $20 - $30 range will work for fishing the Provo River. Cabelas has a Three Forks backing/line package for $25 that will work well enough.


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## rsb_924 (May 30, 2014)

cortland 333 classic trout Double Taper. will work. on sale at sportsman for $19.99
make sure you get fly line backing to. 

sending you a pm


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## GreenFletchings (Aug 29, 2014)

GaryFish said:


> Some questions first. What size of rivers/streams do you intend to fish? Small streams? Medium Rivers like the Provo or Weber? Big like the Green or Snake? Still water?
> 
> And what kinds of flies? And how long and what action is your rod?
> 
> ...


As of right now, I will probably just fish the Provo River. My rod is 8 ft 6 in. I believe it is a medium action.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

rsb makes a great point. If you have a smaller fly rod - 7 1/2 foot, and plan on smaller streams, a double taper is a great way to go. And the Cortland 333 is a decent enough line. I can't disagree with that one bit. 

See, that is the danger with a question like that. I've sat around a table tying flies before, and some will drop the question, "If you could ONLY have 15 fly rods, what would they be?" When I've fished with these guys, they've caught lots of fish. I've also fished with guys waving Eagle Claw combo fly rods they got for $30 at K-Mart, and that included the rod, reel, and fly line, on the Henry's Fork, and they caught lots of fish. And now you have Tenkara guys that fly fish with long sticks, no fly lines, and only one fly that is tied upside down and backwards, and they catch lots of fish. 

Welcome aboard.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

GreenFletchings said:


> As of right now, I will probably just fish the Provo River. My rod is 8 ft 6 in. I believe it is a medium action.


5 Weight, weight forward, floating line.

As was mentioned, the Cortland 333 is a good line. The Cabela's Three Forks combo will work just fine too. Take your reel with you and they'll load it for you.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

I struggled with this same scenario but was an intermediate fly fisher and was looking at more expensive line like scientific anglers vs rio gold. Being a beginner would be very overwhelming since certain lines work better with certain rods stuff like that. The best thing I did was went to my local fly shop which is Eddie Robinson's they had a bunch of reels spooled up with different lines. they just let me switch them out on my rod and cast and see which one feels the best and the one I cast the best with! If you are in the orem area those guys are great to work with if not any good fly shop should help you out by doing the same thing! One thing to think of is nice line will last quite a long time so you don't have to fork out a ton of money to often.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Starting out- DT $20 line- you don't even know if you are going to stick with this- you are going to use 30ft of it then at least you get to turn it around and use the other 30 ft. --- biggest thing learn line control so no matter what line you get you aren't stepping on it trashing in right out of the box.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

A lot of good advice already given here. I'll just add a vote to the weight forward line. For a beginner, I think a weight forward line is way easier to cast than a double taper. Once you're hooked by the fly fishing bug (not the bug on the end of your line, the bug that makes you want to spend obscene amounts of time and money on the sport) and your more proficient at casting, I'd definitely recommend a double taper. Like Packfish said, you'll get twice the life from the line, and that makes it way easier to drop a little more coin for the better quality stuff.


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## troutwhisperer (Jan 1, 2009)

Lots of good stuff here and I agree with most of it, but let me put a spin on it. I was told by more than one fishaholic that for a beginner it is better to use 1 weight heavier than your pole. I also really like the Cortland 333 DT and turn it around when its worn,a good way to get the best bang for the buck. Comments are welcomed.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

troutwhisperer said:


> Lots of good stuff here and I agree with most of it, but let me put a spin on it. I was told by more than one fishaholic that for a beginner it is better to use 1 weight heavier than your pole. I also really like the Cortland 333 DT and turn it around when its worn,a good way to get the best bang for the buck. Comments are welcomed.


Good point. Some line manufacturers, like Rio, make lines that are 1/2 of a line class heavier. They work well especially in the wind but they may not be in price range of the OP though.

To recap what's already been said just take your pick:
WF = easier to cast for beginners
DT = two lines for the price of one

Good luck GreenFletchings.

top of da page


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

On using 1 weight more than the rod - I think that depends on the rod. I have a 8 1/2 foot 5/6 that is medium to medium/soft in action - and it casts better with the 5 w, WF line. I have a little 7 1/2 foot 3/4 that is a faster action and it loads really well with the 4w DT line. I got a new 9 foot 5w 4 piece a little over a year ago and it casts like freaking dream with the 5w WF line. I have another 8 1/2 foot 5/6 that is medium to fast action, and it casts best with the 6w WF line I have on it. 

But as a beginner, I did not have the casting stroke or experience to know the differences. It took a while to learn how to cast, to learn what it felt like for the rod to load, and then the timing to make it cast where I wanted.

For fishing the Provo, long, aired out casts really don't happen that often. 80-90% of casting will be roll casts, or controlled flips if nymphing. There is hardly ever a reason to cast more than 30 feet on the Provo. A line that will turn over well on a roll cast with the rod is the way to go for that river. At least in my opinion. But as has been pointed out, every fisherman is very different, and that is what makes it fun.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> top of da page


Yea. You wish.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Yea. You wish.


What? top of page on my confuser

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> On using 1 weight more than the rod - I think that depends on the rod. I have a 8 1/2 foot 5/6 that is medium to medium/soft in action - and it casts better with the 5 w, WF line. I have a little 7 1/2 foot 3/4 that is a faster action and it loads really well with the 4w DT line. I got a new 9 foot 5w 4 piece a little over a year ago and it casts like freaking dream with the 5w WF line. I have another 8 1/2 foot 5/6 that is medium to fast action, and it casts best with the 6w WF line I have on it.
> 
> But as a beginner, I did not have the casting stroke or experience to know the differences. It took a while to learn how to cast, to learn what it felt like for the rod to load, and then the timing to make it cast where I wanted.
> 
> For fishing the Provo, long, aired out casts really don't happen that often. 80-90% of casting will be roll casts, or controlled flips if nymphing. There is hardly ever a reason to cast more than 30 feet on the Provo. A line that will turn over well on a roll cast with the rod is the way to go for that river. At least in my opinion. But as has been pointed out, every fisherman is very different, and that is what makes it fun.


I would recommend that GreenFletchings start out fly fishing in Wyoming, not on the Provo. On the Provo there's a Utah fly fisherman about every 60 feet. On Wyoming streams and rivers there's a Utah fly fisherman about every 300 feet.

.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Yea, your post first loaded on my computer as the last of the previous page, and then when it refreshed, you were top of page. You are a tricky one Goob. Tricky in deed.


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## GreenFletchings (Aug 29, 2014)

wyogoob said:


> I would recommend that GreenFletchings start out fly fishing in Wyoming, not on the Provo. On the Provo there's a Utah fly fisherman about every 60 feet. On Wyoming streams and rivers there's a Utah fly fisherman about every 300 feet.
> 
> .


Wyoming would be quite the drive for me. I am in Provo..haha. There's got to be a few days in the week where the river isn't littered with people.

I'll just avoid Saturdays like the plague.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

GreenFletchings said:


> Wyoming would be quite the drive for me. I am in Provo..haha. There's got to be a few days in the week where the river isn't littered with people.
> 
> I'll just avoid Saturdays like the plague.


If you can fish during the week, it really isn't that bad. Saturdays, get there early, leave early. Fish when there's foul weather and crowds aren't too bad either. Fishing during the dead of winter also has fewer people, but land fish quickly, release them quickly, and don't let your line guides ice too badly. Avoid the dam/campground in the morning and Vivian Park in the evenings during the summer unless you like a good tube hatch.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

GreenFletchings said:


> Wyoming would be quite the drive for me. I am in Provo..haha. There's got to be a few days in the week where the river isn't littered with people.
> 
> I'll just avoid Saturdays like the plague.


I got myself into trouble early in my marriage for fishing the Provo too much. The other fisherman never bothered me. The fishing is usually good enough to go around. Now, come June, the tubers on the lower drive me insane to the point that I would only fish super early in the morning before they swarmed the river.


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## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

Kwalk3 said:


> I got myself into trouble early in my marriage for fishing the Provo too much. The other fisherman never bothered me. The fishing is usually good enough to go around. Now, come June, the tubers on the lower drive me insane to the point that I would only fish super early in the morning before they swarmed the river.


Tubers are a serious problem on the lower provo, IMO. I see a vast majority of them throwing aluminum cans and other trash in the river, and they seem to be absolutely incapable of GOING AROUND THE FISHERMEN WHO ARE STANDING AND HAVE BEEN STANDING IN THE RIVER LONGER THAN THE TUBERS HAVE BEEN ON THE WATER.

Blows me away the level of disrespect and stupidity I see from the majority of the tubers on a daily basis when fishing the Provo in the warmer months. I'm not saying all tubers act like this - I've had a few good experiences with them. But most of my run ins haven't gone too well.

That rant aside (apologies to the OP) I really like the Cortland 333 line. WF is the way to go, if you're fishing a stiffer rod like a Sage. I'm partial to the double taper myself, but as has already been said, WF is easier to learn how to cast with.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

In the summer I go and fish the provo after work it is almost never crowded, in fact I Have had plenty of nights where I am the only one on the stretch of river i am fishing. Sure it may not be the best time to hit the hatches but I always catch fish and usually do quite well. GREEN FLETCHINGS i am by no means an expert and I am still learning a lot but you are welcome to tag along with me and my buddy sometime I might be able to teach you a couple of things or visa versa. GARY FISH you are almost as bad as my mother on facebook! liking every post that comes through!  in yo face wyogoob TOP OF THE PAGE!!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Yea, your post first loaded on my computer as the last of the previous page, and then when it refreshed, you were top of page. You are a tricky one Goob. Tricky in deed.


hee, hee, hee, hee

.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

brendo said:


> GARY FISH you are almost as bad as my mother on facebook! liking every post that comes through!  in yo face wyogoob TOP OF THE PAGE!!


I only like the ones worth liking. And this post has several of those. Except for 
Goob's post above this one. And the only reason I "Liked" your post, is you got top of page instead of Goob. Well played.

Oh, and more importantly, good on ya for inviting Green Fletchings along. Way cool. LIKE LIKE LIKE!;-)


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