Bryan ......
Congratulations. You did very well !
Note my comments between your answers in BOLD RED TYPE.
GORDY
From: "Bryan Nims" <brydnlnims@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Gordon Hill" <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
CC: "Tom White" <tomwhite@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Fw: Fly line questions
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:23:46 -0500
Gordy, Turns out I've been studying lines a little lately and want to take a shot at these. Please allow me to acknowledge Bruce Richards and his great work "Modern Fly Lines" that helped me on many of these....My answers in blue:Some minutiae questions on fly lines:-1.) How great an advantage is gained by having a very stretchy line for distance casting ? No advantage. Actually stretch was found to disrupt the cast's for distance casters. However, tournament lines are much heavier than common lines and they use very long stiff rods. For the casting fisherman, stretch is not a factor because there is not really enough tension on the line to induce very much stretch.
YES ! I CAN ALSO REFER YOU TO A FINE ARTICLE WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT IN THE LOOP , WINTER, 2002. DETAILED COMMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT WERE MADE BY BRUCE RICHARDS & TIM RAJEFF. THE ARTICLE IS ENTITLED, "HOW DOES LINE STRETCH AFFECT THE CAST ?"
2.) What is a density compensated fly line ? Known as Uniform sinking Lines, these are sinking lines that have an extra weighted tip so the line sinks tip first. This provides better strike detection because you don't have a belly in the line as it sinks like that in a standard PVC sinking line.
TRUE FOR MOST OF THEM. SOME ARE DESIGNED SO THAT BOTH THE TIP AND THE BELLY SINK AT ABOUT THE SAME RATE. WITH OTHER FULL SINK LINES, THE BELLY IS LARGER AND HEAVIER (GREATER DIAMETER WITH SAME DENSITY), SO THE BELLY SINKS FASTER THAN THE TIP. DURING RETRIEVAL WITH THESE OLDER LINES, THE BELLY MIGHT BE IN STRIKE RANGE NEAR THE BOTTOM, WHILE THE TIP AND THE FLY NEVER GET INTO THAT STRIKE ZONE.
3.) Does the TT line (Triangle taper) have a convex compound forward taper, a compound concave taper, or a strictly progressive forward taper ? Convex compound forward taper.
YES. (SO FAR, SEVERAL OTHERS GOT THAT ONE WRONG.)
4.) If I buy and weigh several Cortland and Scientific Anglers WF fly lines, will I find that they all have approximately the same weight range for the first 30 feet if the stated designation on the package is WF7F ? Yes, the first 30 feet of the line is the weight in grains minus any short tip section and considering some room for tolerance (+ or -). All manufacturers market their lines according to the AFTMA standards which is identified in this way.
CONVENTIONAL "WISDOM" WOULD SAY YOU ARE CORRECT. THE TRUE ANSWER WITH OUR MOST MODERN FLY LINES, HOWEVER, IS THAT MANY OF THEM ARE MADE WITH GRAIN WEIGHTS WHICH EXCEED THE STANDARD GRAIN WEIGHT REQUIREMENT RANGES FOR A GIVEN LINE DESIGNATION ! THIS WAS DONE PURPOSELY BY SCIENTIFIC ANGLERS, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR SOME OF THEIR NEW LINES. ( PERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITH BRUCE RICHARDS.)
5.) Can you name 3 different fly lines which have no belly ? Level sinking line, level floating line, and shooting line or running line used for connecting to shooting heads.
YES. WE COULD ALSO ADD TRIANGLE TAPER LINES AND MANY SHOOTING HEADS.
6.) I am casting with 50' of an XXD, WF6F fly line out of my rod tip. What weight fly line am I actually handling ? 300 grains. According to the AFTMA this would be equal to a 10 wt line. Two ways to come up with this, take the length of line (50 ft) multiply by 6 = 300. Also, if you add one line weight for every 5 ft of line past 30 feet, this would be 4 line wts plus 6wt = 10 wt. line
YES.
7.) My student shows up with a 5 wt rod. He's placed a WF7F line on it. How much line should he have out of the rod for easy false casting ? A line weight for every 5 feet of line. So, 2 line weights would be equal to 10 feet of line, so, have this person hold 20 feet of line out the tip to properly load the rod.
YES
9.) In 1962, the AFTMA came up with the present method of designating fly lines by the grain weight of the first 30 feet. What is the PRIMARY difference between this method of measuring fly lines and the former method which was stated in letters ? The original letter system referred to the diameter of the fly lines which at that time were primarily silk. After lines began to be constructed of other synthetic materials it was found that the diameters were much the same, but, the weight or mass of the lines were very different. Therefore the rod would cast drastically different depending on which line was used. These lines with different densities prompted a different standard or rating system based on grain-weight.
YES. SHORT ANS.:- OLD SYSTEM = DIAMETER RATING. NEW SYSTEM= WEIGHT RATING.
10) Can you tell me one disadvantage of a fly line which has a gel spun core of Spectra ? These lines have no stretch, so lines cannot be stretched straight and therefore offering less sensitivity.
YOUR FIRST CLAUSE IS CORRECT. THEY HAVE NO STRETCH, SO YOU CAN'T SUCCESSFULLY GET THE KINKS OUT BY STRETCHING. .....(OR ANY OTHER METHOD I'VE TRIED, EITHER.)
YOUR SECOND CLAUSE IS NOT CORRECT......ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THESE LINES IS THAT THEY DO OFFER GOOD SENSITIVITY, AND POSITIVITY OF STRIKE HOOKUP. THAT'S WHY SOME OF US WENT TO USING THE "SUE BURGESS" KEVLAR CORE ENGLISH LINES YEARS AGO. (WE STOPPED USING THEM WHEN THE 18# KEVLAR CORE FRACTURED AFTER MANY CASTS.)
11) I just bought a full sink WF 10 S, TYPE VI fly line.
a.) What does WF 10 S mean ? Weight Forward, 10 wt. Sinking
YES.
b.) What is meant by, "TYPE VI" ? This is the sinking rate system. VI is actually very fast sinking; 6 inches per second.
YES.
12.) What is a ST 9 ST line ? Shooting Taper, 9wt, Sink Tip
YES. (SEVERAL GOT THAT ONE WRONG.)
13.) Are silk fly lines still available ? Yes, as a matter of fact, I found several websites that market silk fly lines and there appears to be quite a number of bamboo rod and silk line users. I also find that Courtland makes a synthetic silk line called 444 Classic Sylk.
YES.
14.) Your student tells you that his backing is made of Cuttyhunk.
a.) What is this material ? Woven silk and cotton.
CLOSE......BUT NOT QUITE. CUTTYHUNK WAS A WOVEN LINEN LINE. SOME BRANDS ALSO ADDED COTTON.
b.) Can you tell him its advantages and disadvantages ? Disadvantages are that it quickly comes apart under stress. Line care is a real chore. Mildew and rot set in if you don't unwind the line on a spool to dry after use. Used back in the early 1900's. (Gordy, you don't still use this stuff do you?...just joking) Not sure there is or was any advantages other than this was probably all there was back then.....
BACK IN THE '30'S AND THE 40'S, WE USED THIS FOR BACKING IN PREFERENCE TO SILK. IN FACT IT DID NOT COME APART, AND OFFERED SUPERB KNOT STRENGTH. DIAMETERS WERE GREAT, SO YOU COULDN'T GET AS MUCH ON THE SPOOL AS WITH SILK, BUT IT ROTTED OUT IN SALT WATER OR FRESH. IN THE SALT, IT BEHAVED A LITTLE BETTER THAN SILK. SILK WAS MORE EXPENSIVE, AND WOULD STAND UP BETTER ONLY IF GREASED. (THAT WAS A PAIN) IF USED , WE HAD TO UNSPOOL ALL OF IT AND DRY IT EVERY EVENING....THEN RE-SPOOL FOR FISHING THE NEXT DAY.
15.) Another student has loaded his reel with nylon monofilament backing. Is there any disadvantage to this ? It can stretch some, can also get too tight and bury itself in the spool. Braided Nylon or Dacron are other choices...
ONE OF THE WORST DISADVANTAGES, IS THAT NYLON MONOFILAMENT CAN BUILD UP SO MUCH PRESSURE ON THE FLY REEL SPOOL AS TO LITERALLY EXPLODE IT. THE PLATES EXPAND AND YOU CAN'T EVEN TURN THE HANDLE WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES INCLUDED BRAIDED NYLON MONOFILAMENT (A LITTLE BETTER....BUT NOT MUCH), AND GEL SPUN MATERIALS SUCH AS KEVLAR AND SPECTRA. ( I USE NOTHING BUT SPECTRA FOR SALT WATER FLY FISHING, AND HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH THIS.)
16.) What is the function of the rear taper of a fly line ? Casting smoothness on cast's typically beyond 30 feet where the head of the flyline is 30 feet. With more mass and energy-carrying capacity than the running line it efficiently moves the rest of the line and controls it.
YES. PART OF THAT "CONTROL" IS THE CONTROL OF THE LINE WHILE MENDING.
17.) What is a CRT fly line ? You got me on this one?????
CRT.......IS A CONTINUOUS REAR TAPER FLY LINE. (CHECK OUT JASON BORGER'S, THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING , P.111.
Gordy