Walter & Group........
All fly casters have occasional problems with line tangling on the shoot. This is even more of a problem when lines become worn or dirty. It is a big problem when coils of line on the deck of a flats skiff here in the broiling Florida sun tend to stick together, then bunch up and creat a basketball size knot as we try to cast to tarpon. When a tuna pulls line off the deck at Mach IV speed the same thing happens ...... and the tippet parts.
That the fly line is the heart of the system becomes more obvious the more we fish, cast, and teach.
Discarding badly worn and/or damaged lines and regularly cleaning all lines helps a great deal.
Some fly line coatings perform better than others in this regard. The slightly rough surface of some of the popular tarpon lines tend to tangle less partly because of the surface texture and partly because of the stiffer braided monofilament cores.
Three different fly line surfaces have emerged to help solve this problem :-
1.) Super slick coatings. These go by different propriatory names. On the hot deck of a flats skiff, however, I've found that they don't solve the problem very well, whereas they are pretty good for fishing in colder climes.
2.) Fine longitudinal grooves / ridges. As far as I know, this technology is used by Airflo alone. The idea is to have the shooting line made with fine grooves and ridges which diminish the surface-to-surface friction between coils of line and between the line and the fly rod guides as well as the rod itself. Airflo labels these, "Ridge Lines". Instead of PVC, these lines use a polyurethane material for the coating. I note that this material is resistant to chemicals including bug spray and gasoline, etc. Its specific gravity is less than the commonly used PVC, so for the same weight the mass profile is a bit different which translates to them being just a bit greater in diameter for the same line rating.
In testing these lines while tarpon fishing, I have found that they perform at least as well as the specialty tarpon lines made by Scientific Anglers from a standpoint of tangle resistance. I have not had a problem with dirt or grit sticking to them.
This line design reminds me of a solution, years ago, to plastic surgical tubing the coils of which would stick to one another during my operations. Some smart fellow came up with the idea of making these tubings with longitudinal ridges. Worked just fine.
3.) Fine textured, "bumps". Years ago, one company came up with a line which was grossly textured with a bumpy irregular surface. Problem was that these were very soft coated lines with braided multifilament nylon cores. They didn't work well fishing the salt in the tropics. We noted the bumps to be of varied sizes and the line profiles to be inconsistant. These lines tended to, "load up" while fishing silt laden waters. Cleaning them wasn't easy. A common plasticizer / cleaner was recommended..... but that simply softened the coating even more.
Scientific Anglers has come up with a very different product which they are marketing as their, SHARKSKIN lines. The name is a good one, for the line does have the very finely granular feel of a real shark skin. The, "bumps" are so fine as to be hard to see with the naked eye. The theory is that the line, "rides" on millions of these fine extrusions thus minimizing friction between coils of line which come in contact with one another as well as minimizing friction between the surface of the line and that of the rod guides.
I was pleased to try casting with this line with Bruce Richards at the Conclave this summer. The line shot better through the guides than any I'd ever cast before. I purposely placed a bunch of coils on the grass in contact with one another with the obvious thought in mind of seeing if a tangle would result. It didn't.
My present unanswered question is whether or not these lines will resist tangling on the deck in the tropics.
Other questions included whether or not dirt, algae, etc. would tend to stick to the line. Bruce informs me that he found far less of a problem with dirt than with other lines tested. I'm also told that the surface geometry helps resist eventual cracking of the coating. The, "Lotus effect" results in high floatability for dry fly fishing, I'm told.
The lines make a kind of, "singing" sound when shot. I don't find that the least objectionable. Most of my other lines make a sound when shot through the Titanium/Nickel rod guides which I prefer.
Bruce has informed me that SA plans to soon use this coating on lines designed for the salt and the tropics. I suspect they may very well have a great product ..... time in use will tell.
Gordy
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Jerry Puckett sent this description by Bruce Richards:
Hi Jerry,
Well, I'm a bit biased but here's my opinion.... Sharkskin will
revolutionize fly lines. It significantly reduces friction in the guides,
and that doesn't change with climate or whether the line is clean or dirty.
Sharkskin greatly improves floatation also, do a Google search on "lotus
effect" to read more about how. Sharkskin also greatly improves line
durability, these lines don't crack as the line surface is effectively
stress relieved. These lines also have completely flat surfaces and reflect
almost no light so have no line flash.
The only things that could be viewed negatively would be the sound the
lines make, which most don't care about, or even like, and the price of
$99.95. But everyone who has tried them has quickly realized they are worth
the price and orders are coming in very fast right now...
The taper of the Ultimate Trout line (that is what we call it) is actually
a de-tuned version of the Expert Distance. Same head design but with
shorter belly and tapers. Still long (5 wt. has a 51 ft. head), but shorter
than the Exp. Dist. and more fishable.
So, we think we have a real winner in Sharkskin and the market seems to be
agreeing with us!
Bruce
Scientific Anglers/3M
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From Jim Penrod on learning Spey / Two handed casting :
From: masterstudy@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: penrodtwin@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:
Learning Two Handed Casting
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:03:37 -0400
Hi Gordy,
I was quite
interested in your comments as I spent four days with Kirk Eberhard in Idaho at
the end of August working on my
two handed
casting. It was good to be back in the role of the student again and somewhat
humbling as well (not that suffering some humility is a bad thing). Kirk
also got me to help teach some spey casts to one of the two students he had one
afternoon. It has certainly helped give me a good foundation to work
from.
Jim
P.S.
Headed for MIchigan in a couple of days for some steelhead and trout fishing and
if lucky maybe a salmon or two.And of course a good time with our friends whom
we visit.
Jim
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Comment: One Master teaching another is one of the very wonderful things about our organization !!
Gordy
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