The colour of floating fly lines

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

The other day I was on my local reservoir and a friend of mine was catching trout with alacrity whilst myself and all the others on the water were struggling.

As I know the guy, I decided to watch him closely to see if he was doing anything differently to ourselves.

He was fishing small buzzer patterns as most of use were, and other than using a fairly short leader his tactics seemed similar to the ones I was using.

Then I spotted it - his line was dark brown, almost turd colour. And yes he had dyed his line on the recommendation that was in a book he had just read - "The Trout and the Fly" by Goddard and Clarke.

But I should have known better! Hadn't I, for many years, used dark coloured floating fly lines on the recommendation of none other than **** Walker.

The trouble is I had become lazy and had caught loads of fish in spite of using brightly coloured line. What I did not consider was the numbers of fish I didn'tcatch.

But have you had a similar experience? What do you think is the right colour for floating fly lines?

 

[Ric Elwin]

Many people believe that the colour of the line is irrelevant, as they all look the same from under the water.

I think it comes down to personal preferance. I've got 2 floating lines. One isbright yellow, I've used it for 4 years now. The other is ivory. I much prefer the ivory, because it can spot takes easier on it ondark stretches of river, no other reason.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Of course they all look the same when viewed from beneith the water in the fish's window. But outside the windowa light coloured line will stand out against the dark background of the bottom. The photos of what happens are in Goddard and Clarke's book.

Both John Goddard, Brian Clarke and **** Walker believed that light coloured linesunder certain conditions scared fish and when practical evidencepresents itself, I have a tendency to believethis.

But we shall see.

 

[Morespiders]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

**** Walker believed that light coloured linesunder certain conditions scared fish and when practical evidencepresents itself, I have a tendency to believethis.

But we shall see.</blockquote><blockquote class=quoteheader></blockquote>


Hell Ron, your Sharkskin line takes some beating for colour.

Bright fluorescent green, YUK,

Give you a £5er for it/forum/smilies/nerd_smiley.gif

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Don't be cheeky Atrax robustus!

I rate Michael Evans Arrowhead as a better line than the Sharkskin.

I burned my finger on the Sharkskin the other day. Hooked into a fish that decided to open the throttle.

You can have it for £60.00 plus SD.

 

[Cakey]

"Hooked into a fish that decided to open the throttle"................I love that,can I use it please Ron ?

 

[Cakey]

atrax robustus my bum,more like Thomisidae

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

So why do manufactures colour their lines white, ivory and flourescent green, yellow and orange?

If dark lines catch more fish, surely they would sell more of their lines if coloured dark, ie dark olive, brown and grey.

Does this go back to when all dry lines were light in colour and wet lines were dark?

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Many fly line manufacturers now offer floating lines in two options - bright colours or neutral grey, Some even camouflage the line to make it look like a bit of weed or detritus.

It has become the norm for anglers to buy brightly coloured floating lines because we are told that you will see atake better with the bright line.

Personally I think that this business of floating line colour was never resolved. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that dark coloured floating linesscare fewer fish and help catch more fish. It's the same with the finish on rods, a matt finish is certainly better, but those manufacturers of rods who put on a matt finish are up against Joe Soap who won't buy a rod unless it acts as a heliograph and scares all the fish for miles.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

I feel the same about fly reel Ron. All nice and shiney.

Some rod manufactures still insist on that silver crome top eye.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

I had a Vision fly reel delivered today. The guy sending me the reel almost apologised because the reel was black!

Apparently black is not the "in vogue" colour at the moment.

 

[Colin North, the one and only]

Well of course there is the translucent line, but again, as Ron mentions, what the fish sees in its window will probably be a dark silhouetted line, regardless of its actual colour. Possibly, the translucent line will not show up so starkly, given its slight transparency.

 

[Shrek]

I'm tempted to try the "dark fly line" approach, but you can't buy them for love nor money.

Would you be able to dye an ivory line dark brown and, if so, would you use a normal material type dye or something else.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Colin Brett]

Looking at the results of some my fly fishing friends the colour matters not 1 jot.

They catch plenty of fish all year round and all use coloured lines.

I use mainly Yellow or orange and have no problems. The use of long or short leaders doesn't seem to matter either.

I think we have all been in the situation of watching someone else catch while we can't get a pull. Could of course be that's where the fish are??

Colin

 

[Shrek]

I agree with you Colin, but would still like to "experiment"!!!!

 

[Colin Brett]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Adrian, not Shrek, OK!!!! wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>I agree with you Colin, but would still like to "experiment"!!!!</blockquote>

But is it possible to experiment in fishing?

You may well catch on a dark coloured line but after changing to a bright one and not catching doesn't prove a thing as the fish could be several hundred yards away in a very short time.

That's why in my opinion angling is not an exact science. It's more a lottery but you can improve your chances of catching unlike in the Camelot version.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

How to dye a fly line?

Dead Easy, you use Dylon, anything dark brown or which matches the bed of your river or lake. You can get Dylon fron you local chemists shop or failing that, on-line. Google Dylon.

It's not very expensive by the way.

Follow the directions on the packet but make up the solution in a saucepanDOUBLE STRENGTH!!. Don't forget to add a pinch of salt to set the dye.

When the dye gets down to about 60 deg C, that is when you can easily stand putting a finger in it, dunk in your flyline. You will not damage the line by the way. It will take about 3 hours before your line gets to the colour you want it.

After that is done, wash your line under the tap and dry.

It might be a good idea to dye a few Mullarky's mill ends at first.

I have dyed dozens of fly lines in my life without causing them any harm.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Once made up by the way, Dylon keeps indefinitely, so you can use it again and again.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks Ron, I'll give that a go over the winter and see what happens in the spring!!!!

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

I have managed to pick up a Greys Platinum floating line in Heron. Grey.

Also have a Rio Gold where the casting weight, belly is olive green. Had no problems catching yesterday afternoon.