I got a play with and went fishing with the finished article on Sunday and thought I would post my findings.
I fished the line with dries to begin with on a Helios 905 tipflex in quite a stiff breeze with a 16' leader tapered to 5x fluoro, the turnover was positive without being harsh at close range and was still very positive and controlled at up to 30 yards, I was very impressed by the presentation and accuracy I could achieve at range even in the wind. Due to the long rear taper it was easy to lift long lengths of line from the water which made covering fish with dries very quick & easy, no need to strip in to the head before lifting off and representing to a new target. The rear taper makes the line very predictable in the air, even when aerialising huge amounts of line the loops were exceptionally stable hence the line presented well and wanted to shoot from all lengths of carry, a stable loop will turn over and being so stable makes it ideal for casting multiple flies. Ticked all the boxes for general dry & nymph fishing.
Many 5wt lines will struggle with heavy or large flies and I wanted to see how the line coped with an average stillwater lure, I changed to a 9' fluoro tapered leader with a 3x point and tied on a size 10 yellow dancer and to my suprise, the line coped fine, much better than I had expected. The fly turned over well and it was possible to throw it quite a long way, even with the bulk and mass of the fly the loops remained stable and the cast felt under control at all times, will be interesting to see how the line copes with a polyleader, I think it should be fine.
Where would I use it and what for? General stillwater duties from boat or bank with nymphs & dries and even standard sized lures, I say "even" as the line I was fishing was the 5wt, not the usual choice for fishing lure patterns. Traditional loch style fishing with three or four flies from a boat, the excellent turn over characteristics and stability in flight means it will be a great line for casting several bushier flies in often breezy conditions. Will be a good line for fishing at range on rivers too particularly with wets & nymphs, the long taper will allow the line to be steered well during the drift. In heavier weights this line will work well as a big water line, a good floater for reservoir fishing and the 7 and 8 wt versions will do well as sea trout / singlehanded salmon lines for use on larger rivers.
When simply casting it for fun, it goes a long way and although I am yet to get this version with the new coating against the tape measure I am sure that it will go as far as the SA Expert Distance and probably go further on average for most anglers, the new coating is much slicker than that on the last prototype I cast. It roll casts and Speys pretty well too!!
Cheers
Ben
( edit = Change the title to show the new name for the fly line, changed due to a trade mark issue )
