SA MPX - not a fan

[luckydude]

I've been a RIO guy for more than 30 years. I still have a RIO gold (did they call it that back then, I think so) line that is fine. Yeah it is 30 years old and it doesn't have the welded loop we all love but it works. The line leaks water into it at the end but if I seal that end it is fine, if I don't, at the end of the day the tip is not floating. Not bad for a 30 year old line.

I wanted to try out SA lines because, well, I wanted to. I heard really good things about the GPX but that was discontinued, and then the GPX sharkwave was supposed to be good, tried to buy that and it's gone, so I got an MPX.

I hate this line. It's way too heavy to do a 5wt delicate presentation, it's a line that wants to be 7wt but isn't quite there. I've got a bunch of RIO lines that are delicate, selective trout, etc, and while they don't turn over a big fly like the MPX will, they are delicate. And delicate catches fish. And they cast well.

But more than that, I've not fished the MPX, I've cast it in my back yard for maybe a total of an hour and it cracked. An inch or so up from the loop where the leader attached, it's cracked. In an hour. I've got a 30 year old RIO line that's fine, that I've fished like heck, the SA line cracked before I ever put it on the water.

SA lines, never again. I wanted to believe they were better, not so much.

[Ben J]

I would agree with you on the MPX/GPX. It is an overweighted line and it always felt clunky to me when casting. However, i really like the SA Mastery Trout lines on my 2 and 3 wts. Very smooth casting and makes nice dry fly presentations. I had one loop crack, but that was after 4 or 5 years of regular use.

[luckydude]

I would agree with you on the MPX/GPX. It is an overweighted line and it always felt clunky to me when casting. However, i really like the SA Mastery Trout lines on my 2 and 3 wts. Very smooth casting and makes nice dry fly presentations. I had one loop crack, but that was after 4 or 5 years of regular use.

Do you have any comments on longevity vs RIO lines?

One thing I did like about the SA line was that it seemed to flow through the guides nicely. Could be an unfair comparison, I'd need to clean my RIO lines to see how they would do without the dirt on them. I have a feeling that the SA line is better even when the RIO lines are clean. I've got an Orvis 3wt line that is textured and it flows nicely as well, I think there is something to that approach, makes them shoot better.