Steelhead lines v.s. Nymphing lines

There are many styles of lines out for both steelhead and nymph fishing.
I will try to supply you with enough information for you to choose the best line for your style of fishing.

Rio Atlantic Salmon line:

110' long, head length 66', long head length for ease of casting farther and controlling/mending longer lengths of line, also nice length for single-handed spey casting, Rio's SlickShooter process provides a nice slick line.

Short front taper (2.5’ bullet taper), great for turning over large bulky and heavy flies, popular for indo-nymphing.

* Nice line for traditional swinging, indo-nymphing and possible dry fly fishing(more delicate than other nymphing lines) Versatile!

Rio Nymph line:

90' long, 48' head length, longer than average (35'-40') head length, longer head length for better mending and control.

Short 4' front taper with NEW high floating welded loop tip (Fl.Orange colored), orange tip acts like an indicator.

Designed for fishing with an indicator, or fishing Czech style nymphing.
Powerful tip turnover. SlickShooter process for slickness.

* Designed to cast heavy bulky flies and indicators. Not delicate. Primary nymphing line!


Scientific Anglers Mastery Steelhead line:

105' long, 65' head length, long head for big water and line control.

Medium length 7' front taper for smooth turnover

Used for indo-nymphing, better for traditional style steelhead wet flies and smaller waking flies with long distances. Also nice for s.h. spey casting.
AST coating for slickness.

* S.A.’s most versatile line when swinging and indo-nymphing.


Scientific Anglers Mastery Nymph line:

100' long, 62' head, again a long head for distance and line control.

Short powerful front taper for turning over bulky indicators and split shot. More supple coating for micro mending.

* S.A.’s primary indicator nymph fishing line, developed for west coast indo-nymphing!


Airflo Platinum Distance line:

105' long, 48' head length, longer than normal for distance and line control.

Medium length 7' front taper turns over indicators nicely. Medium length head allows for a somewhat delicate presentation while still turning over the indo-nymphing junk. Not specifically designed for steelhead or nymphing but the length of the head and the turnover of the tip allow for both styles of fishing.
Nice for s.h. spey casting.

*This is a versatile line for trout or steelhead fisherman.


As you can see there are some great specialty lines out there for both traditional steelhead fishing and new age indo-nymphing. I have fished all of these lines and all are of a high quality and will be a pleasure to fish.

Out of respect for the different line manufactures I will not post my favorites online.

If you would like more detailed line information e-mail your questions to me at adam@kiene.com or "PM" (private message) me using our new bulletine board. :D

I will be gone for the weekend and will check my inbox on Monday.

Please post any personal experiences with any of these or other similar styled lines.

Hi Adam...Please bear with me on my "line" questions only because I'm just starting to understand the many differences. And, I get confused with all of the differences the seasoned pros talk about. If a flyer doesn't have multiple reels and extra spools what can you suggest in the way of "leaders" in the fly box. How often should leaders be changed? For example, I have a new 9 foot leader on my floating line that is on my new Ross Cimarron reel(8 wt.) I change the tippet depending on the fly size(or mood). Hopefully, the leader will make it through the day without being replaced. Or is this wishful thinking? In lue of not have more than one reel is it safe to say that I should be stocking multiple length/type leaders also? Does my confusion make any sense? Thanks.

"As you can see there are some great specialty lines out there for both traditional steelhead fishing and new age indo-nymphing."

I'm curious... "new age indo-nymphing."?
What is different about indicator nymphing that makes it new age?
Thanks

Sully, Leaders can last quite a while if you take care of them. For example do not tie them up in knots while casting, tangle them up in tree branches and scratch them, leave them out in the sunlight for long periods of time when you are not fishing. I fish for so many differnt fish with differnt styles require I change out my leaders a little more than others.

If your leader is still relatively supple, not kinked or knotted and abrassion free continue to use it.

Digger, "new age" is only referring to the double fly, multiple split shot huge indicator method of fishing. The large bulky indicators like the yarn Boles style indicators and the new 1" hard foam indicators are hard to cast are relatively new. Granted, this style has been fished for roughly twenty yearts. If you look at how long people have been flyfishing and how the first style of fly fishing used to be performed, this bobber(indo-nymphing) style of fly fishing is "new age."

Fly fishing has come a long way from using rolled up horse hair and gut leaders from centuries ago. The science that is now driving and improving this great sport is exciting!

Adam...Thanks for the tips. Usually, I'll look to change a leader once I've eaten into the first 3-4 feet after several tipet changes, which doesn't occur that ofter. Locally, I've bee using about an 18"-24" tippet and working my way back to the tippet/leader tie in. I may be doingthis incorrectly, however, I'm still in what I call the thin/tippet part of the leader. At what stage is the leader thickness going to compromise the tippet? Thanks again.

Sully, As long as you have a tippet spool with a diameter thick enough to tie a proper knot you can continue to use whats left of a tapered leaer. Although after you add a heavy size of tippet of 0x-2x you still need to tie on several other sections of different diameter tippet material to recreate the original taper. Too much work. Leaders are not that expensive. I would recomend replacing the leader if you eat up about between a third to a half of the leader. If you add more sections of tippet you have to many knots and too many chances for a knot to fail.

Hi Adam...As always your suggestions are being stored in my "How-To" gray cells. Thank you.

Thanks Sully!