Airflo vs. All the Rest

[Tony Buzolich]

For the last couple of years I've had the pleasure of using an Airflo line that was given to me by Jason Lozano from Rajeff Sports. I immediately went and tried the line out on some local stripers and was completely impressed. Everything Jason had told me about the line held true and I promptly ordered myself several more for my other rods.

The most significant feature I found was it's sensitivity to anything that touched it. The slightest tap of a striper was immediately transferred to my hand for a quick set and game on.

The second thing that I found very appealing was it's straightness as the line layed out on the water after each cast. There was almost no slack and the fly could be gauged immediately as to its depth and it's retrieve.

Today proved out a direct comparison between two different brand lines. One was my favorite 8 weight with an Airflo Sniper line which I had been using regularly as described above. The other rod I was getting ready for the striper season with had a new Rio Outbound Short already on it so I left it as is. The last couple of trips out I used the OBS but found myself getting mad at it with all the kinks and coils and tangles. Nothing unusual here as this was just a matter of dealing with inherent line tangles and appreciating the benefits of having a stripping basket to control the mess.

This morning, after several hours of casting frustration, I switched back to my other 8 weight with the Airflo line and immediately had my game back. Perfectly straight casts, no slack, and no tangles. What a pleasure it was to see that much difference in the handling of my new favorite line.

I'm not saying anything bad about all these other lines out there. There are a lot of good lines by a lot of different companies and we all have our favorites. Nothing wrong with any of that at all.

So what makes Airflo lines so different? Polyurethane. All other line companies use vinyl to coat their lines. Yep, good old PVC along with a few additives to make the line slip and glide better but still just basic vinyl. And any of you that fish much in cold weather know that vinyl becomes stiff until loosened up and warmed by casting or by stretching before use.

Now if you're about to invest in another new line for whatever rod you use the most, you just might want to try out any of the new Airflo lines,,,,,,,,, just for the fun of it. You'll be impressed like I am.
Tony

[Darian]

I don't have much experience with the WF Airflo lines but do have some with their running lines. I used to use them exclusively in Baja combined with a t-14 head and Dacron backing. Casting was easy as the diameter of the line was slim and the finish was slick, as you've said. The only problem I experienced was with the mono core. One morning, I made a haul/backcast and then a haul/forecast and launched everything from about a 2 feet into the running line, including the head/leader/fly toward the township of La Ventana. On inspection, the running line had cleanly broken (no wind knots, etc.). Luckily I had other other rigs ready to use.

When I returned home, I called Rajeff Sports to ask about it and described what had happened. I was told that mono core lines have a limited shelf life. For running lines it's around 2-3 years of use. Not sure that applies to their other lines as I don't know if they've all been made with a mono core. Having said that, I believe that Airflo lines are very good but we all should be aware that a mono core line may have a shorter useful life than one with a braided core. I have another Airflo running line set up for Baja, this year but will make sure it gets a lot of attention while down there....

BTW, I use a RIO, Tropical Outbound Short, WF-10-F/I down there, also. I've noticed that the running line portion is beginning to show some signs of wear after only 2 seasons.

I dunno, maybe it's just the salt....

[Dan Harrison]

Sounds sweet, which one did you throw? Think they have a intermediate, sink 3 and sink 7. Fish a Rio custom cut T-14 at 28 feet right now the majority of the time. Was thinking a should probaly get a type 3 for some shallow work.

[RJSFLYTRIP]

I am an Airflo Pro Staffer. I as well fish the Sniper line on my 9 weights for stripers on the Sac during the summer time. This shooting head will completely change your opinion on any other line. I used to be an SA Streamer Express guy but after fishing the WF9 Type 7 Sniper line I will never go back to anything else. The lack of stretch on the line during the hook set is awesome. You can immediately feel the impact in the fish mouth. The best part is the lack of running line tangles. There are so many times that I look at my feet and just watch the line shoot off the deck. Less tangles means more time with your fly in the water. This line is sick for all of you shooting head guys out there. A must have.

[Loomis 1]

I switched to the sniper lines last year at Tony's suggestion. Love em. I also had the sadistic pleasure of listening to Tony yesterday curse, stretch his line, curse some more, stretch again............until he grabbed another rod with the Airflo. I had a Sniper running line separate in Brazil last November. Mailed it in to Rajeff. Had a new one within 10 days.

[James W]

Put the Airflo Super Dri Exceed on my new Hardy Zenith 4wt. A perfect combination of rod and line, love the way that line handles.
As my other lines age out I'll be looking to go the same direction with them.
Always looking for a better mousetrap . . .

[Moose]

I'm a spey guy and I've been a big fan of Airflo for years. My take isn't about the trout lines or the shooting head lines for striper guys, but about spey lines.

Loved their Delta and Delta long lines, and the single hand Delta lines are great for single hand spey. The poly urethane coating is far better than the pvc lines out there, the braided core makes for better feel, Airflo running lines give far better float and fewer tangles. Overall, Airflo makes the best lines.

However, I think they're making a big mistake. People who love to cast and who cast well, who spend long hours perfecting their craft, find their way to the best products. Yet, Airflo is doing away with tapers that the better casters gravitate towards and is going all-in for the short chuck and duck lines. Delta spey long, gone. Scandi lines, 28 feet. Everything is short, the great tapers are gone. You have rage and compact and everything short short short, chuck and duck babie. My grandma can chuck that stuff out there, it's far from high tech, far from graceful, far from excellent. It's what a guide wants when he gets a greenhorn client in the boat -"Here, use this, it'll flop out there a little ways and we'll be fishing". Now that's fine, but it's the beginning, not where you want to end up. It probably sells a lot of lines initially, but once those newbies get some practice under their belt and start looking for a better casting line (you know, one that actually casts, with a tapered head that is actually 4-5 times the length of the rod) they have to look elsewhere because Airflo, the manufacturer who makes the best fly lines, doesn't make fly lines for the better casters.

You want to make lines to introduce people to two handed casting, lines that are shorter and easier to cast with at first, fine. But then what? I know Tim Rajeff could work with some of these independant line designers and come up with an Airflo series that would blow everything else out of the water. All these short head initiates are growing up, let's give them something to grow into!

IMHO.

[Rich Morrison]

Interesting - I've not tried Airflo lines. I'm a Rio devotee. I fish primarily cane and I love the Rio LT and the Gold lines depending on situation and rod. 4-5-6wt is my wheel house. Tell me what Airflo line I need to get that is going to showcase what makes this line so good and sell me on it.
Rich

[Dan LeCount]

I think Airflo does very well with casting and shooting lines for stripers, spey lines and such. Ive never had a worse line for for a basic floating trout line though. My floating line was basically a type 1 or 2 sink tip. You could work around that at least, by greasing it up with a bunch of mucilin, but that got to be a nuisance having to do that a couple times a day. Also If I fished in the cold like the winter up in Truckee, it coiled something fierce and maintained a lot of memory. Most of the time when youre drifting flies, line float and line control are probably the most important attributes(even moreso then casting)

[David Lee]

Ive never had a worse line for for a basic floating trout line though. My floating line was basically a type 1 or 2 sink tip.

Same experience here - I bought the River & Stream Airflo when it came out , the ad suggested it was unsinkable ....

Un-floatable was closer to the truth . I do love the Airflo Running lines , especially the Ridge series !

Of course , I've had brand new lines from SA/Cortland/Rio all fail at what they were intended for , and I've also had fantastic lines from all the mentioned manufactures . Pay your $$$ and roll the Dice , I guess ? We ARE lucky that we have so many choices these days !!

D.~