Fly Line Weight

Well, if you've come this far, I'm assuming you are interested in learning more in-depth things about fly lines then what our basics section laid out on the preceeding page. So, lets' get started and dive right in to the wonderful, if somewhat confusing, world of fly lines.

Understanding Fly Line Weight

As every angler knows, fly lines come in different weights? So....what is the weight refering to. Good question. Here's the answer. All manufacturers weigh their fly lines - and the measure of weight used is grains (there is 14 grains in a gram, in the event you didn't know this well-known fact).

Happily, probably realizing that America has no love affair with the metric system, the manufacturers adopted a easy to remember "scale" to help anglers quickly determine fly line weight. This scale runs from 1-14 (and, it should be noted, is occasionally being added to). The smaller the number, the lighter the fly line is. And conversely, the bigger the number, the heavier the fly line will be.

Well....thats' nice. Why do you need to know this? It's quite simple, really. You see, the weight of the fly line determines what you fish for. In other words, get the wrong fly line weight and you can watch your probability of successful fishing slip away faster than snow under the Arizona sun.

Thus, before we can continue, we obviously need to know what fly line weight is best used for particular types of fishing. So let's do that now.

Fly Line Weight Determines What You Fish For

Yep. The title says it all. Before buying that fly line from that nice online store or your friendly fly shop, you need to know what you plan on fishing for first. And the guide below will help you do just that:

• Fly Line Weight 1-3 :This weight is used if you will be primarily fishing for small fish - panfish, very small trout or, in somewhat rare circumstances, larger trout in very, very tiny streams.
   
• Fly Line Weight 4 : This weight works just fine for panfish to. But also works well for all but the largest of trout. Best used on small/mid-sized streams and where you don't have to make long casts.
   
• Fly Line Weight 5 : The "all-around" trout fisherman's line weight. Covers virtually all trout-fishing situations you are likely to find. Works ok for smaller fish too - but not as fun to catch as on a fly rod outfit that has a lighter fly line. This weight also works ok for smaller bass fishing, particular smallies in rivers.
   
• Fly Line Weight 6 : Another good "all-around" weight for trout fishing. Overkill for tiny trout and panfish - the stouter rigs needed for the heavier fly line kills the fun out of catching small fish. But ideal for large trout and all but the largest bass, too.
   
• Fly Line Weight 7 : At least here in Montana, you won't want to use this line for trout fishing in a river. Instead, Weight 7 fly lines are best used for larger, more powerful fish such as bass, smaller salmon, and steelhead.
   
• Fly Line Weight 8+ : The fly line weights from 8 upward are designed for very powerful, very large fish - saltwater and salmon species in particular. If you fish freshwater, you won't have much call for this line weight unless you chase the large salmon found in Alaska.

But....How Does Line Weight Relate to the Fish I Chase?

Ha....good question. But also, for once, an easy answer. Remember how on the preceeding page it was mentioned that the fly line itself is responsible for casting the fly? What this means is that you need to be sure to match up the fly line weight with the size of the flies you plan on using when you fish. And the only way to really know what size flies you plan on using is if you know what you plan on fishing for!

Thus, for example, trout flies generally fall in-between the range of size 0 to size 22, with the most commonly used hook sizes being 10-16. These are small hooks - and the flies themselves are usually feather light. As such, if you use too heavy of a fly line, what happens is that the itsy-bitsy-light fly slams into the water propelled by the heavy weight of the fly line. This is, needless to say, not especially desireable when fishing for trout! Moreover, not only will the fly likely slam into the water, it probably will not be properly presented, either (landing upside down, on its side, whatever).

On the flip side, lets' say you are chasing large, wary brown trout with streamers. Hooks on large streamers are large - and the weight of the fly itself is fairly substantial. If you start tossing that streamer on too light of a fly line, you'll have zippo control. Oh sure, you can make the cast, but the cast is highly unlikely to go where you want it. And, just like above, all presentation is lost as well.

Remember, when you use too light of fly line weight for a heavy fly, you are also using a light fly rod and a light fly reel (a fly rod outfit consists of a fly rod, fly reel and fly line that all match - exactly - in weight).

Because of this, not only is the fly line not heavy enough to properly toss the fly, the fly rod itself is not powerful enough to properly power the fly line either! You thus have two strikes against you before you even try to cast - not a good thing.

Well, that covers fly line weight. But, yikes, we aren't even close to being done. You see, figuring out what fly line weight to use - and why - is only the first step in determining the type of fly line to use.

The next step is Understanding Fly Line Taper and how it relates to your fishing.

So onward, as we discover the exciting world of Fly Line Tapers.

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