Thanks Brian!
Cortland Flylines
- Thread starter krusty
- Start date
I don’t fish a beach but do something similar on some lakes, and found similar just based on the taper. The aggressive shooting head lines seem to get beat up at the head to running line transition just like you said. For what I was doing I didn’t need the real aggressive head and went to something with a longer taper and durability improved. It either takes an extra false cast or I don’t cast as far but it’s a trade off I’m ok with.
It could be that with my musky fishery, it's just one (2 max) back cast (shooting line on the back cast) and fire away? Or you guys are just flat out putting in more time on the water. During peak season, I usually get in ~15 musky trips a year (outside of a couple years early on where it was over 30)...even less in the last couple of years. But on the intermediate that I recently replaced, it WAS at that junction plus some cracking on the head. I figure 3 years was pretty damn good for some pretty aggressive fishing. But it really could be around the same amount of actual use that Brian does.
My perfect line would be Rio's tapers, SA slickness, and Airflo longevity. Cortland (for me) has been the compromise of all of those....although, I really do love some of their tapers.
My perfect line would be Rio's tapers, SA slickness, and Airflo longevity. Cortland (for me) has been the compromise of all of those....although, I really do love some of their tapers.
You’re killing me! I decided to just stick with SA and some airflo but this last statement has me wanting to try a cortland.
The early outbound (pre in touch) would crack at the head/rl junction. But I used that line for a ton of my fishing so probably 60 or so trips/yr. This was in the days when the Rio clouser line was best bass line out there and that started to take more reps for me - but even that line wasn’t too different and the RL would twist up a bunch. So I just attributed it to having the large mass connected to the thin mass in a short distance. The newer longer back tapers seemed to help alleviate the twist issue and some of the cracking, but I have also really spread out the workload too.
But more to your point - definitely guilty of waaaay too many false casts. Especially on smallie floats I sometimes make an extra 2 or 3 false casts if I see a spot I want to hit but wasn’t where my next cast was to land I’d hold it up or need to dodge an overhanging branch.
well, to your point, that's what I would consider extenuating circumstances that require a few more false casts
Yup I've had two compact type 3s fail on me each with about a month of heavy use. Might be a reason why they discontinued that line. It is very nice casting though.
I wonder if it's a QC problem....or maybe I just got lucky. I have one that did eventually fail at that junction, but that was after some pretty heavy use as well....about what I've gotten from most shooting heads I've used.
I believe a fair amount of flyline failures occur due to a very common form of abuse, and that some manufacturers fabricate lines that resist that specific abuse much better than others. That resistance may be a function of PVC coating formulation (polyurethane coating in Airflow lines) and/or line core construction.
The abuse consists of how people very often strip line off the reel in preparation for casting by pulling the line rapidly towards themselves, rather than outward (tangential to the arbor), away from the reel.
We strip line off the reel in such a manner because it feels natural and it allows a much longer quantity of line to be pulled off the arbor with each motion.
Pulling the flyline towards yourself (or at right angle to the flyrod) creates a very sharp bend in the line as it is forced to move over the reel frame. A tiny localized hotspot is also generated from friction. The cumulative effects damage the coating.
It's easy to determine if that's a chronic problem; the flyreel frame where this occurs will be worn (polished) where the problem occurs.
Watching other flyfishers I know this is a very common habit.
I consciously worked at changing my line stripping bad habit of many decades and that ended my RIO line cracking problems...and I'm certain it will also improve longevity with my other lines.
The abuse consists of how people very often strip line off the reel in preparation for casting by pulling the line rapidly towards themselves, rather than outward (tangential to the arbor), away from the reel.
We strip line off the reel in such a manner because it feels natural and it allows a much longer quantity of line to be pulled off the arbor with each motion.
Pulling the flyline towards yourself (or at right angle to the flyrod) creates a very sharp bend in the line as it is forced to move over the reel frame. A tiny localized hotspot is also generated from friction. The cumulative effects damage the coating.
It's easy to determine if that's a chronic problem; the flyreel frame where this occurs will be worn (polished) where the problem occurs.
Watching other flyfishers I know this is a very common habit.
I consciously worked at changing my line stripping bad habit of many decades and that ended my RIO line cracking problems...and I'm certain it will also improve longevity with my other lines.
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I recently bought a Cortland FO TECH Type-7 sink line, for a big discount in their Warehouse Sale, and have really liked it so far. I’ve been using a full sink line, were this line has intermediate running line with a 40ft sink head. The entire line is thinner than other sinking lines I’ve used and with only the 40ft sinking head it retrieves much smoother and seems to enhance the feel. I do a lot of fishing with the line laying right down on the deck and this ease and feel of retrieving is much appreciated. As with most sinking lines, you can cast them a mile and this line is the same. At first, right out of the box, it coiled too much but after a few sessions and a pre- stretch it’s fine. I see in this years line-up they have several lines with this same formula including a sink type 9. Sinking lines are seeing a renaissance lately..
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