Airflo 40+

[mcswny]

Dredging up this old thread to add an opinion/word of caution.

The old 40+ has been my beach line of choice for years, but I damaged my 6wt intermediate. I found their new version online amd purchased this one. Same taper, but apparently new materials.
View attachment 72648
It still casts great, if you have the entire head out.
However...whatever they made the head out of feels like you're trying to feed sticky rubber through the guides! It does not want to shoot more than a few feet at a time. (Yesterday in the salt, @Nick Clayton confirmed that this was not my imagination!)
Since its normal use is for SRC and coho, I'm almost always stripping right up to the rod tip. Consequently that means I have to work it back out to cast, which is taking a ridiculous 3-5 false casts
Cleaning/conditioning it only helps for the first dozen casts - i.e. temporarily coating what appears to be its natural texture.

Maybe it was just a bad batch? I can't imagine that "sticks in the guides" is a design feature

Email them? I had a warranty issue with a streamer max short (the coating and Core was hanging out for 12”) and they got back to me in like 4 hours.

 

[Stonedfish]

It would be great if Airflo made a full intermediate for saltwater use around here.
Not the Beach line reincarnated.
Their line selection seems super limited compared to what it used to offer when Rajeff distributed their lines. Hopefully they will offer more line options once they get done with their retooling or whatever they are doing. Another example of one company buying another and things getting worse, not better.
SF

 

[Evan B]

It would be great if Airflo made a full intermediate for saltwater use around here.
Not the Beach line reincarnated.
Their line selection seems super limited compared to what it used to offer when Rajeff distributed their lines. Hopefully they will offer more line options once they get done with their retooling or whatever they are doing. Another example of one company buying another and things getting worse, not better.
SF

I was at Rajeff when the Beach line happened, and that was a big swing and a miss. Even Mr. Rajeff admitted as much. The design/taper was kind of crowd-sourced with a number of people that fish the Puget Sound, and for whatever reason, they really dropped the ball on that taper. Really, the Sniper would have been perfect if they just offered it down to like a 5wt. But they never did that and kept it starting at like 7wt or 8wt if I remember right.

 

[Stonedfish]

I was at Rajeff when the Beach line happened, and that was a big swing and a miss. Even Mr. Rajeff admitted as much. The design/taper was kind of crowd-sourced with a number of people that fish the Puget Sound, and for whatever reason, they really dropped the ball on that taper. Really, the Sniper would have been perfect if they just offered it down to like a 5wt. But they never did that and kept it starting at like 7wt or 8wt if I remember right.

I found the Beach to be super durable, but it was really thick and not fun to cast.
I do appreciate the fact though that the folks at Rajeff including yourself were willing to listen to what folks would like to see in various lines for specific fishing applications.
You and the staff there probably got tired of hearing from folks though about what they’d like. My apologies as I was guilty of that.
SF

 

[Northern]

The Sniper is a really, really awesome line.

That said, I can't believe they'd just up and discontinue the 40+. That's such a steadfast staple line, and has been for years.

Airflo has made a lot of really questionable moves since being bought by Mayfly. Previously being on the "inside" on this topic, I saw a lot of very strange decisions on their side during the transition. They certainly cleaned up their marketing and overall look... but that's about where I stop with my praises on where they eventually went.

They didn't discontinue the 40+ line: this was a brand new, newly marketed Superflow version (now there's a misnomer if I've ever heard one, assuming mine was not a defective line!)

SUPERFLO 40+ EXTREME (SHORT HEAD)

Combining our 'Superflo' technology with our best-selling 40+ Extreme fly lines was a mouth water prospect. The ability to incorporate Superflo's ultra thin running line and super slick coating would enable the 40+ fly line range to produce even longer casts! Easy casting 35ft head Twin colour...

airflousa.com

And you're correct that the Snipers only go down to 8wt. Their 330 grains might be a bit much for my 6wt!

 

[Merle]

@Northern - which intermediate density did you get? I see they have a slow, medium and fast, (which seems like a lot for just the “intermediate” range).

I’m also anxious to hear what they say about the sticky texture. Hopefully you just got a bad one. It sounds to me like a processing error on that batch of plastic.

Andy

 

[Northern]

@Northern - which intermediate density did you get? I see they have a slow, medium and fast, (which seems like a lot for just the “intermediate” range).
View attachment 72711
I’m also anxious to hear what they say about the sticky texture. Hopefully you just got a bad one. It sounds to me like a processing error on that batch of plastic.

Andy

I got the Fast Int, and it is noticeably faster sinking than my older one.

I haven't contacted them. I tend to be of a mind that if you release a batch that fails the most obvious of QC - in this case, castability - you don't get a second chance. Write em off and move on.
Maybe I'll make an exception here just out of curiosity!

 

[Jacob Watrous]

I tend to be of a mind that if you release a batch that fails the most obvious of QC - in this case, castability - you don't get a second chance. Write em off and move on.
Maybe I'll make an exception here just out of curiosity!

Sorry for any thread drift, but that’s kind of how I feel about SA. I had a Type 3 sink that I swear was 3-7 feet per second. Don’t know what was up with their tungsten powder, but every cast was on the bottom before I could strip. I like their Titan taper too much to give up entirely.

 

[jaredoconnor]

I still don’t know why Skagit lines aren’t more popular, for SRC etc. I used one briefly, before I moved out of beach range, and it was so much more pleasant to cast all day.

If I recall correctly, Mr. Miyawaki used an Ambush Short, which I imagine is fairly comparable. Other than the OPST video guy, I never heard of anyone using short heads.

 

[Evan B]

I still don’t know why Skagit lines aren’t more popular, for SRC etc. I used one briefly, before I moved out of beach range, and it was so much more pleasant to cast all day.

If I recall correctly, Mr. Miyawaki used an Ambush Short, which I imagine is fairly comparable. Other than the OPST video guy, I never heard of anyone using short heads.

Problem with Skagits is they have almost no rear taper which can be a bit of an issue doing long overhead casts. Not so much an issue with anchored casts.

 

[jaredoconnor]

Problem with Skagits is they have almost no rear taper which can be a bit of an issue doing long overhead casts. Not so much an issue with anchored casts.

Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but I just start the (overhead or Skagit) cast with the head fully out and launch it.

I can cast further (and more accurately), using a regular line and a couple of back casts, but the efficiency difference is huge.

 

[Nick Clayton]

Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but I just start the (overhead or Skagit) cast with the head fully out and launch it.

I can cast further (and more accurately), using a regular line and a couple of back casts, but the efficiency difference is huge.

Well in the case of Puget Sound fishing, if you're not stripping your fly to your rod tip and are instead picking up to re cast with the head still out then yeah, IMO you're doing it wrong and missing out on a lot of fish

 

[Nick Clayton]

Sorry for any thread drift, but that’s kind of how I feel about SA. I had a Type 3 sink that I swear was 3-7 feet per second. Don’t know what was up with their tungsten powder, but every cast was on the bottom before I could strip. I like their Titan taper too much to give up entirely.

Hah Man that was the funniest line ever. I remember being so confused why you kept hooking bottom on a beach I had never seen anyone touch bottom on before. It was pretty impressive

 

[_WW_]

I have little to no experience beach fishing but it sounds like what you guys are looking for is one of the old home spliced shooting heads we use to use for steelhead. As far as I can tell these are impossible to build these days with the modern lines. Why? Because of what they use for the core of these lines. Spider wire type braids won't stretch but they don't splice either. The old braided dacron cores that use to be used you could pull one core into the other and build a one piece line with no loops if you wanted. One back cast slipping some running line in and one forward haul would get you 70-80'. Ahh...the good old days.