Official Beach Line Thread

[Nick Clayton]

I over line all of my salty six weights. I dont even think twice anymore. Never had a rod that had an issue fishing a 7 wt shooting head. I'd wager most modern 6 wt rods could handle an 8 wt line with little issue.

For the PS fishery in particular I see zero downsides to over lining but several benefits.

 

[Greggor]

I over line all of my salty six weights. I dont even think twice anymore. Never had a rod that had an issue fishing a 7 wt shooting head. I'd wager most modern 6 wt rods could handle an 8 wt line with little issue.

For the PS fishery in particular I see zero downsides to over lining but several benefits.

Interesting. Would you be willing to expand a bit on pros/cons? Cons being if you don't over line?

 

[Nick Clayton]

Interesting. Would you be willing to expand a bit on pros/cons?

Cons....none that I can come up with in real world fishing scenarios. Ya I suppose for true, like getting into the competition disgrace casting world type scenarios then a line that is a bit too heavy can be detrimental, but for 98% of us I don't see any negatives.

Pros: Easily loading up a rod quickly tends to help most of us cast a bit better, especially on the sound where we are doing more distance blind casting than about any other fishery I can think of. A heavier line, IME, often leads to fewer false casts for us average casters. Less false casts over the course of a full day adds up to a lot more fly in the water time, which over any other single factor is the biggest contributor to catching PS fish on the fly.

Being able to quickly load and shoot a 40-50' cast or less when that fish jumps nearby, or that pod of salmon pops up and is crashing bait for a few seconds is also extremely advantageous. Over lining does nothing but help those scenarios, and in a full day of fishing the sound, especially from a boat, can lead to a handful of hookups that may not have occurred if I couldn't instantly load up my rod and get a cast off.

 

[Greggor]

Cons....none that I can come up with in real world fishing scenarios. Ya I suppose for true, like getting into the competition disgrace casting world type scenarios then a line that is a bit too heavy can be detrimental, but for 98% of us I don't see any negatives.

Pros: Easily loading up a rod quickly tends to help most of us cast a bit better, especially on the sound where we are doing more distance blind casting than about any other fishery I can think of. A heavier line, IME, often leads to fewer false casts for us average casters. Less false casts over the course of a full day adds up to a lot more fly in the water time, which over any other single factor is the biggest contributor to catching PS fish on the fly.

Being able to quickly load and shoot a 40-50' cast or less when that fish jumps nearby, or that pod of salmon pops up and is crashing bait for a few seconds is also extremely advantageous. Over lining does nothing but help those scenarios, and in a full day of fishing the sound, especially from a boat, can lead to a handful of hookups that may not have occurred if I couldn't instantly load up my rod and get a cast off.

Thanks Nick! So, do you consider say for example a Rio fly OBS line as already over lined once to begin with or not?

Real life example: I recently purchased a Boost Blue 6wt. If I use an OBS 7wt, would you consider that over lining X 1 or X 2?

 

[Nick Clayton]

Thanks Nick! So, do you consider say for example a Rio fly OBS line as already over lined once to begin with or not?

Real life example: I recently purchased a Boost Blue 6wt. If I use an OBS 7wt, would you consider that over lining X 1 or X 2?

For me I buy all my lines one size up anymore. Haven't fished an OBS in a handful of years, but for similar lines like the 40+, Cortland Compact, SA Sonar Titan etc I buy the 7 wt version for all my 6 wt sound rods.

Just my preference of course. Others may not like to over line at all.

 

[SKYKO]

Cons....none that I can come up with in real world fishing scenarios. Ya I suppose for true, like getting into the competition disgrace casting world type scenarios then a line that is a bit too heavy can be detrimental, but for 98% of us I don't see any negatives.

Pros: Easily loading up a rod quickly tends to help most of us cast a bit better, especially on the sound where we are doing more distance blind casting than about any other fishery I can think of. A heavier line, IME, often leads to fewer false casts for us average casters. Less false casts over the course of a full day adds up to a lot more fly in the water time, which over any other single factor is the biggest contributor to catching PS fish on the fly.

Being able to quickly load and shoot a 40-50' cast or less when that fish jumps nearby, or that pod of salmon pops up and is crashing bait for a few seconds is also extremely advantageous. Over lining does nothing but help those scenarios, and in a full day of fishing the sound, especially from a boat, can lead to a handful of hookups that may not have occurred if I couldn't instantly load up my rod and get a cast off.

Thanks for this input, I've been strongly considering doing this on my 6 weight for all the reasons you point out. Gonna pull the trigger on that as I personally have no problem overlining if I can get the functionality I'm looking for.

 

[Greggor]

For me I buy all my lines one size up anymore. Haven't fished an OBS in a handful of years, but for similar lines like the 40+, Cortland Compact, SA Sonar Titan etc I buy the 7 wt version for all my 6 wt sound rods.

Just my preference of course. Others may not like to over line at all.

I'm going to give it a try! I have (2) new 7wt lines at the ready. I can't lose either way. Oh wait, maybe new 8wt lines for the 7wt if it works for me!

 

[Stonedfish]

Thanks Nick! So, do you consider say for example a Rio fly OBS line as already over lined once to begin with or not?

Real life example: I recently purchased a Boost Blue 6wt. If I use an OBS 7wt, would you consider that over lining X 1 or X 2?

Not speaking for Nick, but OBS 7wt is at 265g so it falls between a 9 wt (240g +/-10) and 10 wt (280g +/- 10) line based on AFTM standard. So based on those standards, it would be 3 or 4X overlined. That said, not all 6wts are created equal, so you can pretty much throw a lot of the bs about standards out the window when it comes to rods and what lines they can handle. Then add in how most people fish Puget Sound. It isn’t delicate.
SF

 

[fatbillybob]

For me I buy all my lines one size up anymore. Haven't fished an OBS in a handful of years, but for similar lines like the 40+, Cortland Compact, SA Sonar Titan etc I buy the 7 wt version for all my 6 wt sound rods.

Just my preference of course. Others may not like to over line at all.

I find what line problem to be a larger issue with single hand rods because they are rated in ".wt." Two hand rods will have a "wt" and a grain window often written right on the rod. Other 2 hand rods the builder will tell you the suggested grain window. That will give one a clue as to what will work.

The other thing I will add is that in my experience 1) if you have 2 rods of equal weights the faster rod will handle more grains than the slower rod. 2) leader length and payload will cast great for one person's casting style but be uncastable to someone else. A line casts well if it is matched to the leader and payload required.

 

[MGdriver]

I find what line problem to be a larger issue with single hand rods because they are rated in ".wt." Two hand rods will have a "wt" and a grain window often written right on the rod. Other 2 hand rods the builder will tell you the suggested grain window. That will give one a clue as to what will work.

The other thing I will add is that in my experience 1) if you have 2 rods of equal weights the faster rod will handle more grains than the slower rod. 2) leader length and payload will cast great for one person's casting style but be uncastable to someone else. A line casts well if it is matched to the leader and payload required.

Sounds like what I need to do.

 

[skyrise]

I over line all of my salty six weights. I dont even think twice anymore. Never had a rod that had an issue fishing a 7 wt shooting head. I'd wager most modern 6 wt rods could handle an 8 wt line with little issue.

For the PS fishery in particular I see zero downsides to over lining but several benefits.

Nick, do you think its because they make rods so much faster/stiffer these days or fly lines are not made with the same quality as in the past or a combination of both ? I have purchased two tropical fly lines in the last 2 years that were supposed to be 8 weight but both really cast best on my 6 weight rods ?

 

[Porter2]

There is the rod issue. A 6 weight Sage TCR is not a Sage X, A Sage One 6 weight is not a Winston Biix. So rods should also be calculated in your desired line search. For example I have a SA Anadromous 6 weight floater that my Xi3 casts beautifully but my TCR 6 weight struggles with. I usually do not oversize but with certain rods I do with certain lines. But the number of lines out there and all their specialties lines make it a daunting task to find a good line for performing on certain fishing waters.
There is a reason some stick to only one rod for everything basically. And that would most likely be the 6 weight???

 

[scorianet]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on an Echo Ion XL 9' 6wt! Decided to go with the Cortland Compact Float line but I'm waffling between the 200gr. vs. 240gr... Any ideas which would work best with that rod?

 

[Porter2]

225

 

[clarkman]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on an Echo Ion XL 9' 6wt! Decided to go with the Cortland Compact Float line but I'm waffling between the 200gr. vs. 240gr... Any ideas which would work best with that rod?

I have no experience with that specific rod per se, but I have loads of experience with the Cortland Compact lines. With my fast (ok, super fast) action 7wt, I roll with the 240, which I also love for my Echo BAG 7wt, which is markedly slower. Then again, I also fish both of those with standard 7wt lines and with the faster graphite 7wt, I've gone up to 300gr shooting heads. They handle everything just fine. I don't think you'd be disappointed with either of those options that you give. I absolutely love my Cortland Compacts. They're just perfect for the the type of fishing that I most often do....streamer, quick shot point and shoot, decent distance (out to 80ish feet----ymmv--that said, most of my streamer fishing takes place within 50'), they have that extra "handling" line after the head which is easy to carry if you need extra distance...

 

[Stonedfish]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on an Echo Ion XL 9' 6wt! Decided to go with the Cortland Compact Float line but I'm waffling between the 200gr. vs. 240gr... Any ideas which would work best with that rod?

I have that floater in 240g that I used on my 6 wt.
I’ve used it maybe twice. I just hardly ever use a floater much in the salt. You or someone else can buy mine for $50.00 shipped to the lower 48 if you’d like.
SF

 

[ffb]

I finally decided to pull the trigger on an Echo Ion XL 9' 6wt! Decided to go with the Cortland Compact Float line but I'm waffling between the 200gr. vs. 240gr... Any ideas which would work best with that rod?

240g for sure.

 

[Porter2]

What would you say if I said 330 on a 6 weight?

 

[Merle]

Not sure if this will be useful to anyone, but I'll throw it up here. Over the last year or two I put together this summary of the head weights / lengths of the popular beach lines as I've researched and tried them.


One late entry I just got (and haven't tried out yet) is the Rio Aqualux II lake line. I got it in a WF8 weight to try on my 7 wt Z-Axis. The head length is a short 30' with a weight of 280 grains, a short front taper and really short back taper. We'll see how it goes. I know when I first started out on the beaches the line of choice was the original Rio Aqualux lake line. That was before they started making the specialty tapers like the Outbound, CQS etc...

Edit: I just realized my summary doesn't have a profile for the SA Titan lines. I'll try to find one to add.

Edit 2: Replaced the attachment with one that includes the SA Titan head profile. The Titan is a similar shape to the OBS

Andy

 

[Greggor]

Not sure if this will be useful to anyone, but I'll throw it up here. Over the last year or two I put together this summary of the head weights / lengths of the popular beach lines as I've researched and tried them.
View attachment 81964

One late entry I just got (and haven't tried out yet) is the Rio Aqualux II lake line. I got it in a WF8 weight to try on my 7 wt Z-Axis. The head length is a short 30' with a weight of 280 grains, a short front taper and really short back taper. We'll see how it goes. I know when I first started out on the beaches the line of choice was the original Rio Aqualux lake line. That was before they started making the specialty tapers like the Outbound, CQS etc...

Edit: I just relaized my summary doesn't have a profile for the SA Titan lines. I'll try to find one to add.

Andy

Thank you Andy! Very helpful, and also timely for me. I will be picking up my 7wt boost blue tomorrow. Told the shop owner I was undecided on the line. When I described what I was lookin for, he also suggested I look at the Rio Aqualux lake line.

When I mentioned overlining, he seemed open minded, but couldn't disguise his negativity about overlining with an OBS.