Ok, it’s really funny now that I’ve fished Baja for one week I’m now an EXPERT!
Really, not trying to overstate my knowledge, but I found several fly lines that I particularly liked fishing and that performed very well, so I thought it might help to share my impressions here.
Not in order of quality or usefulness, I fished and recommend these fly lines to fish Baja.
RIO Tropical Outbound Short fly line.
* short head
* loads rod quickly and allows me to make long casts with minimum false casting
* available in floating, Intermediate sink, and fast sink tips on a fully integrated line
* not the best choice if you are intending to pick up a long line to recast
* superior if you will retrieve your fly close to the boat or shore and then recast quickly
* this line shoots exceptionally well and handles well in warm climate
Airflo Chard’s Tropical Punch
* this is an agressive floating line
* most of the weight in the head is in the front 20 or so of the line
* this line allows you to fire off a long cast even if you have stripped your fly close to the boat or shore
* the front-loaded head means you do not need several false-casts to launch a rocket
* powerful enough to cast large wind resistant flies
* This line has sufficient rear taper to the head that you may pick it up and recast with considerable line out of the rod tip
* this line shoots exceptionally well and handles well in warm climates
Scientific Anglers Sonar Saltwater Hover fly line
* this is a slow sink intermediate head fly line suitable for warm and tropical climates
* I found this to be a great intermediate head fly line
* it is important to note the weight of this fly line head and decide how to match it with your casting style
* my personal preference is to fish the Sonar Hover WF-10 on my 8 wt Echo EPR rod (305 gr head)
* my personal preference is to fish the Sonar Hover WF-12 on my 10 wt ECHO EPR rod (415 gr head)
* these personal line choices reflect the fact that I often retrieve my fly very close to the panga and like to cast with quickly with minimum false-casts
* anglers who will pick up 30 feet of line and recast will probably not want to over-line their rods as is my preferance
Scientific Anglers Warmwater Sonic Sink 30 fly line
* this is a very easy line to cast, in spite of the long head
* I found that the 450 gr head was perfect on my 12 wt and the 400 gr was perfect on my 10 wt rod
* this line sinks fast and shoots a long distance
* the line handles very well in very warm water
* this has been my go-to fly line offshore Oregon fishing for albacore tuna
Airflo Big Game Depth Finder fly line
* 30 ft sinking head may provide the fastest sink rate when you really need to get your fly down to the fish
* 50 pound core is low stretch
* this fly line offers some very heavy heads to cast on rods over 12 wt and to get flies to great depth
* this fly line handles well in warm and temperate climates
Hatch Premium Fly Lines
* these fly lines are particularly well suited to warm and tropical climates
* Hatch premium fly lines are available in floating, intermediate, and fast sinking fully integrated heads
* these fly lines will perform with big fish and big flies
* these are agressive tapers built on heavy fly line cores
I hope this review is helpful to get started. Our staff at the Caddis Fly Shop will be pleased to offer additional support and recommendations regarding your fly line selection, and I will also answer any questions you might have.
Jay Nicholas May/June 2017