Post by Speyducer on Nov 2, 2007 8:10:48 GMT
A series of discussions on the different fly line types, and how they may be utilised
The original lines for fly fishing were used on very long rods, often 18 - 20' long, and the fly line was perhaps the length on the rod, or perhaps a bit more, as reels (brass winches) came later.
Such lines were truly handcrafted, made out of horsehair, and woven / braided with a tapered end, initially the taper was for delicacy of presentation, although the casts were usually roll-type casts.
In those far-off days, it may have been less necessary to have anything more than a ~40' distance between fisherman and fly, as the fish were so numerous!
With the development of the reel, longer lines were possible, but due to the significant work in preparation of horsehair lines, alternatives were sought, and silk was the obvious choice - having been used for fabrics and threads for a couple of millenia at least.
The first silk lines were made, as silk threads were made, on looms / machines, and were level lines. However, silk became waterlogged and sank, and was therefore quite heavy to cast, so waterproofing was used in the form of animal fat or grease, perhaps tallow, and this solved the problem partially.
Later, for dapping, floss silk lines were used for catching with wind, allowing the fly to dance on the water surface - a method still used today.
Silk lines were still in use until well into and beyond the middle of the 20th century, and certainly some traditionalists may still use greased silk lines with their split cane rods for trout fly fishing.
With the advent of plastics, during the 50's and 60's, fly lines could be constructed of a plastic coated braided monofilament core fly line.
By altering the density of the plastic, floating fly lines that didn't need greasing became available. These lines with their plastic coatings were also more durable, and didn't need the same maintenance as the older silk lines, such as unspooling off the reel and storing in loose open coils away from light during the close season.
These plastic coated lines were made as 'level' lines, as they were easier to run off the machines (molten plastic extruded as a coating onto the braided core as that core was run through the machine).
It was recognised that tapering lines, tapered at the end, would be advantageous for lightness of presentation, as had been discovered more than 100 years earlier with the hand-made braided horsehair lines, and these 'single taper' lines (tapered only on the fly end) became very useful for those English trout streams, such as the Test and the Itchen, in the delicate dry fly fishing for wary trout. It was just a case of altering the machine set-up so that the gradual tapering of the plastic coating was incorporated every ~32 yards or so.
This did have the consequence that fly lines had to be made, and then cut, to pre-set lengths. When the process went wrong, or at the end of a run of making such lines, the quality control was such that such 'end-of-run' lines had to be sold off cheaply - the so-called 'mill-end' lines, and it allowed fly fishermen without deep pockets to afford such normally relatively expensive items.
As the back end (reel end) of the line hardly ever saw the light of day off the reel, and the plastic coatings would eventually degrade and crack with casting / fishing use, heat, sunlight, grit, etc. someone felt that tapering the line at the other end may be very useful, and the double-tapered lines were born...
to be continued....
Mike
The original lines for fly fishing were used on very long rods, often 18 - 20' long, and the fly line was perhaps the length on the rod, or perhaps a bit more, as reels (brass winches) came later.
Such lines were truly handcrafted, made out of horsehair, and woven / braided with a tapered end, initially the taper was for delicacy of presentation, although the casts were usually roll-type casts.
In those far-off days, it may have been less necessary to have anything more than a ~40' distance between fisherman and fly, as the fish were so numerous!
With the development of the reel, longer lines were possible, but due to the significant work in preparation of horsehair lines, alternatives were sought, and silk was the obvious choice - having been used for fabrics and threads for a couple of millenia at least.
The first silk lines were made, as silk threads were made, on looms / machines, and were level lines. However, silk became waterlogged and sank, and was therefore quite heavy to cast, so waterproofing was used in the form of animal fat or grease, perhaps tallow, and this solved the problem partially.
Later, for dapping, floss silk lines were used for catching with wind, allowing the fly to dance on the water surface - a method still used today.
Silk lines were still in use until well into and beyond the middle of the 20th century, and certainly some traditionalists may still use greased silk lines with their split cane rods for trout fly fishing.
With the advent of plastics, during the 50's and 60's, fly lines could be constructed of a plastic coated braided monofilament core fly line.
By altering the density of the plastic, floating fly lines that didn't need greasing became available. These lines with their plastic coatings were also more durable, and didn't need the same maintenance as the older silk lines, such as unspooling off the reel and storing in loose open coils away from light during the close season.
These plastic coated lines were made as 'level' lines, as they were easier to run off the machines (molten plastic extruded as a coating onto the braided core as that core was run through the machine).
It was recognised that tapering lines, tapered at the end, would be advantageous for lightness of presentation, as had been discovered more than 100 years earlier with the hand-made braided horsehair lines, and these 'single taper' lines (tapered only on the fly end) became very useful for those English trout streams, such as the Test and the Itchen, in the delicate dry fly fishing for wary trout. It was just a case of altering the machine set-up so that the gradual tapering of the plastic coating was incorporated every ~32 yards or so.
This did have the consequence that fly lines had to be made, and then cut, to pre-set lengths. When the process went wrong, or at the end of a run of making such lines, the quality control was such that such 'end-of-run' lines had to be sold off cheaply - the so-called 'mill-end' lines, and it allowed fly fishermen without deep pockets to afford such normally relatively expensive items.
As the back end (reel end) of the line hardly ever saw the light of day off the reel, and the plastic coatings would eventually degrade and crack with casting / fishing use, heat, sunlight, grit, etc. someone felt that tapering the line at the other end may be very useful, and the double-tapered lines were born...
to be continued....
Mike
