Northwest Fishing Reports

I have some questions about fly line,being a rookie and all...
Does the color of fly line affect your bite?
If so, what colors work best in what conditions,water color/visibility,etc.
Thanks Guys !

Not really, but it depends alot on the fish and the location. Sink tip line should almost always have the sinking part colored black, or if it is full sink the whole line will be black or dark colored so that won't make much of a difference. On floating lines, for most fishing a fairly bright colored line work good becasue you can see it easier for mending, line control, etc. If your fishing over especially spooky fish, most companies make earth tone floating lines for that purpose. Right now on my main trout rod I'm running 4 weight Scientific Angler "Trout" line in Willow. Works good enough for me.

In 35 years of fly fishing I don't think I've ever seen an issue with the color of floating fly line and I've fished for some pretty spooky fish (Silver Creek). Unlike fly rods and reels where price doesn't always correlate with effectiveness fly line quality is directly related to cost in my opinion. Cheap floating lines will stretch and have a memory resulting in coils when casted and a less than ideal fishing experience.

For floating lines, I like the premium lines by Rio and Airflo and have tried almost all of them on the market.

Sinking or sinking tip lines should have a dark colored sinking section. Again the cheaper lines tend to stretch (which isn't good) and coil. I use Scientific Anglers sinking tip lines (20' sink tips with at least 400 grains) and Jim Teeny "Mini-Tip" lines for most lake fishing. I also have a Type V sinking line that I use from time to time, but I don't know who made it as I've had it for 15 years....

Tight Lines

If you are underwater and look up at a floating fly line, I'm sure they all look black. If you are looking at a sinking line they generally look black also. Regardless of the fly line color, I don't think it matters. Your leader and tippet should be either mono for floating lines or fluorocarbon for sinking lines. The colors generally are for identifying floating or sinking lines. Lighter colors are mostly floating lines, while darker lines are generally for sinking or sink tip lines. My best floating line is Peach colored and my best sinking line is Dark Green. I believe that the colors are more for identification then camouflage. Many times you need to see what your line is doing during the cast. Some colors are easier to see while casting. You can more easily see how far you are casting and what your casting loop looks like. In a word or two, don't worry too much about color.

I agree that, for the most part, line color makes little difference.

I did find that on a rare trip to the Florida Keys for Bone Fish many years ago that line color did make a huge difference. This is a case of super clear, super shallow water and highly pressured fish.

Scientific Anglers made a line called the slime line for just that purpose. It is clear, and intermediate line (sinks just a few inches below the surface) and with a long leader it worked perfect for the Bones. I have used this line for fresh water as well (little stiff for cold weather), but it does not seem to make much difference in fresh water.

From underwater, looking up at a floating line, a light colored line blends into the light colored sky.

From underwater, look to the side or down on a sinking line, a light colored line would stand out like a sore thumb, but a dark line will tend to blend into the dark background.

These are the reasons that lines are colored the way they are. But, as Joe put it, line color sure helps with line control as well. I have a white line that SA made for night fishing for Bass. LOVE IT.

Yes, most of my arsenal of lines are old, so I don't know how many of them are even still made, but I don't replace what is still working.

Anglinarcher wrote: I did find that on a rare trip to the Florida Keys for Bone Fish many years ago that line color did make a huge difference. This is a case of super clear, super shallow water and highly pressured fish.

It is the same way in New Zealand. The guides highly suggest using a toned down line color, not the bright neon colored ones.

Great topic and the observations are spot on. Heres my two cents worth. I don't care what you spend for your rod or reel, you'll learn to cast with them. But never buy cheap line! It will determine your length of cast, your presentation, and your retrive. I've seen people buy new rods and reels thinking it will change their success only to find same results. Oops, used my same old line. Often, the problems with casting come from a line to rod match. Fly shop sales people may not tell you that as they are there to sell rods and reels, or you may not know the correct questions to ask. You will learn much about leaders and flies along the way. So study your fly lines and cater to your fishery, your rod and experience.