Whats my line?

[Buffers]

Im new to fly fishing and have collected quite a few old Orvis reels, all have good lines but I have no idea how to know if they are floating or sinking lines, how do I find out, one is a DT I know for sure but no idea if its a floater or not. Any help would be appreciated.
Buffy

 

[PaulD]

Wait until you can get to some water and cast it out. If it floats . . . .

 

[Tangled]

Light/brightly coloured lines tend to be floaters; dark lines are normally sinkers.

Sinkers are usually thinner. Chuck the first few feet of the line into a bowl of water. It'll either float or sink ;-)

The only way to find out whether double taper or not is to measure it with a micrometer - not easy - or weight the first and last 30'. A double taper will weigh the same, a single taper will have different weights, the heavy end is the front end.

You could try laying the front and rear of the line out side-by-side and seeing if you can detect a difference in thickness. Easier on heavy lines than light ones.

 

[Hardrar]

You’re going to need to know the line ratings too, to match them to rods. Weigh the first 30 feet exactly on an accurate digital scale and compare on the various on line weight scales.

 

[3lbgrayling]

Standard Fly Line Weight Charts

Standard Fly Line Weight Charts: AFFTA Approved Fly Line Weight Specifications Standard Fly Line Weight Charts give us parameters for specific fly line sizes. We have listed the fly line weights as they relate to actual weight of the fly line in grains or grams. This is a measure of the weight...

www.murraysflyshop.com

Jim

 

[Paul_B]

Light/brightly coloured lines tend to be floaters; dark lines are normally sinkers.

Sinkers are usually thinner. Chuck the first few feet of the line into a bowl of water. It'll either float or sink ;-)

The only way to find out whether double taper or not is to measure it with a micrometer - not easy - or weight the first and last 30'. A double taper will weigh the same, a single taper will have different weights, the heavy end is the front end.

You could try laying the front and rear of the line out side-by-side and seeing if you can detect a difference in thickness. Easier on heavy lines than light ones.

My intermediate is white
My favourite autumn floater is a dark grey

 

[Tangled]

My intermediate is white
My favourite autumn floater is a dark grey

You're just awkward ;-)

 

[Buffers]

Light/brightly coloured lines tend to be floaters; dark lines are normally sinkers.

Sinkers are usually thinner. Chuck the first few feet of the line into a bowl of water. It'll either float or sink ;-)

The only way to find out whether double taper or not is to measure it with a micrometer - not easy - or weight the first and last 30'. A double taper will weigh the same, a single taper will have different weights, the heavy end is the front end.

You could try laying the front and rear of the line out side-by-side and seeing if you can detect a difference in thickness. Easier on heavy lines than light ones.

Thanks Tangled, thats really helpful regards the colours and now seems quite obvious, no fish is going to swim past a white or yellow line I suppose!, its given some clarity to my beginner confusion. I have one thats white and I say I know its a DT but could be wrong only because theres a section about 2 mtrs in thats much thicker then tapers back to original thickness, and its easily visible, its on a old Orvis reel so assume its an old style line albeit in great condition.

 

[Tangled]

I have one thats white and I say I know its a DT but could be wrong only because theres a section about 2 mtrs in thats much thicker then tapers back to original thickness, and its easily visible, its on a old Orvis reel so assume its an old style line albeit in great condition.

A weight forward line would look like that too sadly. You can't really tell without looking at the whole line.

 

[PaulD]

. . . and I say I know its a DT but could be wrong only because theres a section about 2 mtrs in thats much thicker then tapers back to original thickness, and its easily visible . . .

You may find this useful to confirm your suspicions, a bit of a cartoon image of fly line tapers . . .

 

[Buffers]

You’re going to need to know the line ratings too, to match them to rods. Weigh the first 30 feet exactly on an accurate digital scale and compare on the various on line weight scales.

Many thanks for that, I will get on with it the week end, I happen to have some science digital scales, I have about 4 lines to weigh. good job its raining Saturday!

 

[Buffers]

A weight forward line would look like that too sadly. You can't really tell without looking at the whole line.

View attachment 34763

Ill take another look at it then with this information, many thanks

 

[PaulD]

You’re going to need to know the line ratings too, to match them to rods. Weigh the first 30 feet exactly on an accurate digital scale and compare on the various on line weight scales.

Just to be aware, it's the first 30ft, minus any amount of level tip.

"The AFTM is a scale of line weights. The heavier the line, the greater the AFTM number. The manufacturers weigh the first 10 yards excluding the level tip and rate the line according to the table."

AFTM 3	6.48g
AFTM 4	7.78g
AFTM 5	9.07g
AFTM 6	10.42g
AFTM 7	11.99g
AFTM 8	13.61g
AFTM 9	15.55g
AFTM 10	18.14g
AFTM 11	21.38g
AFTM 12	24.62g

 

[Paul_B]

You're just awkward ;-)

The white one came without a label and I had to use the try and see method to determine what it was

Its still a very good line that was from the Lureflash/YGA bargain bin many years ago.

The grey floater is a windcheater which is also very good

 

[Hardrar]

Just to be aware, it's the first 30ft, minus any amount of level tip.

"The AFTM is a scale of line weights. The heavier the line, the greater the AFTM number. The manufacturers weigh the first 10 yards excluding the level tip and rate the line according to the table."

AFTM 3	6.48g
AFTM 4	7.78g
AFTM 5	9.07g
AFTM 6	10.42g
AFTM 7	11.99g
AFTM 8	13.61g
AFTM 9	15.55g
AFTM 10	18.14g
AFTM 11	21.38g
AFTM 12	24.62g

Not all scales discount the tip- this is where it gets messy- discounting the tip is a modern thing brought about by some makers to justify their lines being half to one rating heavier.
Read this-below- it’s a bit complex, but very true
Modern carbon rods have virtually zero tolerance on moving up or down line weights much. Modern Glass rods however will handle a very wide range of line weights.
A friend of mine in the tackle industry went to a demo last Summer where they tested how rods performed on higher and lower lines over rod ratings - as much as +/- #7 Something you wouldn’t ever do in practice, but the carbon rods all failed miserably- they wouldn’t load if underlined or overloaded very quickly if over lined. The glass rods coped and threw decent loops well over & under.
I’m sadly old enough to remember when fly rods would have a 5/6/7/8 rating and beachcasters 4-8 ounce ratings- they were fast taper glass and handled the wide variant, carbon needs a much more precise load rating to work well.

5 problems with fly line design and the broken AFTM system.

Fly line design has been lacking for over 30 years starting with the outdated AFTM system. Why don't companies change their head length in single hand ranges? Wy do companies only list the weight of the first 30' of a line? All these issues are questioned by designer Tom Bell in this modern...

sunrayflyfish.com

 

[PaulD]

I think you should read this, the industry 'standard' from the AFTTA, and not 'a modern thing brought about by some makers to justify their lines being half to one rating heavier'.

https://cdn.ymaws.com/affta.org/resource/resmgr/pdf_files/fly_line_weight_specs.pdf

 

[JayP]

I think you should read this, the industry 'standard' from the AFTTA, and not 'a modern thing brought about by some makers to justify their lines being half to one rating heavier'.

https://cdn.ymaws.com/affta.org/resource/resmgr/pdf_files/fly_line_weight_specs.pdf

If only, Wychwood lines are almost 2# heavier. Great lines for the money if you underline

 

[BobP]

An obvious question, but have you checked thoroughly that there are no line ID stickers on the reels anywhere. Some people like to stick them on the inside of the spool, for example, where they won't be seen from the outside.

 

[ed_t]

Modern carbon rods have virtually zero tolerance on moving up or down line weights much.

The Dutch 5# casting distance record holder set the record with an ostensibly 9# rod. Heard that from the horses mouth when I met him at a BFCC meet. Rod weights are arbitrary but line weights have various scales to follow.

and beachcasters 4-8 ounce ratings.

I use my 4-8oz 12'shakey to cast 3 and 4 oz with strings of feathers, my AFAW 6nBait I use for 5-8oz. After learning to cast a bit the shakey couldn't match its rating.