[Soulfrk]

I went to get a new spool for my fly rod, and asked the guy to put a decent floating line on it. He asked what weight I told him weight forward 6 floating. (Almost sounded like I know what I’m talking about).

He put on Cortland 444 classic slyk floating. I suspect it was the most expensive he had and since I wasn’t particular he upsold me. My mistake and I learned my lesson.

My question and concern is that he put the Slyk line on it which I’ve read is designed for bamboo rods. I have a graphite rod. Should I change the line? I won’t have time to get out casting with it between now and my trip next weekend/week. It really will be shame if I get all the way out there and am not able to cast well enough to catch any trout…

Thanks in advance for the tips/info.

[dudley]

The Sylk line is more supple and thinner than most other lines
Not the most expensive though, the SA Sharkskin is a hundred bucks

Sylk lines are great for cane and vintage fiberglass because they had smaller guides. There are other lines just as supple but IMO are more appropriate for lighter rods than 6wts

Take your Sylk line back and get the 444 Classic (commonly called the 'peach') instead.
Or even better get the Hook&Hackle 'Hi-Floater'
It's the same line as the 'peach' in an olive color for a much better price

http://www.hookhack.com/flylines.html

[Soulfrk]

Thanks for the info Dudley.

Unfortunately I won't be able to return it. So I'll have to eat the 50 bucks. (expensive lesson).

Next time I'll know what they are spooling up, and ask for the hookhack.

[dudley]

You'll do fine with the Sylk. line.
It's just a mystery why they sold it to you in the first place

The Hook&Hackle line is private label. You can only get it from them.
They always have good deals and will never steer you toward the high end stuff.
And it's THE place to go if you get into rod building.

[Soulfrk]

dudley, on Jun 15 2009, 01:53 PM, said:

You'll do fine with the Sylk. line.
It's just a mystery why they sold it to you in the first place

The Hook&Hackle line is private label. You can only get it from them.
They always have good deals and will never steer you toward the high end stuff.
And it's THE place to go if you get into rod building.

Good to know. I'm equally mystified as to why he put that on, it must have been a mistake on his part.

So you think I should order some of this hookhack for the future?

You can build fly rods!? this is definite possibility. -- is it expensive?

[dudley]

Quote

You can build fly rods!? this is definite possibility. -- is it expensive?

I just looked at the two 'kits' that they had on sale this week
The 6wt was $50, the 8wt, $56. There were plenty more
With a kit you get the blank, reel seat, grip, guides, tip-top, winding check (for the top of the grip), hook holder, thread, slow epoxy for the grip and seat, tip-top cement, and flexible epoxy for the wrap finish.
Or, if you prefer, you can get everything separately and put together something unique

Other than that you need a few tools.
Most people like a thread winder and a drier to keep the finish from running. They can run some bucks.
I have a drier made from a rotisserie motor... I never use it. I turn mine by hand.
For thread tension, there's a number of ways to 'wing' it. A mouse trap, your fly tying bobbin poked through a hole in a cardboard box, or the easiest, running the thread through a heavy book.
I have an old Herter's wrapper myself. 4 bucks in the '77 catalogue.

Other than that...a rat-tail file, masking tape, a couple of popcycle sticks, some dental floss, good scissors, a lighter... household stuff.

It takes me about 6 hours time to put one together... I don't practice a lot either. One a year... maybe.
It's good to know the skills too, just in case you need to make some repairs.
I broke the ring on my tip-top last week. Had a repair kit in the car.
Took less than 5 minutes to fix it

[Soulfrk]

This is something I'll have to look into. Maybe it would benefit me to learn how to fly fish first though.