Fly Fishing Lines
TAPERED AND LEVEL LINES
The tapered line, as its title suggests, has a middle of given size and gradually thins toward one end in the single taper and both ends in the double tapered, this being accomplished by leaving out a certain number of threads in the braiding process. Tapers vary; one American manufacturer is making his standard lines with 8 foot tapers and his tournament lines, very popular with some anglers, with very long front taper and with the middle or "belly" and the back taper made short.
Whether one should use a tapered or level line depends on his style of fishing. If he uses his bass tackle for trout fishing (which I guess most of us do) and he casts a floating fly for the spotted princes of our colder waters, he should, by all means, use a tapered line. If he uses only a wet or sunken fly or fishes for bass exclusively, a level line is recommended.
A compromise is the single tapered line enabling the angler to use the tapered end for dry fly fishing and the level end for wet flies, for casting in a high wind or for bass.
Naturally a tapered line eventually ends up level from the weakened part being snipped off from time to time.
SIZES
The custom among angling writers to recommend a certain size of line for certain kinds of fishing without any consideration of the weight and action of the rod, is to be condemned because the line should match the rod to secure the most satisfactory results.
I know of cases where young anglers have followed such recommendations and secured an unsuitable line and gave fly fishing up in disgust, claiming it " too much like work." Investigation showed that they had lines too heavy or too light for their rods and such circumstances require much effort to make a good cast.
Taking a well-known and excellent American-made vacuum dressed line as a standard the proper sizes of lines would be approximately as follows: For American rods weighing less than 4 1/2 ounces, size F, tapered or level; for American rods weighing 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 ounces, size E, tapered or level; for American rods weighing 5 1/2 to 6 ounces, size D tapered, size E level; for American rods weighing 6 ounces or more, size C, tapered or level.
Much, of course, depends on the action of the rod. A stiff rod requires a heavier line than a limber one and a British rod having considerable weight in the butt can handle a smaller line than an American rod of the same ounces.
English makers use numbers to designate the sizes of their lines. One well-known make corresponds with American sizes as follows:
English size 5, American size B
4 C
3 D
2 E
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