The age old fly fishing question: Tropical vs Cold Water Fly Lines?
As soon as you've gone fly fishing a few times, you will have heard the discussion in a fly shop about tropical fly lines vs. cold water. The common theory is that you can use a tropical line in a cold environment, but that you can't use a cold water line in a tropical scenario.
For the best fly fishing results, dig deeper into the tropical fly line debate.
The thing is, tropical lines can become taught and show troublesome symptoms of memory loss when the water gets colder. Which in summary means that the temperature can play havoc with your fly fishing techniques... so take note of these top tips to beat the heat!
For your fishing pleasure... tropical fly line tips from top fishers around the world!
"Fly lines which are designed to be used in tropical climates have a monofilament core, while those designed to be used in temperate climates are made up of a multifilament (i.e. braided) core. The monofilament is stiffer than braid so in any temperatures above around 75 degrees the mono will hold its stiffness, while below 75 degrees mono will become too stiff and also hang onto an enormous amount of memory when you strip it off of the reel. Conversely, cold water lines and those with the braided core will work well in cooler temperatures, but tend to cast like a limp piece of spaghetti in higher temperatures."
"I've run into some stiffness with tropical lines in the winter. The lines haven't become unusable, but just stiff and not as fun to use, so I just put up with a less than ideal line for the whole season. I think there is a big personality component to fly fishing. Do you demand first class perfection in your line and everything else, or do you work around less than ideal line and other potential issues.. Only you can answer that question, there isn't a right or wrong answer..."
"Thinking more about, I use more tropic than I might think. Between freshwater and glass rods for salt, I bought eight or nine lines this year. Some places I shop, tropical is all they sell. In fact in one shop after someone left having bought non-tropical line, the shop keeper said it was only the second time in five years that someone had asked. So my advice, don't discount the tropical, wherever you're fishing."
