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Location: MN | I am gearing up for muskies & pike on the fly. I picked up a used TFO Axiom (original version) in a 10wt. The setup will be used for both spring pike fishing in Canada (shallow bays.. 1ft-6ft water) and for muskies in lakes stateside. Starting off I would like to buy one line and struggling to decide whether to get a full floating or intermediate tip/full line? Brand-wise leanings towards the Rio In-Touch Outbound Short, open to other suggestions too.
From what I've read it sounds like the intermediates & heavier sinking lines help turn over big flies whereas a floating line can be more difficult to toss the big stuff... please share if your experience is different. This leads me to get an intermediate tip or full intermediate but I question if this line will sink too fast when fishing for pike in shallow bays or muskies on shallow reefs?
All opinions are welcome!
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Posts: 242
| I am not an expert on the subject by any means, but I am a big fan of AirFlo Depth Finder Big Game (I have it in 300 Grain, 400 Grain, 500 Grain, and 700 Grain). The braid core really allows for a strong hook set without any real stretch in the line and I like sinking tip line, because I can work it faster to stay shallow or slower to really get down along those deeper weed lines. |
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Posts: 494
Location: midwest | For pike the intermediate or a full sink like a titan sonar Hover/sink2/sink4 would be my choice for less than 8' of water in lakes. The outbound will work but I prefer the full intermediate Scientific Anglers Titan as I find the SA lines to have better durability than the Rio lines. |
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Posts: 343
| I use a clear intermediate line which seems to work in most situations. |
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Posts: 11
| Definitely go intermediate: I fish mostly sinking lines, but an intermediate will be a good all around streamer line. I really like the Scientific anglers Titan tapers- the heavy tapers do a great job of turning over huge flies. I have a titan intermediate on a 12 and it does a great job, 1-2 false casts and you can really shoot some line.
I also prefer a full intermediate, but an intermediate tip will be a bit easier to handle, and I don't know that there are many drawbacks for musky except not getting as deep. For as shallow as you hope to fish- definitely get the intermediate tip. |
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Posts: 54
| Hi Mak51, I'd second the recommendation for the Scientific Anglers Sonar series sink tip line. Likely in the 350 grain weight for what you want to do although I've used 550 grain for roughly the same depths with good success on a 10 wt. as long as I don't slow strip speed way down. The Sonar series replaced their Wet Tip Express which in my opinion was the best big streamer line ever made. The 27' sink tip allows quick loading at short distance and will shoot a bunch of line with a single haul. Also, the line core doesn't seem to coil as bad in cold weather as other lines even if you don't get the specific cold weather line. I also like a floating running line for ease of handling during and after retrieve and casting. At one time or another, I've used all the brands of line and most of their tapers (was a fly guide and casting instructor/tier for many years) in all kinds of different weather, salt and fresh etc. and the SA sink tips seemed to have the upper hand.
Regards,
1vw |
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Posts: 24
| I'd go with a coldwater Rio Outbound Short I/S3. Basically an intermediate shooting line with a Type 3 (3ips) sink tip. A floating line leaves your depth restricted to the length of your leader and is constantly pulling your fly up the water column, the intermediate line can be countdown an will pull your line at depth for most of the retrieve. That said, the floating line has the advantage of allowing to fish topwater flies.
You could go with the full intermediate (hover) line but the 1ips sink rate is a little bit slow except for the shallowest water and slowest retrieves. If fishing in clear water there may be a slight advantage to having a clear intermediate line but I haven't met many musky or pike that are leader/line shy.
The RIO OBS has WF taper with a lot of mass and a short tip so it turns over large bulky weight wet flies better than most other lines I've tried. The line is not for delicate casts, but I haven't had a problem with that even in shallow water.
The Rio OBS lines are already up lined so be sure to get the line weight that matches your roed, that is no need to go two line weights over your rods weight. Also, buy a new line as they are built on RIO's latest no stretch core material for low stretch |
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