Wulff TT, SA Heritage and 406 Fly Lines

[Tom Smithwick]

Hi Hank - The TT line is pretty versatile, and seems to work well on a number of my rods. I would think that it is a good choice on a glass rod. All of the rods in the Catskill competition seemed to cast the lines well. One of the 3 casters remarked to me that he liked the original TT a little better, but I was not the only builder who thought they helped our particular rod. Lining a rod is ultimately a personal thing. You just have to try them and see what feels good to you.

[hankaye]

Tom Smithwick, Howdy;

Went over to the Fiberglass rod forum and found they have been having an
excellent discussion of the 406 lines.
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/v ... 36&t=51129
Seems the manufacturer is a 'glass rod fan himself. He also went and measured the dia.
of one of his lines compared to the Sylk in the same size. Great discussion, ... if ya like
that sorta talkin' .....

hank

[William Anderson]

Okay, I'll try this again. A couple weeks ago I waxed eloquent for more than anyone would have cared to read on this topic here, thanking Eric Peper and Tom Smithwick for their comments on the lines they bought and used how they effected their casts. I take great notice when these two offer their hard earned wisdom. Many thanks to others who have followed up on these lines as well.

I mentioned that I had ordered a Wulff TT 4 wt line for use on my Fisher 8' 4wt Leon Chandler blank Glass rod build, along with my dreaded Scott G 9' 4wt (a 2 piece 25th anniversary edition, made 1999), a rod I believed would be the answer to all life's worries and found I couldn't cast it for crap. I didn't get to test it first, but got it for a song and was confident it would be a gem. This rod has haunted me on each outing and each time I swore I would never fish it again. I have been using a Rio Gold WF 4wt line on it. As I mentioned before these long continuous tapers have only been on the periphery of my radar and I hadn't considered going that route. So I said all that to say, that recent post was lost, without explanation and I didn't have the heart to sit and rewrite it. Couldn't if I wanted to.

So, I received my Wulff TT 4wt line and promptly loaded it on a CFO lll reel. I ran it through the Fisher 8' 4wt rod and it sang, roll cast and shot line even better than any previous line. Not that I was looking for an improvement from that rod. It is be far one of the nicest sticks in the bunch. Just a joy to fish.

The real surprise was when I put it on the Scott G 9' 4wt. This rod is very slow but consistent, it was clearly my poor casting that limited my use of the thing. The TT line made a huge difference in it's loading and presentation at 30-40' casts. Small 20' casts were very clean and easy to get the extension of the leader as I would want. Marked improvement. It may still take some time to adjust my cast to this rod, but it's a keeper and if I can learn to work with it I might end up loving that rod. I'm sure in time I'll get a chance to try a 406 line on it. Looking forward to that. I fished it for two days straight this weekend and never had any reservations about the rod. It can only get better.

John Shaner and Eric Smuggling Kelly both use the TT line in a 3wt on a 10' 3wt Zenith and I've seen both of those rods roll out very elegant casts. Much to do with the casters, but to see it is very convincing. I may be a convert. I'll be curious to see what the TT 5wt line does on a couple of my favorite 5wts and will probably get a 3wt down the line.

Maybe this season at some shows I'll get to pair a couple rods with other continuous taper lines and I'll be sure to report back. I noticed Wulff has a couple of other lines that are just adjustments to the original. I'm not sure they are necessary. Joan Wulff has a line with a different color to indicate the running portion of the line. That can't hurt. And they offer a TT Plus line that is a half step up to adjust to the faster current rod designs. My tendency is to hunt down some of the older rods and take a couple steps back. A Winston WT or even an LT would be an easy addition. Maybe some day. My dedication to fishing only one or two rods for an entire season has seemed to fade but it's a principle that I plan to reinstate. I just feel like the more I learn the more I want to fine tune the entire system. It's been a highlight this past couple seasons.

If anyone else further experience with these lines, or wants to offer a counter response in favor of other lines, I'm wide open to hearing anything you care to share. Most of your guys have many years of stream time on me and I love hearing about it. Thanks.

w