I get asked all the time by customers for a line that matches my rods. It would be very easy to recommend a £60+ line but I wanted to see if there was a cheaper option out there. Especially considering that many of my customers come to me because they want a premium rod (in my view anyway) at a decent price.

Firstly, let me say that I have no connection to Mike Barrio and if he makes himself rich from his fly line sales I won't gain whatsoever. Secondly, I'm an OK caster at best. Definitely not an expert caster....after all, some of the professional casting guys I've watched could cast wet string further than most of us and its a little hard to relate to their results sometimes!!

I'd read all about the Barrio Outcast whilst spending too much time on here and thought I'd give them a try on my FT, FTXL and SigV blanked rods. First thing I noticed about them was the length. These lines are LONG! I actually had to remove some of my backing to get them to fit on my reel. Second thing I saw is how supple and slick they feel. They don't have a shiny coating, rather a slightly textured feel. So after a quick dressing (probably not required but its habit with my lines), off I went into the field near my house.

Here I'm not going to give lots of techie jargon, just my results. The lines absolutely zing through the guides and once I'd found the correct amount to have in the air prior to shooting, I immediately found that I gained about 5 meters on my max cast distance. Just as importantly, the tip turned over. In a nutshell I got extra distance and decent presentation with it.

Next thing I tried was a few 5 to 20 meter casts...again good presentation and easy to achieve. So on the grass....job done.

Last test was on the water. Here I just wanted to see how they floated, lay and pulled off. Floated very well, lay dead straight and I guess due to the taper and the very fast rod I was using I could pull a lot of line off the water and fire it straight back out.

Overall I was extremely impressed. For 20 odd quid what more could you ask for?? I will be recommending the outcast to customers who are after a fish-able distance line to go with my rods.

Good product Mike.

Cheers

Steve