Hi All

On a lightweight set-up for a small river, using #4 floating what colour should the line be: hi-viz, ivory or neutral/clear?

I'm new to all this (although I've been fishing other methods for a while) and would appreciate some advice as to what colour line to buy.

Thanks!

Ollie

dont fish rivers myself but im not a fan of hi viz lines anyway so imo go for something neutral or drab,ivory ,buckskin,olive etc John Norris Pro 2 Stealth Floating Fly Lines › Fly Fishing Lines › Fishing Tackle › Page 1 john Norris have some lines at £13 a steal imo or see some of the gusy on here like pitsford pirate or Barrio lines,im sure they will set you up and go for double taper

Coloured fly lines have always been the subject of much debate. I think it has been proven that bright coloured fly lines do not spook or scare fish. This means salmon as well as trout. So why do we use them? It's all about the visability of the line and being able to see it clearly on the water.It's easier to spot abnormal movement in the line caused by a taking fish.

Some environmentally friendly anglers prefer colours that blend with nature like dull greens and browns. Ivory is a good inbetween colour it neither offends or blends. There is also a theory that a fish's underbelly tends to be light so a fish looking up at a white line is not surprised or concerned.

What it all boils down to is you do what pleases you.

Black Knight

Not hi-viz...

For small rivers a dark brown WF taper would be good, see: Hi Viz Fly Lines... or if you are strong: Dry Fly Lines

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Save the softmouth trout

Ollie, if you do a search on here on that subject you will find no end of debate/argument. To save you the bother: a few individuals will tell you it should be matt muddy brown, nothing else will do. Many others will say it doesn't make a fat lot of difference as your line should not be near the fish anyway and there are far more critical things relating to stealth and presentation which will affect your catch rate. Personally I prefer an ivory, pale peach or similar, because I like to see the line and I find hi-viz a bit garish (although I do use them sometimes for nymphing). Whatever works best for you really though, there's no rights or wrongs.

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whatever colour you choose, and personally I would go for a subdued colour on a small river - it just seems more appropiate, dont be tempted by a mill end. I've been using those and have just gone over to an expensive line bought second hand from a forum member. The difference is startling.

Your fly line will be at least 9 foot away from your fly so it makes no difference ,your casting a fly at the fish not the line,my line is 16 foot away from my dry fly

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GAIA INSTRUCTOR

The question of if line color matters hinges on two things that cannot known with any certainty: 1) What the fish actually see and 2) what it means to them when they see it.

IMO, it's like a WF vs DT. The advantages are what you think they are. Pick your color for your own reasons and for what you believe to be true and just go with it.

FWIW, I fish a lot of air-clear spring creeks in pursuit of brook trout. The #1 thing that I've observed to be a factor in spooking fish is a noisy approach and skylining yourself. Line color can only come into play if you manage to get close enough to the fish to begin casting.

The second factor in small streams is the ability to deliver a one-timer cast on target. Every forward cast increases the chances of spooking the fish. Making 3 or 4 off-target casts and using 10-20 false casts to do so (like most anglers do) will significantly reduce your chances because each forward cast was another opportunity to spook the fish.

Most anglers these days are obsessed with distance and their accuracy shows it. They can deliver a fly out to the horizon no problem, but they couldn't lay down an on-target 20 foot cast to a target the size of a car tyre to save their lives.

Grouse

Which one Kev? I've used quite a few mill ends and they have been pretty reasonable as lines for the money.

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www.paypalsucks.com

I would personally concern myself more with other factors, rather than the line colour. I tend to look for the line with the right characteristics for the style of fishing I intend to do, ie. taper, mempry properties, and a few other things, and the line colour is quite far down on the list. If it turns out that the correct line for you, just happens to be the colour you prefer, then good, but there are other things that are far more critical than the line colour.