Fly line

Horse Tail

The earliest fly lines were typically of a fixed length of eight to ten feet and constructed of horsehair. Long strands of horsehair from horse tails were woven to construct a tapered line of typically two strands at the tip and some 40 strands at the butt. Fixed length horsehair lines were the norm well into the 17th century and the hair from a stallion was the preferred material.[1] Until the 19th century, fly lines were being made with woven silk which replaced horsehair as the material of choice. By the 19th century, fly lines were longer and called running lines that were stored on a fly reel and cast through guides on a fly rod.

By the late 19th century, fly lines were still being constructed with silk but were braided instead of woven. Braiding created a hollow core which improved flotation. Nylon, invented by Dupont and in the 1930s found it way into fly line manufacturing in the late 1940s. Braided Nylon fly lines were cheaper than silk but suffered from their tendency to stretch when wet. In the post-WWII era, Dacron also known as polyester, became the material of choice for braided fly lines. Braided Dacron fly lines floated well and were lighter, more durable and cheaper to manufacture than silk lines. In 1952, the Cortland Line Company pioneered the use of vinyl to coat braided cores creating the first plastic coated fly lines that are the mainstream today. Throughout the last half of the 20th century, plastic fly line technology facilitated all manner of fly line innovation to address fly fishing for cold-water, warm-water and saltwater species globally. The most recent innovation in fly line materials came in 2007 when Scientific Anglers introduced textured fly lines. Texturing the surface of the plastic coated fly lines reduced friction improving casting distance and line pickup.[2]

In the 1930s, the National Association of Accuracy Casting Competition (NAACC) established size standards for fly lines based on the diameter of the woven silk lines. The standard was alphabetical with A being the largest and I being the smallest. Tapered fly lines were designated with multiple letters, i.e. HDH which indicated it was a double tapered (DT) line.

The advent of lighter Dacron and vinyl coated fly lines rendered the NAACC alphabetic size standard problematic. It was conceived when most all fly lines were braided silk and one manufacturer’s HDH line was similar in performance to another’s. Fly rod manufacturers had confidence in recommending a specific size fly line for their rods and that any silk line with that designation would perform well regardless of brand. However, it was the weight of the fly line that really mattered, not the size and the lighter synthetic lines performed differently than silk lines of the same size. This caused confusion for consumers and fly rod manufacturers. In 1960, after several years of collaboration between casting experts, rod and line manufacturers and industry media, the American Fly Fishing Tackle Association approved a weight standard for fly lines that persists today. The standard establishes a numbering system of fly lines from 1 to 15, with 1 being the lightest. The standard establishes the desired weight in grains or grams for the first thirty feet of fly line minus any level tip. [5]

(Year founded)