20 Best 4 Wt Fly Line (2022 Updated)

I found the line tangles very easily, really annoying while boat fishing, lost loads of drift time untangling. My boat buddy came to the rescue with an Airflow Di7 and it was much better. He said that he had previously found Rio lines to tangle very easily.

I have always found Rio lines to be very good, could just be the sinking versions or because this is a budget line. I don’t believe it was due to anything I done while loading the reel – like twisting it.

I took a chance on Rio Mainstream and was disappointed in their full sinking fly line. Coating is poor(liquid seems to come off in my hand), there are no instructions on winding direction(other than which end to tie to backing), and it coils extremely badly- much worse than any other sinking line that I have used in fifty years of flyfishing.

On the other hand, it took my nail knots pretty well. It is hard to recommend as an “average” angler’s line. I will stick to other brands.

Bought this line yesterday. 5#. Put on a tapered 2x 9ft tippet and tied on 2x 6ft tippet onto a 14# wooly bug. The welded loop blew out while casting the streamer. The whole leader, tippet and fly crashed into my face on my third cast.

Needless to say I was extremely surprised. Otherwise it seems pretty solid. I clipped the loop off and nail knotted a few feet of 0x and put a perfection loop on the end for attaching knotless tapered leaders and it casts well enough until 50 feet or so and then we got some issues bending the larger streamers or wind resistant flies out to a greater distance.

I am curious to see if other people report durability issues or if I just got a bad one. Seems like it’s gonna have memory issues too.

This fly line delivers. I particularly like the spacing and the respective color changes moving from one section of the line to another. When setting up my cast, I know what to expect. My one disappointment is that there is no microtext marking near the end loop indicating what line this is.

That should now be standard practice with all fly lines. That way we will know what line this is whenever we fish it. Otherwise it is easy to forget.

Very nice casting line. Low memory, lays out nice and has enough texture to handle easily and still shoots incredibly well. Turns over a couple of beadhead nymphs, a #1 split shot and a medium Airlock strike indicator with ease, yet delivers small flies with some delicacy, even my 6 wt outfit.

Threw some medium beadhead and wire weighted streamers very well too. Roll casts extremely easily, much like a Wulff Triangle Taper. I am very impressed and will not be uplining to a Rio Grand or SA MPX since this line seems to hit the sweet spot with my Greys Streamflex 9′ 6wt.

without using a ‘Half wt heavy’ flyline.

I fish relatively narrow, small creeks. Need more accuracy at a shorter distance. This line works much better than the rio gold premium I had been using. I just put this on a backup spool.

I spoke with Gabe at Stillwater about a TFO Mangrove Coast 9wt, as I was looking for an easier casting 9 wt as compared to a couple of stiff-as-a-board 9wts that I currently use. I mentioned that I wanted a rod that I could feel load on the backcast, and be an easier casting rod overall.

We discussed the SA Amplitude Smooth Grand Slam vs a competitor’s standard saltwater WF9F line that I currently use on an Echo Boost Blue, and he suggested that I try the SA line. A few days after I received the rod I received the line.

After a short lawn casting session with the standard line, I changed reels to the SA Grand Slam. Immediately you could feel a difference in line speed. I was casting 40-60 ft without any effort, and could single haul in excess of 78′ (the limit of my lawn).

Accuracy was very good at all distances, plus it was much less effort to cast (translated as more fun). Then I put the SA line on my Echo Boost Blue. To keep the line speed up on the standard line on the BB I had to give a “punch” at the end of my false cast.

Once I loaded the SA, no such punch was needed. While the standard line was accurate as far as hitting my targets, the SA was just as accurate, and easier to cast longer. The most noticeable improvement was shooting line with a single haul, which again exceeded the length of my lawn.

While the change to the SA wasn’t as dramatic on the Boost Blue as the Mangrove Coast, it was still a significant improvement. I realize that lawn casting leaves something to be desired in comparison to on the water.

I plan to be redfishing over the next few weeks, and will update the review. In the meantime, I’ll be ordering SA Amplitude Smooth Grand Slam for the Echo Boost Blue as well.

Son and I both have Amplitude Infinity. Great line. Handles beautifully and we never feel like the line is letting us down at all. Handles a bit of power for distance and people often comment on what a nice line it is to use.

Top notch and definitely fishes better than I do! Definitely trust anything SA & Tom’s. Another great tip from Chris.

Fin and Fire was great to work with and shipped quickly, would definitely use this shop again! The scientific angler fly line is great quality and easy to install since it is reverse-wrapped on the spool and marked which side attaches to the backing.

My only dislike is the blue heron color is grey, and hard for me to see on the water (good for fish, bad for me). I was hoping the electric blue color would be on the water rather than on the reel. My mistake for not looking close enough, but overall happy with the purchase!.

While this is not the most expensive fly line RIO makes, it is still a very good quality line! The line is well made, very slick, and floats very well. As someone that is just learning to fly fish, I wanted good quality for a reasonable price, and this RIO Mainstream Trout WF line delivers in spades!.

I used Orvis fly lines exclusively for 30+ years. Five years ago I read a technical article about RIO fly lines in some fly fishing magazine and decided to give one a try. I never thought there was really any major differences between the top fly line makers, however I now feel I was wrong with that assumption.

The first RIO line I tried just seemed so much better than my old preferred brand. The RIO seemed to cast better for me, shoot farther and even floated higher. I now use RIO 9 weight sinking line on my Salt Water Striper rod and their 3, 4, and 5 weights on my trout rods and I have no complaints regarding either performance or longevity.

The WF-8-H fly line has all the quality attributes expected with Scientific Anglers products. The material is lightweight with minimal friction as it effortlessly runs through the rod rings. Casting and presentation is a pleasure, resulting in placement with negative line-memory.

I used it in wind and it performed well, better than lines of other brands. The hover feature is perfect it does exactly what it says on the box, perfect for the catch 1 metre below a choppy surface on a blustery day.

I caught the first day I used this line, very impressed, the take and retrieve was positive without line-stretch. I highly recommend Scientific Anglers product, it is absolute value and quality for the price you pay, and wont let you down.

As youve observed, Im a fan of Scientific Anglers products, but once you buy it you instantly experience the difference and performance.

This is the smoothest casting line that I have ever bought. I was able to make some of the longest longest,most accurate casts of my life. I was fishing for trout on a river in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The water was low,cold,and clear. At first I worried that the line would be too heavy, and that it would spook the trout that were clearly visible in the cold, clear water. I needn’t have worried, Yes, the trout swam away from the line to avoid it, but they then turned to attack the wet fly that was trailing behind ! All in all, I caught, and released ,7 nice rainbow trout in the space of less than an hour.

It was an awesome day, and I can’t be more pleased with this line. Another fine product from the people at Scientific Anglers !.

Scientific anglers lines are very durable and last. I like the way the line sinks very controllable. I have three of these lines use them for the lakes and river. The first line is a intermediate/ Sink type two.

I’ve fished this line four years no problem I was wearing out a other brand line in two years.

Ok, so I recently purchased this line to be used for bass/pike fishing in deeper waters. I had good experience with this line for a while. It casted superbly over long distances, and landed on the water well.

It always sunk fast and would usually get to where I needed it to be between 10 and 20 seconds (depending on the water depth of course). My main issue with this line is durability. Eventually, the welded loop formed a crack over the back of it, and I was required to cut it off and tie a nail knot consisting of about a foot of 40 lb (0.

024”) of monofilament to be able to install my loop to. This was not where the problem lied, but instead later down the line (pun not intended). The line worked well for about a week, until I snagged the fly I was using in some rocks.

Seeing as I was using 0. 013” (or 20 lb tippet attached to the leader) it took quite a bit of force to be able to break my fly off of my leader. What I did not expect was the line, not the fly itself to break free.

My disappointment in this is how the line, not the fly broke off. Needless to say, this was 20 lb tippet, meaning the line was weaker than the tippet used. As I returned back, I discovered that the line was broken off just about where the front taper ended (about 4 feet of line lost, as the front taper was 5 feet in total).

This rendered the line all but useless. I, however continued to use the line, as I wouldn’t have assumed that this would affect the performance of the line. While this was partially true, the line would have a problem of landing very violently on the water’s surface.

That same day of the line being used after the front taper had been lost, my rod broke while casting about 40 feet. I’m not sure however if that had anything to do with the front taper being lost or just the tip middle being weaker than the rest of the rod, but regardless, a major disappointment to myself.

I’ve bought a Clearwater WF3F today. It wasn’t my first choice because of the long belly but was the one at the store and orvis seems to have a reputation. As I was home I measured to find the end of the belly and mark it.

It was interesting to find it just 8m or about 26′ away from the tip of the line instead of 36. That’s really good news for me as my rod is only 6′ long. But I ask myself if it’s normal to have such big difference to the chart.

And what’s about the weight? Is it now only a wf2? To make it clear, I’m just new to flyfishing and if it casts bad it more obvious that it’s me. Still curious.

This is a great product. It balances great with the action of my fly rods. And so far all of these lines I have purchased have been pretty durable. I like the fact that they are weighted about a half line size heavy.

I would certainly buy this line again!.

This is an extremely thin, multicolored dual end line designed for euro style nymph fishing. I haven’t had a chance to use in yet because it’s quite cold here in Iowa (4 this morning) but when I get started early this summer I think it should work well if combined with a quality nymph leader.

fast turn around as described and helpful- received reel quickly for fishing trip – appreciate it balances perfect with diamondback ideal 10′ 1wt hardy reel works well with mono /micro 8lbs level system- occasionally nests up internally around the drag(not sure how it gets in there) when stretching line/stringing the rod and have to pop the spool off and carefully unwind around the drag-but had zero issues while fishing- used for four days – reel is very nice fighting fish with drag on one click 18″ LL salmon.

Quality product for intended use. Item arrived sooner than expected. Extremely effective when used in conjunction with 11 2w rod.

This line is really nice, it looks great and feels good. I havent got to fish it yet but cant imagine it not performing well with the way it looks and feels. Nice quality loop on both ends and the three color system will help out really well.

I purchased this WF3F for a small stream setup on a TFO 2weight and a lamson liquid 1. 5 so it should perform very well and cast nicely.

First, I’m a returning fly fisherman after 20 yrs away from the challenge. Second, the purchase of this fly line brand was made based on the recommendation of a friend who has fly fished more than 40 yrs.

Third, I have not used other sinking lines that have different sinking rates so my knowledge is limited. What I have found is this line has a fast sinking rate which thus should be used where that sinking rate is needed.

Such as when nymphs are used in deep rivers. I’m not sure Scientific Anglers has different line lengths but another 50 feet would have been nice.

I just can’t write a review until I have tried it ; For you expect that I have taken this line too water ; the Name is sound by other lines that I Have used from this company ; For if you want me to Audition these upon the lakes or streems of Ireland ; Please send me some Lines ; For there is a New Market there ( Shorter rods and lighter lines ) and as you will see by my record ; I am currently trying out Hardy Products with Larry and the olympic Irish Team ; All the Best ; Wilfy.

Now that the Mastery Bass Bug Taper is no longer available this is my next best choice. It is amazing how good this line is for the price. I fish for largemouth bass with a 7wt rod. As the line is rated 7/8 it is perfect for me.

If you are throwing big bugs with a 7 wt (or maybe an 8wt) rod I highly recommend this line.

This lines floats and performs very well and I really like the natural color. I added Cortland Lines Leader Loop to the end on my Fairplay fly line so I could then easily attach my tapered leader.

This is not a high dollar line. It does not perform like a $90 line. But it does not perform like a $15 line either. I was looking for a line for my backpacking fly rod. I use it only while out on the trail so I did not want to plop down big bucks for a line only used occasionally.

As it turns out, this Fairplay line is the equal to lines 3-4 times the cost. It casts smoothly and resists picking up dirt much like you would expect from a far more expensive line. The jury is still out on how durable the line will be, but with me using it only a few times per year, I expect it will last several seasons for me.

It is hard to beat the value of this line.

This is a value product. It’s not the best but it costs less. I do like the taper. It rolls out nicely and throws a long line well. Too soon to tell how it will last.

Love this freaking store!! Always the best at helping me find the right line for any water I fish. Talked to Nicko and he recommended this line for some smaller creeks and more delicate approaches with small flies.

He didn’t miss a beat, it’s awesome!.

I have two of these rods, a 7 1/2 foot 3 weight and a 9 foot five weight. The 3 weight is my favorite rod for fishing small, brushy creeks. It is true to line weight and casts very accurately at close distances, even with little or no fly line out the rod tip, yet has enough power to buck the wind a bit and to cast across bigger pools or runs with ease.

It balances great with a light click pawl reel. I really love this rod and find it a blast to fish with and aesthetically pleasing too. I’m not so thrilled with the nine foot five weight. This rod is easy to cast, mainly because it is really a lighter, softer four weight rod (I did a “deflection” test on it) and will cast an average four weight line just fine.

The flip side of this is that an average sized trout can put a decent bend in the rod and feel a little big sometimes! Although it has worked well for me in fishing dry flies and lighter nymphs rigs, it lacks the backbone to effectively fish heavier indicator rigs and I find it harder to cast in the wind when compared to my other rods.

For me, this rod is just rather tip heavy unless you hang a reel with an unloaded weight of about six ounces off the back end. Also, the cork on this rod is a poorer grade than the cork on my three weight and has developed some voids with minimal use.

I probably won’t fish the five weight much any more, but I heartily recommend the shorter rods, especially in three and four weight.

An excellent affordable fly rod. Fishing distances with perfect control: up to 45 feet (with 12 leader max , tippet included); beyond, accuracy fluctuates. Works a treat with dry flies and wet flies.

Not a streamer rod. Medium action. True to its indicated line weight. Do not use a half size heavier line. A light #5 line with a progressive taper works best. A #4 line works just fine too. I would say the rod is a #4.

5. Do not force the rod, adapt to its tempo. You wont get ultra fast line speed nor extremely tight loops, so avoid windy situations or shorten the leader. Light tippet friendly. Cosmetics are excellent.

Shapes of guides and alignement are impeccable for a rod assembled in China. Fairly light weight and good balance. One con: the tube with integrated sheath. I wish they had used a classic cloth sleeve which, to my mind, protects the rod way better than those compartimented tubes where the pieces rattle somewhat loosely.

But it would increase the price a little. So, an excellent rod for dry fly, wet fly, and greased leader light nymph fishing.

If you want a modern rod that behaves like top shelf pre-World War II bamboo, then this is the rod for you. I have a number of pre-World War II Grangers and Philipsons and a Heddon Black Beauty. They really give you a fuller insight to the origins of the sport which is all about the casting.

This is the second one I have bought, simply because I wanted a back up in case they go out of production.

Boyyyyyy shoot, this fly line is the bees knees right here. The name “bank shot” ain’t no joke. This bad boy keeps your flies stuck to the bank like the piece of duct tape holding my rear bumper together on my truck.

She sinks faster than my heart did when I found out my ex was cheating on me, and gets your big ol streamer fly so deep it’ll make you say “Aye Papi!”. Casting? A greenhorn flyfisher could launch this bad boy to Timbuctoo and back on one false cast.

Daggum man, if you like fishing big ol hunks o’ meat, you would be wrong to buy and other fly line. I would be okay with it being renamed the “tomahawk missile” or “meat delivery system”, as said however, bank shot is a worth calling card.

Dang fine price too. 10/10 would fish everyday which I do cause I don’t really nymph. Also shoutout Ben Sittig, the HUGEST fly fisherman, for recommending this line, dude is a guy and sure does know a good fly line i tell you what.

I spool up all my 6-7-8 weight reels with this line in the spring. The front taper really turns over poppers, divers, and any other large fly. If you’re fishing stillwater or anywhere with slow moving water where weeds and algae can coat the line you may want to wipe it off with a damp paper towel from time to time just so it shoots a little better.

I fish this line more than 100 days a year and I really believe it makes a big difference. I replace it every other year. I don’t think you really need to but I feel after 200 +days it can get a little roughed up from snags, etc.

and doesn’t seem as slick anymore. It’s well worth it though.

I bought this line to fish for fall bass and pike up here in Minnesota. This line has a great sink rate and gives my flies a great presentation in deeper waters. As a first time sinking-line buyer, the way the line loads my rod was easy to learn and adjust to given the heavier front-loaded taper of the line.

It has help up well and I have no complaints so far. This is a great line for for starters looking to branch out from a floating line or anyone looking to expand their arsenal of fly lines for different types of fishing!.

I love this fly line, which might be why it’s saddled up on literally every fly rod I own. I’ve used several competitive brands and, simply put, this line out performs them from an accuracy and drag perspective.

It floats well in various conditions and has an appropriate belly for the kind of casting I like to do. Having said all of that, I’ve had to replace this line more than once within a season on more than one of my fly rods because of cracking and separation at the welded loop.

It’s very likely a result of something I am doing during the cast, but I’ve (we’ve?) got to get to the bottom of what’s causing it. I still think this the best fly line I’ve used; just need to figure out how to avoid spending $130 on a fly line more than once inside of a season.

Ouch.

Me and my buddy have been Orvis fans for decades, and still are. We have tested the #6 PRO Trout – Textured on lakes and rivers with the Helios 3D rod (a perfect rod !), and sadly we cannot agree with very positive comments this line has received.

Pro’s Flies in the air perfectly, very nice end loops Floats high on the water, easy to retrieve. Makes a nice noise through the runners from the textured (personal preference) Low resistance on the rod runners while retrieving Cons It just does not cast ! There is something wrong with the weight and the balance of the sections.

We needed considerable effort, and even then the distance was mediocre. We tried it on a different selection of #5 and #6 rods, and the result was not much different. After half a day of strenuous casting, sore shoulders had us give up.

Take for example the Hydros Bank shot, maybe not as elegant in its flight movement and landing on the water, but with just one back cast, we could cast further than four to five back and forth with the textured line.

Conclusion This line is now retired, and definitely not worth the nearly double of say the Bank shot. It might come out for showcase swimming pool casting, but not for catching trout.

I got this for my 6/7 wt 9ft rod for streamer fishing. Is a great line and dose exactly what I needed it to do. it gets the fly down In the zone exactly were I need them to be. Since this was my first full sink line.

It took me a little bit getting use to casting it being so heavy. But just opening my loop up did the trick. Glad I added this to my arsenal. Having a dedicated streamer rod is awesome. no more switching setups and adding poly leaders.

Now I just set the pole down and grab the other.

Bought this line with a Lamson reel. MRFC offered to put the line on the reel, which they did. Sent me the loaded reel along with the empty line box. So far so good. Looked at the box and saw the price tag was for ten dollars less than they charged me for the line.

What’s up with that? They are already charging me ten bucks for the backing, why the upcharge for the fly line? May have to revert to buying locally — at least I will be able to see the actual price before I buy it.

I read other reviewers saying the memory was bad and tangled in the guides when they cast. I thought no way its that bad. I can deal with that. And I did. I had no problem casting, however, all my troubles happened when the line hit the water.

The memory in the line made the line recoil (not like a spring from “twisting” in the line. more like a snake going from straight into a series of S’s) It was extreamily noticible on flat water. It would cast out straight then the line would start recoiling back into S’s dragging the fly behind it.

This was from brand new out of the box. I can’t imagine what it would be like after being stored on the reel for some time. I then tried running the entire line through my fingers with a little tension.

It helped. It was much better!. for about 15mins. Then it was back to being a spring. There are so many problems this creates with trying to present a fly properly. And good luck hooking any fish with 20ft of slack line between you and the fly.

So for the people that couldn’t even cast this line, good, you would have been wasting your time anyways.

These are worth it. My first one was dropped (with my entire streamer outfit) over the bow of my drift boat in a deep rapid never to be seen again by my loving girlfriend. Immediately after I ordered 2 more; one to replace the newly retired fly line (thanks McKenzie) and one for another spare streamer outfit for a person in the back of the boat.

The taper of these lines is sweet for turning over big streamers on long casts. Would recommend!.

Line seems to work fine, though the misprinted colors on the back of the box caused significant amount of difficulty for a newbie loading a fly rod for the first time. Took a wild guess on whether the box insisting the olive color was the running line was correct or whether I should trust how the line was spooled.

Cut the welded loop right off after tying a beautiful nail knot to attach to the backing. on the wrong end of the line. A couple of frustrating attempts at casting led me here and the other reviewer noting the mistake on the back of the box.

Ultimately I should’ve known better, but the diagram on the back of the box is so clear as to which color is what part of the line. Hopefully YouTube has some good tips for repairing a welded loop.

First of all, I like these lines very much. I bought three (3-, 4-, and 5-wt) and they cast beautifully. They’d probably cast even more beautifully if I were a better caster. They’re very slick and float well.

I use them on my Orvis Superfine Glass 4-wt, adjusting up or down a line weight based on conditions, and they’re perfect. Now, as to the one thing — two of the three lines I received were wrapped so sloppily on the spool on which they were packaged that I actually had to untangle the entire length of each, wind them back onto their respective spools, and then load them onto the reel spools.

Each one took about half an hour. The one that was properly wound when I opened it took about three minutes. I don’t know how common this is, and it probably wouldn’t keep me from buying these lines again, but I thought it worth mentioning.

I opted for the Hydros line for my new Orvis 3-wt superfine. I had an old featherweight Hardy reel and wanted a great quality line to go with it. The reel is extremely small so It only took only about 25-30 yards of backing.

The Hydros line is the perfect match. Floats like a dream and shoot incredibly well for delicate presentations on the overgrown east coast stream too which I most often have access.

Strange to start with but a very good line tried on #6 and #7 rods and it cast very good on both. the thin running line take a little bit to get used too but overall a fantastic line.

Not the best fly line I have used. I was expecting a good straight line at the price point but was disappointed that the line was anything but straight.

A new chapter in fly lines, lands on still water with much less disturbance than a conventional floater and therefore fish don’t back away too far from your flies. You do notice the difference.