I’ve never fished a sinking line that floated, but I’ve sure fished a bunch of floating lines that eventually sank.

When I got into this game, there were few choices of floating lines, as far as brands go, and the technology was in its infancy. Nowadays, floating lines float high on the water for long periods without much effort on the angler’s part. Things have come a long way since the arduous drying and “greasing” in the “silk line” days.

Most shallow-water fly fishers use floating lines exclusively or at least much of the time. And if you sight fish primarily you know that only a full floating line allows you to instantly pick up your line, leader and fly, and recast.

The degree of “floatability,” or buoyancy, of a floating fly line is determined in large part by its external makeup. The battle is basically decreasing the meniscus force that typically gives objects (in this case a floating fly line) neutral buoyancy. In other words, half of your line floats above the surface, and half remains below the surface. This force increases adhesion, so there is also a tendency for your line to “grab” the surface of the water, resisting your attempt to lift line off the water before making a back cast.

For a quick timeline, Scientific Anglers was the first company to produce a plastic-coated floating line (Air Cel), and eventually produced a coating with “micro balloons,” or tiny air bubbles, for additional buoyancy in its Air Cel Supreme floating line. Cortland Line Company made this breakthrough with its 333 fly line in 1953. Since that time, both cores and coatings have come a long way, and manufacturers use various processes to produce lines that float high on the water. Basically floatation is a function of repelling water, which is largely accomplished by chemical means, though structural changes in the surface of a line are now coming into play.

New Developments

Scientific Anglers just released its Sharkskin fly line, now available in line weights for all fresh and saltwater applications. This line has a “micro-pattern” on its surface, that Jeff Wieringa of SA’s new product development calls microscopic prisms, or teeth, which give it a rough texture. Essentially they hold an air pocket that forces water away from the line’s surface. It is a radical physical change that in combination with the company’s AST coating, has resulted in their highest floating line to date.

Wieringa explains that to the naked eye, a floating line may appear to float on the water, but in reality its buoyancy is just a bit better than neutral, with a “contact angle” of 90 degrees to the water’s surface. “If you were to dress a dry floating line with silicone, you might at most increase that angle to about 110 degrees,” says Wieringa.

The Sharkskin lines have contact angles up to 200 percent over a standard fly line. Reportedly, this micro-texture greatly increases the ‘upward’ meniscus force through a combination of the water’s interaction with the new surface and the trapping of air into the valleys of the texture. This reportedly improves floatation more than any addition of glass bubbles or surface chemicals. Additionally, this “pebbly” texture means less surface area to contact rod guides, which means less friction and better shooting capability.

RIO Products International employs its Agent X and Super Floatation Technologies for a high-floating line. And then there’s Fusion Technology, but to keep it simple, in layman’s terms the company’s “labcoats” discovered an element six times more buoyant than previously used. In short, their lines are a combination of a super-buoyant undercoating and outer-coating.

Royal Wulff credits the popularity of its Bermuda Triangle Taper floating lines to the company’s proprietary j3 coating. “This process results in a floating line with much more water-repelling capability,” says company spokesman Doug Cummings. “It is a less porous coating, so the line drinks in less water and dirt. Thus it floats higher, and is easier to pickup to make a quick cast, which is essential for most saltwater guys.”

Don’t Sink Your Chances

Sometimes fly fishers sink their floating lines, and surface flies, unintentionally. When fishing a floating line with a popper, hair bug or a buoyant streamer, you’ll keep the tip of your line at the surface better with a monofilament leader. You may prefer fluorocarbon for various reasons, but this material sinks more quickly than mono, and will pull the relatively thin front taper of your flyline tip under. This will impede the action, or drown, your surface fly.

A heavy, sinking fly such as a Clouser Minnow will also pull the front taper of a floating line under the surface, hampering your ability to pick the line off the water to re-cast. At some point you just have to determine whether it would make more sense to fish such a fly with a full-sinking line.

The Cleaner the Better

If you’ve ever wondered why a floating line tends to sink the longer you fish, it is because it is dirty or dressed improperly. Once bits of algae, silt and even salt accumulate on a line, it breaks the tension between line and water, and down it goes. And the dirtier it gets, the more dirt it attracts. It not only sinks more readily, but is harder to shoot through the guides.

Start out with a clean line, and during the course of the day, clean it with a small rag and fresh water at least, or with a commercial line cleaner. When it comes to silicone-based or similar line dressings, more is not better. A thick layer of the stuff will pick up more dirt than a thin layer will. Out on the water, it’s a good idea to take the time to clean the line: Apply a dressing, allow it to set for a few minutes, and then buff it off before fishing again.

In time, your PVC line will wear out and crack. And every little fissure lets in water and dirt. At some point, it will be impossible to clean thoroughly, and you may no longer have a floating line, but rather an intermediate line. Of course, you can inadvertently speed this process by allowing the line to contact DEET, gasoline, some sunscreens and other caustic chemicals. Excessive heat also destroys the coating of a floating fly line. Never store lines (on or off reels) in the trunk of your car, or even in your vehicle’s cab on extremely hot days.

SWA