Looking for a Line Recommendation for a 6 wt BVK

I have a 6 wt BVK that's loaded with 6 wt SA Mastery GPX floating line (a Cabela's combo thsat I'vve had for several years now) and it always felt underlined to me. Or maybe the shooting heat is really long and I don't get line enough out to load the rod if I'm only casting 30 or 40 feet.

I'm looking at getting a new floating line for this rod and was looking for suggestions. I use this combo year round for 90%+ of my freshwater fishing chasing lmb, smb, stripers, sand bass and trout.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

You might check out some RIO GRAND WF line . That's what Sage suggest for their VXP rods as well as other fast action rods .

I just purchased the rio grand 5 wt for my 5wt z-axis. I'm really pleased with it so far. It loads the road quite well.

The Grand and the GPX lines are comparable line designs. One is made by Rio and the other by SA.

Both of them are a half size heavier than they are labeled. The 6 wt lines are actually 6 1/2 wt designs. The tapers on both are heavier toward the tip.

If you don't like the GPX, then I doubt if you would like the Grand.

Look at the Rio Outbound short lines.

If you like making quick casts to fairly far distances, I'd recommend the Rio Outbound Short as well. I have it on my 6wt BVK and you can really feel the rod load. It builds line speed very quickly. You can still make light presentations to fish, albeit not as delicate as other lines, but it'll do the trick.

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Brendan, do have the rod loaded with 6 wt or 7 wt? I was reading up on the Rio outbound last night (the normal, not the short) and it looks interesting. I'm not great at casting, which is probably the root cause of me not liking the GPX line, but I've read it's harder to carry lots of line with a "short" line. Have you experienced this?

Paul

Unfortunately, new equipment will not fix a casting problem. I recommend getting a casting lesson before spending more money on equipment. There are a lot of options in the Fort Worth area. The Fort Worth Fly Fishers have several good instructors in their club. Backwoods, Orvis, Cabelas, and Tailwaters all offer classes.

The Outbound is a shooting head style line. It is an integrated line which means the running line is attached to the shooting head. Integrated shooting heads are easier to learn to cast. Shooting heads and regular fly line designs are cast differently. You don't really false cast a shooting head, just make a strong backcast and load the rod then shoot the line on the forward cast.

If you're having trouble loading the rod or if you don't know how to shoot line, I would not recommend buying a shooting head line such as the Outbound. Not yet anyway.

I'd suggest getting a general purpose taper WF line in a 7 wt. These lines cost about $40. Use that line to learn to improve your casting skills, then invest in one of the specialty line designs. You'll save money in the long run by going that way.

Good luck!

I will add that I have some Outbound lines and I like them for some situations such as bass fishing. They're not delicate, but they can be very effective. I like the short version.

I just don't recommend them for beginning casters.

Paul, I have a 6wt out bound short on my 6wt BVK. If I recall correctly the line has a 30' shooting head so it's a good streamer line. I had problems learning to cast the line because I wanted to to pick the line up and cast it without bringing any line in first. The head is where all the weight of the line is so if you try casting with the running line it won't load the rod. It's a bi-colored line so you know where the head ends and the running line starts. I usually fish with streamers and poppers so I have a tendency to strip the line back in to where the head is within a few guides before I cast again.

It's a great line for making long casts with heavier flies but it might take some getting used to.

Outbound shirt is great for big bass flies like stated above you need to leave the shooting head out. What I do is stand further away from the bank. A plus and minus with this line is since it has a short Head you only need one false cast majority of the time I pickup load the rod and throw. This line is not for accuracy it's more of getting big flies in a certain area with no or one false casts.

As others have said, the shooting head style lines cast very differently than traditional lines. A casting lesson, even if it's just an hour, is a good investment.

This is the first I've heard of something like this and I find it pretty interesting.

I just got back into fly fishing and so I may have to try this out on my next fly rod.

Most of the fly line manufacturers offer several levels/grades or whatever you call it of different fly lines. Their top end lines will have the latest and greatest plastic compositions and coating formulas. Most of them also offer a budget series of lines that you'll often find in retailers that have limited fly fishing equipment. The budget lines can save a trip when something bad happens and you're desperate, but otherwise I try to avoid these lines.

In the middle of these two extremes, many of the line companies offer a series of lines that can be good bargain. They seem to be the previous generation of coatings, plastics, etc., but for many situations they work great. I get the premium lines when I know exactly want I want, but if I'm wanting to experiment, I'll get these mid range lines.

TFO offers a fly line under their own name for about $40 that is made by Cortland. I have been using some of these lines for a couple of years and have been very happy with them. Somewhere on this board, I posted a review of them.

A couple of other examples. SA used to call their mid range lines the "Supra" series. I have several of these that are sinking lines. It looks like SA now calls this series the "Frequency" series. If you can find one the SA lines that has Lefty's picture on it, they are good general purpose lines.

RIO used to call their mid range lines "Mainstream", but it looks like they have moved them down a notch and introduced the "Avid" series as the new mid range line.

This is just another option to think about. If I was going to Alaska or Easter Island or some other expensive destination, I would take premium lines, but the mid range lines have been working well for most of the fishing that I do. Some folks may disagree with my opinion.

Cool, I've been looking at some of their Premier series. So not the highest end but one down from that.

I don't mind paying for a more expensive line especially if it's not a special purpose one. I see as something I could possibly sell if I wanted to.