Just picked up my first saltwater rod. It's an 8wt Sage FLi on which I plan to put a 3.5" Lamson Konic. My only question is what kind of line should I get? I was looking into the Rio Redfish line but I honestly don't know anything about saltwater line. I plan to mostly be fishing down in laguna madre and i'm moving to north eastern australia soon, so I would want a line that would be suitable for permit, tarpon, reds, and the other local species. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

That should be a great line for that rod and the stuff you want to throw at.

Just a bit of advice. If it says it is made to handle warmer water temperatures (e.g. something like the Cortland Tropic Plus), it will likely be really stiff in Fall and Spring water temperatures and hard to cast.

Good advice. I think I'm going to go ahead and go with the Rio Clouser line. I've heard from several people that it's pretty versatile.

I've got the Rio Tropical Clouser on my Mini Mag and have enjoyed it very much. It casts like a rocket and works well in 100 degree heat. I don't know about its cold weather properties.

Also, as a loop to loop fanatic, I'm a big fan of the welded loops on the Rio lines.

Finally, if you haven't checked out the fly line section of Madison River Fishing Company's Clearance, you need to do so before you buy your line. They don't have any Saltwater Clouser, but I just bought the Outbound Tropical and was really impressed with it, especially for $20. Shipping is around eight bucks.

They have Scientific Angler Saltwater Mastery series on clearance for $37.99. I've used the Bonefish and Tarpon series and like both.

I got the line at $40 dollars off when I bought the reel from them. Thanks for the tip though, definitely gonna check out their website.

No such thing as a "best fly line." You can have favorites for a variety of different scenarios, but no "best" exists.

While I agree with you, there should a line that is commonly agreed upon to be the most versatile, highest quality saltwater fly line. I was just trolling for everyone's opinion so as to come to a conclusion.

Not really.

Folks are casting different rods, and in different weather and water conditions, using different flies, different casting styles, with different physical abilities of the casters, levels of experience, and all sorts of other variables that go into the equation...there's just no way to pick "one best overall."

"It is the perfect full intermediate line for fishing in warmer climates."

"The best one line does it all for the tropical saltwater fly fisher."

"Rio�s new Clouser line is as the manufacturer rightly states one of the most versatile fly delivery tools ever made for both fresh and salt water. I had read with enthusiasm the US reviews on the line and was keen to find out for myself what the fuss was all about. Two solid weeks fishing for tidal bass in the Hawkesbury River, followed by several hard hitting sessions on popper-eating kingfish in Sydney Harbour was enough to leave me suitably impressed with the overall ability of the WF8F line I was using."

"The Clouser line is a definite must and will be greatly appreciated by newcomers to the sport. Arguably the finest all round floating line on the market today."

"If you're talking more tropical water at all times of the year, where temps are likely to usually be 60*F or better, then I'd choose the Tropical Clouser. That line does more things well for me than anything else. Throwing bulky flies at snook, trying to punch a tarpon fly into a 20knot "breeze", turning over heavily weighted Merkin flies when pursuing permit, the Tropical Clouser does it better than anything else I've tried."

Agree to disagree : )

Sure. I'm always easy to agree to disagree with.

But I have a question: you got most of those quotes off of the box that fly line came in, didn't you?

Honestly no. The only one that did is apparently the mainstay of the Rio marketing campaign for this line. "The best one line does it all etc." I don't even have the box it came in.

But all the other ones were from guide blogs. I completely understand and appreciate your argument, but it sounds like the all around best warmer salt water line is this. Many agree. For someone with a limited budget like me, I'll but my money on this line. If I had more money than I could spend obviously I'd have an arsenal with many different lines, rods, and reels. But I don't, as many other people don't, so I'm going to choose this line as it's the best possible choice for me.

Look, I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I'm trying to sort of "broader your horizons" so to speak. Let me explain...

Guides, etc. (and I'm a pro writer, instructor, and...yes...hosted trip guide) usually get deep discounts (often below what fly shops pay) and even sometimes free samples of equipment to field test. And many of them feel that if they write something positive about it they'll likely get MORE form that same source. So you have to consider the source when you read this sort of stuff. When you read reviews comparing similar products from several different manufacturers, you're a bit safer. (cont'd)

...But also check the advertising in any commercial publications. If you see tons of ads from one company (for example: Sage, Rio, Redington is ONE company now...just an example...not picking on them), and not not nearly as much from any other rod and fly line companies, do you really think that publisher is going to publish a big ole article that says Sage's new rods suck or Rio's fly lines don't stack up to Cortland's? Business is business. People have to feed their families. And in today's fly fishing media market, paying advertisers are RARE! Losing a major one will KILL a magazine.

This is straight-up dope...unvarnished "dark underbelly" of the real world. And I get hammered by some elements of the fly fishing media for saying it "out loud" on a fairly regular basis. But my work is CONSUMER-DRIVEN. I write with one thing in mind: what does the fly fisherman...especially the newcomer and intermediate/occasional angler...need to know? 100% of my advertising revenue comes from blind source brokers that I have no contact with and from automated ad generators that scan my content and give me a cut of revenues they generate. So whether I write pos/neg about Orvis, Orvis pays them and I get a cut. The Internet is a wonderful thing! I disclose 100% of my gear sponsors, prostaff relationships, etc. over and over again. And I've even caught heck here on this site for saying I didn't like a TFO reel when TFO is one of my sponsors!

But here's the thing about rods, lines, etc.: I'm not saying you need a whole slew of them. I'm saying what is best for YOU may not be best for anyone else. Or it may only be best for a minority of other anglers who are very similar to you. And just because it is unpopular doesn't mean it isn't the BEST ONE for YOU. That's all.

I'm also not saying that you shouldn't read expert opinion, do your homework, seek the advice of guides, instructors, pros, etc. But I will say balance that w/some laymen who really know their stuff. And there is NO substitute for your OWN experience with a product.

Finally, I'm not saying the Rio Clouser line isn't a fantastic line for a LOT of people, either. It is. And Rio is one of the very top brands of fly lines going. They have excellent quality control. I buy fly lines from 4 companies only: SA, Rio, Northern Sport, and Snowbie. I won't waste my money on anything else. That's MY opinion. But when you hear/read, "Best all-around," what that person is saying is most likely "most versatile." And that's just their opinion based on their personal experience. And I take statements like that sort of like I view the Leatherman Multi-tool: everybody should have one or three! It isn't the best tool for any single job, but it is a good tool for a whole bunch of different jobs in a compact and highly portable package. Versatility ALWAYS costs you performance at the extremes...if you view the range of performance as a spectrum. You can set your versatility to the left end and get as much of the spectrum as possible, but you miss the right side. You can go right and miss left. Or you can take as much of the middle as possible and miss both ends. But you CANNOT get it all. And EVERY manufacturer, engineer, etc. will tell you that.

Anyway, that's all I was trying to say. But I was trying to say it in a FAR shorter format.