January 16, 2020
By Ross Purnell
“This line review first appeared in the 2020 Gear Guide, now on sale at bookstores and fly shop nationwide, and also at osgnewsstand.com ”
Our testers spent many days fishing the rods and reels, and wearing the boots and waders in this magazine, but one of the most revealing parts of the 2020 Gear Guide process was when our editorial staff took all the rods and all the reels onto the lawn behind the office to cast hookless flies at imaginary grass fish. With each rod, we’d cycle through multiple reels and lines, and it quickly became apparent that while we were supposedly testing rods, the rods themselves didn’t matter nearly as much as the lines. The “favorite” rod of the moment depended heavily on the fly line. Match the best rod with the wrong fly line, and well . . . that’s something even a great rod can’t overcome.
On page 12 of this issue we already named the Scientific Anglers Infinity as the best new fly line. The only thing worth clarifying is that the shooting texture of the Infinity Salt running line is likely even more important in salt water than it is in fresh water because you often want to cast farther, and the textured line really zings. More important, the textured running line gives you a better grip, critical in salt water because you should always be wearing sun gloves, and hanging onto the line for a double haul or a powerful hook-set can mean the difference between catching one permit or catching zero permit. Thats a pretty big swing from zero to hero, and sometimes just keeping your grip on the line makes all the difference. $130 | scientificanglers.com
