Scientific Anglers Launches Totally Reimagined Tropical Saltwater Fly Lines

In saltwater fly fishing, just about everything has changed—lightweight performance hulls on skiffs, quiet 4-stroke engines; light, powerful rods—but perhaps the biggest improvements in saltwater fishing over the last 50 years have been in the fly lines we use. Forget about flies, leaders, and reels. The most important tool in your kit when it comes to delivering your pattern to the fish is unquestionably your line, and this becomes even more critical when you are dealing with 90-degree weather and spooky and hard-fished species that demand perfection even in the most adverse conditions.

These are the situations you encounter when you travel to the tropics to chase pinnacle flats species like tarpon, bonefish, and permit: The guide has spent a lifetime honing his skills and learning the behaviors of the fish, he’s spent $85,000 on a used three-year-old Chittum skiff, you’ve given up a week of time with your family to chase your passion, everyone seems wholly invested in perfecting every detail in order to catch this dream fish, but do you have the best line for the job? Will it wither in the heat, get tacky, and tangle?  

Will it stay hard and slick and shoot the distance you need? Will the fish see it and spook? You have a lot riding on that least expensive and most important piece of equipment.

Scientific Anglers—the company that first introduced the world’s first floating, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) lines in 1952, and decades later began refining the lines for saltwater conditions—has in 2024 totally reimagined their offerings of tropical saltwater lines. I refrained from using the word “redesigned” because these new Magnitude lines aren’t a mere alteration of a previous product. This is a completely new creation in the same way that the first breathable waders and the first graphite rods were fundamentally different from their predecessors.

These are the first lines from Scientific Anglers that are not polyvinyl chloride. Magnitude lines are made from new, naturally buoyant polymers. That’s one reason why they are clear or available with clear tips—because these new polymers don’t require an infusion of tiny glass spheres or bubbles for buoyancy. The clear polymers float all on their own. Clarity is a very obvious stealth advantage in shallow, clear water where the fish are on high alert for anything that looks unusual. These clear lines make absurdly long leaders unnecessary, as the tip of the line is an extension of your leader.

Unlike previous PVC fly line coatings, these new polymers can be layered over the fly line core like multiple coats of paint. The inner polymer provides most of the mass and buoyancy while the thinner outer layer is harder, slicker, and more durable. Scientific Anglers calls this technology Duracoat, and it’s an important upgrade in how these lines perform in hot weather.

Guide Dustin Huff—who once won two Gold Cup Tarpon Tournaments and three Don Hawley Invitational Tarpon Tournaments in Florida in a span of six years—tested the new Magnitude lines for hundreds of hours in the blistering heat of summer in the Florida Keys. He relies heavily on clear lines for his business and says Magnitudes are the most tangle-free lines that he has ever seen. “Scientific Anglers has eliminated standing coils in this line, and the slickness of the finish lets it fly tangle-free from the bucket. It is a huge relief when I don’t see tangles hitting the first stripping guide. It’s the difference between a chance and no chance.”

The only thing not remarkably new in these lines are the tapers, which are based on the designs of the most popular Scientific Anglers tapers of the last decade. The Magnitude Bonefish Plus Clear Float is a half size heavy, available smooth ($149.95) or textured ($179.95, scientificanglers.com) and like all other lines in the series has the new EST+ slickness additive. The Grand Slam Clear Float (also smooth or textured) is overweighted by .75 sizes and has a short, powerful head to turn over longer leaders and heavier flies like crab patterns. All four versions are completely clear lines.

The Magnitude Infinity Salt Clear Float and Tarpon Clear Float are both smooth but they come in both full clear versions or with clear tips. The Infinity Salt Clear Tip is aqua with a clear sighter between the 50 and 60-foot marks to help measure distance. The Magnitude Tarpon Clear Tip is sand color with a clear sighter that starts at the 40-foot mark, again, just behind the head so you can visually judge the perfect position to shoot line.

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