Clear Choices: Understanding the Options and Fly Line “Families”

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Scientific Anglers Magnitude Infinity Clear Float & Trout Expert Clear Float Fly Lines

In early May I did a weeklong trip to the Florida Keys to fish for tarpon. I fished for five days, each day with a different guide. Every single guide recommended I use their setup already rigged in the rod holder, and each one said the critical element was not the rod and reel or even the fly, but the Scientific Anglers Magnitude Tarpon Clear Float ($179.95) line. They already liked the taper from previous Scientific Anglers Tarpon lines, they liked the stiffness, the way it shoots through the guides, and the lack of tangles on the casting deck. But primarily what they liked was the stealthy clarity. They witnessed daily that big tarpon would swim right under it and not get spooked. Even if the fly line landed in their field of vision—sometimes necessary to swim the fly in a crossing path in front of them—the fish would rarely react. With their regular clients who don’t always have their line in exactly the right place, they feel it’s now a necessity. In tournaments with the very best anglers it doesn’t give them an edge—most of the winners are using it—but it’s a tool they cannot give up if they hope to compete with the other top guns.

Now, Scientific Anglers is bringing that same kind of clear technology to trout fishermen with the Magnitude Infinity Clear Float and Magnitude Trout Expert Clear Float. Textured versions are in white boxes and smooth versions are in teal boxes.

Infinity Clear Float lines are the same half-size-heavy taper as regular Infinity lines and have a 47- to 52-foot head (depending on line weight) for long casts and line control at a distance. When there’s no hatch, this is a versatile line for nymphing and throwing streamers.

The Trout Expert Clear Float line is true to weight, which means it follows the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) guidelines for line weights. For a 5-weight, the first 30 feet should weigh about 140 grains. If you are strictly match-the-hatch dry-fly fishing with small or medium flies, you don’t need the extra weight of an Infinity taper. True to weight is also better on some rods with more traditional actions. They don’t need extra weight to bend and load them properly.

Infinity Clear Float lines are available with a 10-foot clear tip or a clear head. The rear of the line is a buckskin color. A 10-foot clear tip is basically a 10-foot extension of your leader. With an entire clear head, the whole working length of the fly line—most of what you have on the water—is clear. Both the smooth and textured Trout Expert lines are available with only a 10-foot clear tip, and the rear is a stealth sage green color.

We used both the Infinity Clear Float and the Trout Expert Clear Float on cool April days when the mornings started crisp and Blue Quills and Quill Gordons hatched in the warm afternoons. I was worried with cold starting temperatures that the line might be coiled with memory loops but it was fine, and the slick, stiff line shot like an arrow.

The manufacturer recommends these lines for temperatures above 50 degrees. They might not be the best for actual winter fishing but for most trout fishing conditions they are ideal. Given how the Magnitude Tarpon Clear Float performed in the Florida Keys, I suspect these clear trout lines might hold up better in hot summer temperatures than many other trout fly lines.

Historically, Scientific Anglers fly lines are often a polyvinyl chloride coating over a braided multifilament core. Tiny glass spheres in the coating make the line float. But with those tiny spheres and an opaque core, it was impossible to make a clear floating line.

This new generation of Magnitude Clear Float lines have a clear monofilament core and a dual-polymer coating called Duracoat. The inside polymer layer makes the line supple with low memory, and the polymer on the outside is harder for slickness and abrasion resistance. The polymers used to make the line are naturally buoyant, so there’s no need to add air bubbles or glass spheres to make the line float. The lines have Scientific Anglers EST+ slickness additive, welded loops, and SA Line ID printed on the line tip so you can quickly identify the line after it has been removed from the box and is on your reel.

Do you need this line for blue-lining for brook trout in the Appalachians or for alpine cutthroats in the Rockies? Probably not. You can also effectively use a highly visible line to throw hoppers or Salmonfly imitations from a drift boat, or drift weighted nymphs below an indicator.

But in highly technical situations and on pressured waters where the fish see a lot of fly lines, going into invisible stealth mode gives you a distinct advantage. I expect to see a lot more of these lines in use on Silver Creek, the West Branch of the Dela-ware, the Henry’s Fork, and similar fisheries in the near future. —Ross Purnell

$149.95 Smooth, $179.95 Textured | tridentflyfishing.com

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RIO Products Gold XP and Gold MAX Fly Lines

The RIO Gold fly line came out in 2008, and since then has been a do-it-all trout-fishing favorite in RIO’s product line. After years of testing, tweaking, and fine-tuning, RIO (farbank.com/pages/rio) has expanded the Gold fly line for 2025 into a Gold “family.”

Yes, the Gold fly line grew up and had babies. The original Gold isn’t going anywhere, but it has spawned two descendants—the Gold XP and Gold Max. These two relatives aren’t just newer, they are bigger, more powerful, and more specialized.

The regular Gold adheres to published American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) standards—that means a 5-weight should weigh 140 grains, a 6-weight should weigh 160 grains, and so on. The new Gold XP is a half-size heavy, so a 5-weight would be about 150 grains. The Gold Max is a full line size heavy, so a 5-weight is 160 grains.

Weight isn’t the biggest difference, though: Both new lines have different tapers with different goals in mind.

The extra power in the Gold XP is partially due to that weight being moved farther forward, with a shorter overall head length and slightly shorter body, so that weight is more front-loaded. It has the same front taper as classic Gold, for laying out dry flies.

“Gold XP shares the same mid-length front taper as the classic Gold, while its added power is balanced by a more level head design,” said Chris Walker, RIO’s director of product development. “The result is a taper just as capable of delicate deliveries with long leaders and small flies when duty calls. After years of tinkering, thousands of hours on the water, and hundreds of prototypes sent to product testers, I’m convinced we have a line even more versatile than the classic Gold.”

The Gold Max has the shortest overall head length in the Gold class, so it has a full line weight extra in a shorter distance. It also has more weight in the back of the taper so you can roll cast bulky flies and nymphing rigs with ease, and you can turn over large, weighted flies at long distances.

“What sets it apart from other lines designed to handle big rigs is the rear-

loaded head. It has the capacity to turn over a heavy indicator or wind-resistant foam fly, but the tapering body delivers those rigs without the ‘kick’ that is so common among heavier fly lines,” Walker explained.

To put it in layman’s terms, the RIO Gold—developed on the Henry’s Fork about 20 years ago—is still a fantastic line for head-hunting and dry-fly fishing. The Gold XP is a better line if you want to fish with nymphs and streamers until the hatch starts—and then get nearly the same type of dry-fly presentations. The Max is your line if you’re a streamer junkie, or if you are going to dredge the bottom all day with double tungsten nymphs and a strike indicator.

The three Gold fly lines are available in what RIO calls two different “tiers.” Gold, Gold XP, and Gold Max fly lines are available in Elite versions ($129.99) or Premier ($99.95). All have welded loops and RIO’s SlickCast technology, but Elite lines are more expensive for three reasons: Elite lines have three colors along the body length to identify the “sweet spot” for picking up and launching a new cast; they use RIO’s low-stretch core; and they have a line ID printed near the tip. Essentially, they are the same lines, but one is easier to use.

$99.95 or $129.99 | tridentflyfishing.com

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Scientific Anglers Amplitude Trout GP Fly Line

Scientific Anglers used to have lines called simply called Amplitude Textured Trout and Amplitude Smooth Trout. These were precise true-to-weight lines with a taper designed for long-range, finesse dry-fly presentations. The name Trout possibly implied that is was a multi-purpose line, but in fact, the Amplitude Infinity, which is a half size heavy, is probably a better choice for most anglers of varying skills who are doing a combination of nymph, streamer, and dry-fly fishing through the day. So, Scientific Anglers changed the name of its “Trout” taper to “Trout Expert” to reflect the fact that it’s best for small flies, long distances, and accurate presentations. The Trout Expert taper is available as Magnitude Trout Expert Clear Float (smooth and textured) or Amplitude Trout Expert (smooth and textured) fly lines.

The Amplitude Textured Trout GP (shown here) is a truly new product for Scientific Anglers that fits squarely between the Trout Expert (true to weight) and the Infinity (half size heavy). The  Trout GP is a quarter size heavy—it has more finesse than Infinity, but is still capable as a general-purpose line. The Amplitude Textured Trout GP actually has two different textures: the texture on the tip is for maximum floating and the texture on the head and running line is for reduced friction and for shooting long casts. The Amplitude Smooth Trout GP has the AST Plus slickness additive and a willow tip, sage head, and butter-colored running line. They are available in line weights 3 through 8.

$129.95 Textured, $99.95 Smooth | tridentflyfishing.com

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Airflo Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 Clear Flats Universal Fly Lines

Options, options, and more options. Each angler is an individual, we have different preferences, we use different flies, fish for different species, and fish in a range of temperatures and conditions throughout the year. There is no one perfect line for everyone, but with enough options, every fly fisher in 2026 can find a line that is perfect for them.

Airflo has new technology called Elevate Elite in its all-new line of Superflo Max floating lines for 2026. This completely new formulation doesn’t just improve the buoyancy of the polyurethane lines, it makes them more UV-resistant, more durable (less cracking), and gives Airflo more control over how supple (or stiff) the fly line is for different temperature ranges. Also due to that new formulation, each Superflo Max line moves through the extruder with less resistance for smoother diameter transitions and this allows Airflo to narrow down the rear of the lines into thinner, lighter running lines for longer shooting casts.

This new technology is the one defining constant of all the new Superflo Max lines, but then there are all those options I previously mentioned. With Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 Universal lines, you can choose from all-clear ($149), clear tip ($149), or blue/gray color ($129). You can also choose between the Ridge 2.0 version (shown here) or a Smooth version for $99.

$149 | tridentflyfishing.com

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Airflo Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 Universal Fly Lines

Every floating freshwater line in the Airflo catalog is new for 2026, with a revised polyurethane formulation and an improved production process called Superflo Max. The new fly line technology is called Elevate Elite, and it’s in every Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 line. It doesn’t just make fly lines more buoyant, it improves the consistency of that buoyancy along the length of the line, reduces cracking, and improves the life of the line so it keeps floating week after week. This new coating also flows through the extruder with lower resistance, so the diameter transitions are smoother and more precise, particularly with the thin parts of the line at the tip and running line.

Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 lines come in multiple tapers including the Power, Tactical, Double Taper, and Super Trout. I used the popular Universal taper on a weeklong trip to Idaho and Wyoming, and it proved to be a perfect do-it-all line on the South Fork, throwing Mutant Stonefly imitations at sunrise, dry/dropper combinations from the boat, and tiny single drys in the riffles for fine-spotted cutthroat trout.

In Wyoming the Universal threw tungsten-bead Pat’s Rubber Legs under an indicator, and adeptly switched to small caddis when the hatch came off in Grand Teton National Park. The Airflo Superflo Max Ridge 2.0 Universal also proved itself on small tributaries, loading the rod in tight quarters, roll casting, and in technical situations where trout were picky and looking for the perfect drift. The lines are available in weights 5 though 8 in chartreuse/white and in weights 3 through 9 in a more stealthy moss/chartreuse combination.

$129 | tridentflyfishing.com

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