Since summer, I've been testing the 2004-addition to Scientific Anglers' Mastery-series of flylines, the Trout. The perceptive reader will notice that this is a specialty line, developed and designed for troutfishing. And that's exactly what I've been using it for, although strangely enough I've exceeded my powers and caught a few grayling with them as well…

I've been using a WF 4 F and a DT 4 F on a Thomas & Thomas Horizon 9' 4-wt [don't know if this is relevant information – the rod I mean?].

As I write these lines the leaves are already falling from the tree and the ones that are left have assumed vibrant autumn colours – red, brown, yellow and oranges are flaming in the forests and the fence months for trout- and grayling fishing in Denmark are closing in. We still have about a month left, but dryfly fishing is certainly ringing out, although you'll still find rising fish.

All right, let's begin with the technical stuff for the technical angler. The WF-line is comprised of 5,5 feet of concave front taper, 21,5 feet of belly and 10 feet of convex rear taper affixed to 53 feet of running line leaving a total of 90 feet of flyline. The core is braided multifilament nylon. And of course made with Scientific Anglers proprietary AST-coating that is superslick and very durable.

The front taper is the perfect blend of turnover and delicacy. Easily turning over 15 feet of leader and a size 12 dry landing it like a thistledown on the surface, and yet still has the power to handle a heavy nymph. Admitted though, that if heavy nymphing is your primary style of fishing, then this is not the line to use.

The long rear taper facilitates extraordinary good handling capabilities. It allows the angler to make good, deep mends. But more importantly, it makes the line a lot less sensitive to the amount of overhang carried by the angler. With the long rear taper, it's possible to carry a long length of line, deep into the running line without loosing control. I find this a very important feature in any WF-line as it gives the angler much more freedom.

The head length is very easily handles by any caster and is yet another perfect compromise between the often-praised long belly line and the more “standard” flylines. The aforementioned rear taper actually makes the head length of this line a “secondary” issue. However, the line with its medium-length head is perfect for close in work as well as fishing longer ranges.

All of the above (except of course for the remarks of rear taper and head length) can be said about the double taper-version of this line. Many of you might know that I actually prefer fishing the double taper when it comes to dryfly and nymph, simply because of the increased mending and rollcasting abilities of the double taper (as perfectly outlined by the Line God himself here).

If I may, for a minute, dwell on that very same subject, I find one major advantage to the double taper when it comes to distance-presentation and accuracy: I feel that when carrying long lines, the double taper does so much better as you'll never face the problems of overhang and hinging of the line due to the difference between runningline and head (notice that running lines are found on WF-lines, shooting lines are attached to shooting tapers! See Bruce, I'm passing on the wisdom!). So, whether you're presenting your fly at 35 feet or 70 feet, you have outstanding control with the double taper.

The line floats very well and high and retains low memory even in colder weather (I've fished this line in temperatures as low as 10 degrees Celcius and feel that 2 or 3 or even 0 wouldn't pose any problems, apart from freezing you arse off of course). It shoots extremely well due the AST-coating and doesn't pick up much dirt along the way.

So, in conclusion, the Trout is probably the very best all round floating flyline for trout – and grayling fishing – I've ever had the pleasure of using and it comes with my highest recommendations.

Viking Lars

Lars is a double taper Viking and you can find more words of wisdom here. Be sure to concentrate when you follow that link.