I have been a visitor and sometimes contributor over at the Wild Fishing Forum for a while now – in fact I rate it as one of the best forums out there as it has a nice atmosphere of gentleness and camaraderie that you do not get anywhere else.
A while ago Fred the owner brought out a series of fly lines at an affordable price. I am not sure that when he named them “Wildfisher” that he meant that fishers would be wild although sometimes I think they should be given away with the Kelvin permit.
Essentially, they are just no frills fly lines that do the job well. They are so affordable you can buy a new one each season. I bought one for my four weight which is all I have been using this year and it has done the job as well as any of the other fly lines I have owned. I have owned much more expensive lines that performed pretty much the same as these ones.
I have also owned cheap rubbish called “mill ends” which are the height of dreadfulness. Also avoid any line with the brand name of Airflo – they are the worst lines ever!
Personally I really do not see the need for spending over twenty bucks for a fly line which is just as well really as these cost just under sixteen and that is with postage and packing.
So, if you are in the market for a fly line these wee gems will not break the bank and perform just fine, they cast well and float well. Personally, I have found all my fly lines sink at the tip so I apply floatant to the first few yards straight out the packet.
Head over and get one of you are in the market!
I smell a call from airflo’s lawyers coming on!
Nice second last post. funny!
Airlo Pah!
It happened on the loops website by all accounts…
If their lawyers are as good as their fly lines I do not have much to fear !
Agree & Disagree
I would firstly like to agree that Airflo lines are as you have suggested and I’ll never fall foul again. I gave away two Airflo lines last year after only a single use, yes, they were that bad.
I would secondly like to respectfully disagree with your analysis of the aforementioned forum, I found it to be a most inhospitable place to air opinion, I was banned after only three posts. I found one post particularly ugly and provided a detailed reply as to why I thought so. I was banned without notice and received no reply to my enquiries.
I love wild fishing but I do not share the same attitude towards stocked fisheries as those who run the wildfisher forum, my only objection to stocked waters is that they pose a risk to wild fish, those that do not pose any risk in my opinion just fine. I don’t believe it should be legal to stock any water that supports wild fish or has the potential to do so but dig a hole and fill it with water ?, I say chuck whatever you like in it and if people are willing to pay to fish it then so be it.
A quick search around the web and you’ll soon realise that the wildfisher forum is hated by as many as it is loved, I of course do not hate it, hate isn’t worth my time.
I considered starting a wild fishing website a while back in contrast to the secret society that is wildfisher where anglers could openly share information on where they fish without fear of abuse but the internet is full of great forums that encourage debate so I thought better of it.
Something I’ve always found odd about the wildfisher forum is the secrecy…why bother ?, I mean, we live in Scotland, you cannot protect that which is open to everyone with an OS Map and a compass.
I’ll leave it there….I hope it wasn’t too ranty 🙂
What I have found is that when one person runs a website they pick up folk that think they are idiots along the way – I am pretty sure there are lots of folk out there who don’t like my view of the world.
🙂
I noticed the Fishtec ad in the margin. Aren’t they owned by Airflo?
Shhhh! It is part of the fishtec approved blog thingy! Fair play to them for wanting me in even though I pumped their lines!
That’s fantastic. They certainly have a ‘progressive’ social media strategy.
Not really, orvis have been doing it for years. If you have confidence in a product you will send it to a blogger to use and review as unlike magazines we don’t have to worry about pissing off an advertiser !
That makes sense. Hopefully they’ll improve the standard of their lines.
To be fair, I have not used one in a couple of years so they may have improved. However, nothing can beat a 15 quid wildfisher line !
I quite liked the Airflo ridge line I had on my 5wt the last few years, decent general purpose line, not the best in the world but nowhere near the worst either.
I certainly hope so – I’ve just purchased one!
“I would secondly like to respectfully disagree with your analysis of the aforementioned forum, I found it to be a most inhospitable place to air opinion, I was banned after only three posts. I found one post particularly ugly and provided a detailed reply as to why I thought so. I was banned without notice and received no reply to my enquiries.”
Ain’t THAT the truth!
“I considered starting a wild fishing website a while back in contrast to the secret society that is wildfisher where anglers could openly share information on where they fish without fear of abuse”
Please do it!
Lol