Rio Line

Just a follow-up about some Rio line. As you may recall my earlier post
about what lines I should get for my brother and brother-in-law reels. SA
on one, Rio on the other in 9wt and 8 wt respectively. While at the shop, I
decided to get some 5wt Rio for one of my reels and test it.

Dealer happen to have some Rio Demo fly line (WF5F) and I spooled it up on
my spare. Weather conditions were excellent for testing with a nice soft
breeze - maybe a tad strong at times but would be good for doing some
comparative testing of 5 wt lines.

Used my 9', 5wt, St. Croix Legend which is a fast+ rated rod and one I
really like. First line up to test was the Rio - and was I disappointed....
Could not for the life of me get any distance out of that line with a
head-on breeze. Line simply folded up in front of me and dropped to the
water like it had an anchor tied to it. Tried numerous times and 20' was
about all I could get.

Quickly changed to other spool with Orvis G3 5 wt line and first cast went
out an easy 50' on the water. Same breezy conditions, same rod just
different line and not a problem.

Back to the Rio line. Same results. When the wind died down and almost a
dead calm, I could get 50' but had to work at it. When the wind kicked up,
that line folds. Had my brother cast the same rigs and his results were
like mine.

The Rio line feels like a 4wt not a 5wt line as the package is marked. I'll
be going back to the dealer with it to see if he can verify exactly which
line it is.

For what it's worth department. If you haven't tried the Orvis G3 lines,
you're in for a treat. Even a novice like me can tell that there is a
significant difference in the line and it casts like a dream on both an
Orvis TLS, mid-flex (7) rod and my fast Legend. I have SA Mastery GPX,
Steelhead and Bass lines, Cortland 555-444-333, Rio (demo), and Orvis G3
lines in several weights for my rod collection and the Orvis, 5wt line wins
in the "cast-ability & accuracy" category.

Bob S.