Fly-lines for late-season salmon

September marks the transition between summer and autumn, a month when salmon anglers may face everything from low, warm conditions to big water and single-figure air temperatures. In summer, a floating line and a couple of tips may be all that’s needed, but during the back-end we must be prepared to cast bigger flies and get them deeper, if necessary. Here are a few lines recently updated by Rio for just such occasions.
 

Rio Elite Scandi Outbound and Elite Scandi Outbound Body

7wt-11wt, £119.99

The new Elite Scandi Outbound is available as a body to which you add Rio’s 10ft and 15ft Interchangeable Tips, or as a shooting head to which you add Versileaders.

Both lines benefit from an integrated running line, meaning there are no clunky joints or hinge points, loathed by casters. They have been given the Elite treatment, adding Rio’s latest technology, including a low-stretch ConnectCore Plus for improved control and hooking, a SlickCast coating for extra distance and durability, a loading-point marker, welded loops front and back, and a printed line ID.

The floating bodies have short, rear-loaded 22ft-24ft heads, designed to make casting sinking tips in difficult conditions much easier. They are ideal for fishing big flies deep, or when you need the versatility of one line and a range of tips to cover a wide variety of water conditions, common at this time of year. Rio recommends using 10ft Interchangeable Tips with rods under 13ft, and 15ft tips with 13ft rods and longer.

The shooting heads have longer 37ft-41ft heads, giving better, more delicate presentation when used with Rio’s 6ft-10ft Versileaders. The floating version gives you plenty of variety and good depth control. Versileaders are available from floating to 6ips, but it’s the hover version, re-introduced by popular demand, that will appeal most to back-end anglers. A proven fish-catcher, it is invaluable in heavier water or lower temperatures, where it digs in and slows the fly’s swing. It also allows smaller, lighter flies to be fished deeper, especially with faster sinking tips, so the fly flutters enticingly in the water column.

Rio recommends its Medium Versileaders on 8wt lines and below, and Heavy Versileaders on 9wt lines and above.

Rio Interchangeable Tips: 10ft, float to sink6, 5wt to 9wt; or 15ft, float to sink8, 7wt to 10wt, £29.99 each. Rio Versileaders, medium and heavy, float to 6ips, £13.99 each
 

Rio Elite GameChanger Body

23ft – 25ft head, 400gr – 725gr, £64.99

Another option, especially for anglers who prefer to carry a number of interchangeable lines, is the Elite GameChanger Body. This has Rio’s Multi-Density Control, a seamless blend of three different densities in one line, reducing sag and ensuring a straighter line down to the fly. It allows excellent depth control and energy transfer in all fishing conditions. Whether it is cutting below difficult surface currents or dredging the depths, there is a body in the range to do it. Each is built using SlickCast and ultra-low stretch ConnectCore Plus technology for maximum sensitivity and performance. The GameChanger body has welded loops at the rear to connect to a running line, and at the front to add Interchangeable, MOW or T-tips.

The float/hover/intermediate (F/H/I) option is a spring and autumn favourite, and when coupled with an intermediate or sink3 tip, it will swing the fly between 2ft-4ft deep. The F/I/S3 is best used with a sink3 or sink6 tip and will fish 4ft-8ft deep. If you really need to get down, there is the F/S3/S5, which reaches 8ft-12ft deep, as well as intermediate and full sinking options with the I/S2/S3 and a bottom-dredging S3/S5/S7 producing the deepest and slowest presentations.

Contact guideflyfishing.co.uk