Scientific Anglers Striper Fly Line Review - Tested on the Water
For a few years I have been fishing the Scientific Anglers SONAR Titan Triple Density (3D)and SONAR Titan Full Intermediate series of lines for striped bass. With the various available sink rates, they provide all of the sink rate options that I felt applicable to my own personal fishing situations and environments. Designed specifically for coldwater applications with coldwater cores and coatings, and with an aggressive taper, they were my choice for throwing various striped bass flies from beaches to rocky ledges. This past striped bass season, I had the chance to fish these new Striper fly lines from SA. Here's what I found...
I mostly fish a 9wt rod for striped bass. Lines in the 300-350gr zone are what most fly line manufacturers are using to base their coldwater saltwater 9wt lines. Further, coldwater saltwater lines are usually heavier and have shorter overall head lengths compared to tropical saltwater lines. For instance the SA Bonefish Plus 9wt fly line (tropical) is at 259gr for the first 30ft of the head (total head length is 50.5ft). The SA Amplitude Smooth Striper 9wt is 330gr. There are a few reasons for this, but most of it has to do with the techniques involved with both, flies being used, and desired performance.
The short of it is - tropical saltwater lines are used mainly for sight fishing in 6ft or less of water. You want to be able to present a fly delicately and accurately to a target. With coldwater fly fishing, specifically for striped bass, it is mostly done via blind casting along beaches and rocks. Further, the flies used for striped bass are heavier and more wind resistant than tropical shrimp and crabs. So to eliminate unessessary false casting while blind casting and to carry these larger/heavier flies, a fly line that has more mass and a shorter head tends to be a better tool.
I wrote another article a while ago addressing more details about tropical vs. coldwater fly lines. You can read that HERE
All of the new Scientific Anglers Striper lines are based off of SA's tried and true Titan taper. This is an aggressive taper that is suited best for throwing larger/heavier/wind resistant flies. However, there are some differences. With this Titan taper, they took the basic format of this taper, but shortened it by 3ft. This shorter head gives an advantage to the blind-caster by helping to eliminate false casting and to deliver more fly out with less effort. This is especially helpful to those who are knee deep in water while wading and want to deliver long casts without having to air out 40+ feet of line in order to do so.
As far as construction, there are some technical updates as well. For the Amplitude Smooth Striper and SONAR Striper Intermediate, they both share a coldwater core but have warmwater coatings. This is to help make them more applicable to a wider range of anglers from Maine to the most southern reaches of striped bass habitats. Also, for those fishing out of a boat, the warmwater coating will help keep the line behaving well while sitting on a deck in the sun. Floating and Intermediate lines tend to be the most popular for striped bass boat anglers. Additionally, even in Maine, we have such a wide range of air and water temps throughout our striper season, that this combination of coldwater core/warmwater coating helps to keep them casting well from May to October. On the other hand, the SONAR Striper I/S5/S7 has both a coldwater core and coating - this is the same as its predecessor the SONAR Titan 3D sink lines. For all three of the lines, Scientific Anglers has also increased the diameter of the running line. This helps to keep tangles at a minimum and also, especially with the water is cold, a better handing on the line while casting and stripping flies.
Conclusion
After fishing these lines, mostly the I/S5/S7 version, this past season, I found the shorter head was the most noticeable change (compared to the Titan 3D/Full Intermediate), as it required a slightly different cast and timing. There was a little bit more of a sweet spot as the line would load the rod quicker and didn't want too little or too much line out to shoot properly. Granted I was coming immediately from casting the Titan 3D/Full Intermediate so my timing was based on those lines, but it was certainly a factor. But, when timing was on, the Striper lines would shoot well. I also found that the slightly thicker running line was a factor in the "feel" while swimming and crawling flies along the bottom. There was slightly less feel in the handling/running line section. This indeed was very much a minutia, but while crab or baitfish flies crawled along sandy and rocky bottoms, I think I could feel every little bump and resistance slightly better with the SONAR Titan 3D sink lines that have a thinner running line. Now this was an incredibly small difference, and only felt while fishing the bottom, but I did notice it.
Links (click for more info):
Key Points
- Shorter head than previous Titan taper based lines
- Warmwater coating on floating and intermediate versions
- Helps cut down false casting
- Thicker running line compared to SONAR Titan 3D sink/Full Intermediate
- Better line for wade anglers
- Core and coating combinations are better dialed in for a wider geographical range of anglers and also for variations in seasonal water and air temperatures
Words + Photos by: Josh Thelin
