Hey all glad to be back cruising the forum and conversing over saltwater/freshwater salmon. I have a dilemma that I want to get sorted out before I hit the water. Over the last couple years I have used a snowbee saltwater floating fly line off of the beach, last fall I purchased the Rio grande fly line. I can get quite a bit more distance with the grande but was wondering if its ok to use in saltwater? what is the difference between a saltwater line and freshwater?
Some line makers will describe a line as a cold water line or a tropical line. The coating formula can be varied to bracket a smaller temperature range (for the water AND the air) for maximum flexibility. I have some Airflo Coldwater lines that are at their best in...cold water and cold air. Tropical lines don't do well in cold water, and even regular fly lines can get gooey in the tropics.
I would guess saltwater lines have a coating more impervious to deterioration from salt...I use regular lines in the salt, but rinse and wipe them down after each use.
Gomphuschucker is mostly right with saying the coating is changed. Add that the core is also changed and you have the formula almost 100%.
The tropical lines are stiffer and have a coating that stays harder with the extreme temperatures that really heat a line laying on a boat deck. They function well enough when used up here but may take a while to straighten out when you first pull line from the spool. The cold salt lines will have a less stiff core and coatings more like freshwater lines. They've been known to get quite soft when laying in the bottom of an aluminum boat under direct sun - as in separate from the core material.
And yes! - rinse your line off with freshwater and apply a line shoot coating to maintain performance, especially if its one of the lines with a textured surface.
You can use any line in fresh or saltwater. Just a question of using the right line for the right application as some of the other folks have already mentioned.
As a freelance retiree with free air travel I flyfish the tropics quite a bit. It's nice and warm up in Vancouver this time of the year, but nothing like that scorching tropical sun in Hawaii. I have noticed how limp my floating lines are out on the flats fishing Bones, and the difference in wind load compared with winter Striper fishing around here.
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