The best fishing line for Alaska’s diverse waters is built to handle the challenge of landing a variety of species in ever-changing conditions. The editors at Fish Alaska have rigorously tested countless options and these are our top picks.
Best Fishing Line
RIO Slick Shooter
Slick Shooter comes in 25-, 35-, 44-, and 50-pound-test. It’s color coded so you can tell which you have on a given reel. We tested the 50-pound-test yellow running line. Slick Shooter is an oval monofilament with a hard, slick finish that will allow your spey lines to really fly. It is helpful to stretch the line before each swing session. Mono shooting lines like this will generally cast much farther than fly-line-type shooting lines, and mono is more economical, too. It comes on 115-foot spools.
Cortland Micron Fly Line Backing, 30-pound-test
This is Editor and Flyfishing columnist George Krumm’s favorite backing because it is easy to make the blind-splice loop in Micron. With some Dacron backings, it is impossible to make a blind-splice loop. Micron is a high-quality Dacron that is available in 8 different colors and in 20- and 30-pound-test. It is available in spool sizes of 100-, 250-, 1,000-, 2,500-, and 5,000 yards.
Cortland Streamer WF8F
We used this weight-forward, floating fly line for stripping heavily weighted streamers on the Togiak in August on a custom Batson Rainshadow Eternity RX10 fly rod. This line is intentionally a whole line size heavier than a standard 8-weight, which is helpful when you’re casting flies that have a lot in common with jigs. We probably landed 100 salmon while using this line, and it held up to a very tough week’s use. This is a good choice for casting heavy- or wind-resistant flies.
Scientific Anglers Spey Lite Skagit Integrated Fly Line
The Spey Lite Skagit lines are tailor-made for smaller streams, trout spey, and switch rods. We tested the 390-grain version on an OPST Pure Skagit 11’6”, 8-weight two-hander with 10 feet of T-11 and with Scientific Anglers 10’,120-grain TC tips. This is an easy casting Skagit line and the integrated shooting line means no rattle of loop-to-loop connections when you’re playing a fish—unless that fish got into your backing. Integrated Skagit heads allow you to strip a fly almost back to the rod tip—an important consideration when coho are your target in rivers. There is a textured black mark at the end of the head to provide a visual and audio reference so you can replicate the amount of overhang you prefer. The head length varies depending on which line you are using. The 390-grain head length is 19.5’ so it is well matched to switch rods and light spey rods. All Spey Lite Skagit heads are 100’ long, total length.
Cortland Compact Switch Two Handed Series, WF8F 485GR
This is a 485-grain integrated Skagit head and running line. The head is 25 feet long. If you don’t like the rattle of loop-to-loop connection between your running line and Skagit head, an integrated head like this solves the problem. Another advantage to an integrated head is that it’s easy to fish a fly nearly back to your position, like when you’re stripping flies for coho. A third benefit is for those who have a difficult time with monofilament running lines. With this line, the shooting portion is fly-line material, which is easier to manage than mono shooting line. We tested this line on an OPST Pure Skagit 12’3”, 9-weight and it performed well with sink-tips as heavy as T-14.
RIO Premier Outbound Short WF8I
We used this line primarily for casting big, heavy lead-eyed streamers to silver salmon. The short, heavy head loads the rod well, and delivers heavy, hard-to-cast flies easily. The Outbound Short is made in floating through fast-sinking versions. For casting to coho on the Togiak, the intermediate was the most versatile. While we haven’t tested all the streamer-type lines on the market, this one is an excellent choice.
Scientific Anglers Amplitude Textured Anadro Indicator WF-6-F
As the name suggests, this fly line is designed for indicator fishing. Each line is 1.5 times heavier than the indicated weight to help turn over what we so often use in Alaska rivers: big indicators and split shot with beads or flesh flies. It also works well for dry-dropper rigs. It has an extended rear taper to help with mending on longer casts. It’s made for moderate and cold climates, so it stays supple. This is a fine floating line for much of what we do in Alaska. Publisher Marcus Weiner tested the WF-8-F model and had excellent success making long casts and drag-free bead drifts for magnum Kvichak rainbows.
Scientific Anglers TC Tips Kit
This kit is available with tips of 8’ (80 grain), 10’ (120 grain), and 12’ (160 grain). We tested the one with 12’, 160-grain tips using a variety of 7- and 8-weight two-handed rods. The kit includes a floating tip plus several dual-density sink-tips: intermediate/sink 2; sink 2/sink 4; sink 3/sink 5; and sink 7. All tips are contained in a quick-drying mesh wallet. If you have this kit, you will be prepared for most Skagit-casting situations we face in Alaska. It is helpful that several of these tips sink more slowly than T-8. Faster is not always better.