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who throws them and why? i've always been a DT guy wtih my sh casting, and have a long list of why i like them. but how bout casting them w/ the 2hander? i'm especially interested in how they perform w/ tng casts.
double taper lines on the 2hander ??
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There was a time when they were it. In greenheart days, the silk DT was all there was.
In the modern Spey casting era, you don't hear much about them in recent years but back in the early 90's, if you wanted to fish anything longer than a Windcutter (54'), the DT was the thing. Even after the Accelerator, the XLT, the Grand Spey and other longer bellied options came out, a number of guys still fished them.
In the modern Spey casting era, you don't hear much about them in recent years but back in the early 90's, if you wanted to fish anything longer than a Windcutter (54'), the DT was the thing. Even after the Accelerator, the XLT, the Grand Spey and other longer bellied options came out, a number of guys still fished them.
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The trick is to find the real salmon DT lines. They had front tapers in the 15' range and were 105' to 120' long, both being much longer than trout DTs.
SA had their Ultras in 120' and they were great lines. Orvis had a good salmon version as did Shakespeare in their Worcestershire models, both 105'.
Very fishable lines and capable of very good distance with a 15' rod or longer. Basically we can cast whatever line we can lift plus shoot around 20'. A good caster can see the backing knot on a 105' line. They also handle polys and large flies with ease.
And ya, I do fish one every once in a while.
Here's a bass from four years ago that was supposed to be a steelhead, caught on a DT-11-F Shakespeare and poly, wound on an old Shakespeare Condex that was mounted on a St. Croix Imperial 9/10. It was throwback day in two senses of the word.
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I learned with a DT before switching to mid belly lines 15 years ago. Dug my old line out recently just for kicks. Still casts nice but won't cut through wind worth anything. Modern lines really are a vast improvement in that department. What I do like is you can adjust your length endlessly, finding the sweet spot on your rod/line combo. Because of this I can easily use one line on several of my two handlers in a variety of lengths and line weights and that is something shooting head systems can't do. Plus once you find that sweet spot; no stripping, just lift, set your anchor, and fire away. Nice for touch and go stuff as well as some sustained anchor casts.
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I think the SA, Rio, and Orvis all had similar 15'-ish tapers. If I remember I think the Cortland was weirder with like a 35' taper. Not sure what the taper was like on the CND's. I can't see any advantage for long casting over modern mid and long bellies. Do you need to make a 90ft. mend?
Grandspeys are not DT's
Grandspeys are not DT's
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644 Posts
Double Taper Lines,
Hi Sinktip,
There was a time when they were it. In greenheart days, the silk DT was all there was.
In the early days of Speycasting it was more likely you would fish a short line for a couple of reasons, Silk lines were really expensive and most of the rods had a limit as to what they could cast, so no point in having a 40yrd line when your rod could never cast that distance, the long belly casters spliced two lines together.
The XLT and Grandspey are constant taper lines not DT lines, many years ago the Grandspey was regarded as a bit of a joke it got so out of shape while casting.
Double tapers lines will present a fly very gently on to the water surface, not something it seems needed today, I still have a few with full floating line on the front and a long sink tip on the reverse end, two lines for the price of one, and as a Scotsman I like that kinda deal.
DT lines.... 40yards was the most common, 20yrs front taper 20yrs back taper can be in different configurations, full floating both ends or slow/fast sink on the back taper.
Cheers Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.
Hi Sinktip,
There was a time when they were it. In greenheart days, the silk DT was all there was.
In the early days of Speycasting it was more likely you would fish a short line for a couple of reasons, Silk lines were really expensive and most of the rods had a limit as to what they could cast, so no point in having a 40yrd line when your rod could never cast that distance, the long belly casters spliced two lines together.
The XLT and Grandspey are constant taper lines not DT lines, many years ago the Grandspey was regarded as a bit of a joke it got so out of shape while casting.
Double tapers lines will present a fly very gently on to the water surface, not something it seems needed today, I still have a few with full floating line on the front and a long sink tip on the reverse end, two lines for the price of one, and as a Scotsman I like that kinda deal.
DT lines.... 40yards was the most common, 20yrs front taper 20yrs back taper can be in different configurations, full floating both ends or slow/fast sink on the back taper.
Cheers Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.
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Gordon,
My apologies if I didn't clarify my statement well regarding the XLT and Grandspeys. I know well they are not double taper. My statement was to convey that even after long bellied options existed (the lines listed), some still cast double tapers.
Sinktip
My apologies if I didn't clarify my statement well regarding the XLT and Grandspeys. I know well they are not double taper. My statement was to convey that even after long bellied options existed (the lines listed), some still cast double tapers.
Sinktip
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Now, that's a loooong taper!
I just checked the taper length of my DT8/9F, 120 foot Cortland 444 Lazer. From its .040" tip to its .064" belly section, the taper is 35 1/2 feet. Probably the smoothest at turning over the forward stroke of any spey line I've tried.
With my DT10/11F version, I cut off a considerable length of one taper, and cast 15 foot sink tips and winter flies. I hadn't heard of Skagit lines in those early days, and didn't realize how inefficient such a setup is. But I made it work. Too bad those lines are long since discontinued.
I just checked the taper length of my DT8/9F, 120 foot Cortland 444 Lazer. From its .040" tip to its .064" belly section, the taper is 35 1/2 feet. Probably the smoothest at turning over the forward stroke of any spey line I've tried.
With my DT10/11F version, I cut off a considerable length of one taper, and cast 15 foot sink tips and winter flies. I hadn't heard of Skagit lines in those early days, and didn't realize how inefficient such a setup is. But I made it work. Too bad those lines are long since discontinued.
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As I understood it, those lines were essentially two Windcutters, back-to-back.
DTs...
All the nostalgia factors aside, there is a valid reason for using DT lines. If you use vintage cane rods, you come to realize sooner or later that the old tackle wasn’t built with modern Spey casting in mind. When well torqued, the rods come apart at the ferrules (they aren’t wound with copper wire for no reason...), so gentler casts are preferable. A well-made spliced rod can handle gentler casts like the roll cast and the single and double spey, but most of the period ferruled rods were actually made for overhead casting. When I started using one of these old rods, it was brand new, and my line was a big DT. The DT line allows you to find the load point easily, as previously mentioned. If you fish different rivers, there is merit in having a set of DTs for lines 8 thru 12, for example, and you choose the line to suit the length of cast. Smaller river? Shorter casts? Use a bigger line. It takes fewer feet of DT 12 line to load a Hardy Wye than a DT 9, and you can maintain the same leisurely casting stroke. DT lines suit old rods and old men very well, and for winter fishing in the style of Bill McMillan, they are wonderful indeed.
All the nostalgia factors aside, there is a valid reason for using DT lines. If you use vintage cane rods, you come to realize sooner or later that the old tackle wasn’t built with modern Spey casting in mind. When well torqued, the rods come apart at the ferrules (they aren’t wound with copper wire for no reason...), so gentler casts are preferable. A well-made spliced rod can handle gentler casts like the roll cast and the single and double spey, but most of the period ferruled rods were actually made for overhead casting. When I started using one of these old rods, it was brand new, and my line was a big DT. The DT line allows you to find the load point easily, as previously mentioned. If you fish different rivers, there is merit in having a set of DTs for lines 8 thru 12, for example, and you choose the line to suit the length of cast. Smaller river? Shorter casts? Use a bigger line. It takes fewer feet of DT 12 line to load a Hardy Wye than a DT 9, and you can maintain the same leisurely casting stroke. DT lines suit old rods and old men very well, and for winter fishing in the style of Bill McMillan, they are wonderful indeed.
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Double Taper lines
Hi All,
No need to apologize Sinktip i wasn't having a pop at anybody, i was just trying to add to this thread, but in a hurry to get to the river before it got dark, so my fault if i came across like an ass.
buff i think you summed up DT Lines and the times very well.
A couple of years ago i spoke with one of the guys who manufactures fly lines and he stated that they could make five shooting head lines for the cost of one long belly line and produce them much faster, and the profit margin was much greater on selling shooting heads.
Now this might be old age creeping in, :chuckle: but it seems that we now use the line to flex the rod... and years ago we used the rod to cast the line. :Eyecrazy:
Off fishin.
Cheers Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.
Hi All,
No need to apologize Sinktip i wasn't having a pop at anybody, i was just trying to add to this thread, but in a hurry to get to the river before it got dark, so my fault if i came across like an ass.
buff i think you summed up DT Lines and the times very well.
A couple of years ago i spoke with one of the guys who manufactures fly lines and he stated that they could make five shooting head lines for the cost of one long belly line and produce them much faster, and the profit margin was much greater on selling shooting heads.
Now this might be old age creeping in, :chuckle: but it seems that we now use the line to flex the rod... and years ago we used the rod to cast the line. :Eyecrazy:
Off fishin.
Cheers Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.
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CND made a couple double taper lines that are nice. I use because they are great lines for fishing and good practice for casting.
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Since the demise of DT line usage I haven't heard the term "through action" (except from a few folks on the other side of the pond who fancy DT silk lines) in a rod.
A DT works well on my greenheart.
A DT works well on my greenheart.
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11,025 Posts
Well remember the 'Good Old Days' and you wanted/needed a 2handerDT line.
You sourced them out of the UK. But, what the heck, credit card numbers work anywhere.
fae
You sourced them out of the UK. But, what the heck, credit card numbers work anywhere.
fae
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1,407 Posts
this is great info !! i think i'll be trying one soon. thanks everyone 
keep it coming, i never get tired of learning.
keep it coming, i never get tired of learning.DTs
This is one of the best threads in a long time....it would be nice to know if there is a decent NA source for double taper salmon lines. I find myself moving towards a simpler form of fishing with longer lines, longer rods, less stripping in and less and less with shooting heads. It is much more relaxing for me to reduce the variables down to leader lengths and hook size....
Thanks,
Tom
This is one of the best threads in a long time....it would be nice to know if there is a decent NA source for double taper salmon lines. I find myself moving towards a simpler form of fishing with longer lines, longer rods, less stripping in and less and less with shooting heads. It is much more relaxing for me to reduce the variables down to leader lengths and hook size....
Thanks,
Tom
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DTs are still useful to me as a tonic.
When I get into a "slip-sloppy poor form mullocking" phase, a day with a DT will dust off my form and get me back in the groove. Usually after only one or two Tourette-like outbursts, max.
I use both ends: one end left as a full float, one end cut back for sinktips. Swap ends as the season or your masochism requires.
When I get into a "slip-sloppy poor form mullocking" phase, a day with a DT will dust off my form and get me back in the groove. Usually after only one or two Tourette-like outbursts, max.
I use both ends: one end left as a full float, one end cut back for sinktips. Swap ends as the season or your masochism requires.
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This could be, for me ....
:smokin:
The 'Post of the Day.' Laughed so hard my chest hurt.
:smokin:
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