How to Pick a Floating Trout Line, with Jesse Haller

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

James Hathaway

Bass, Fishing, Bonefish, Wilderness, Flyfishing, Trout, How To, Steelhead, Bluegill, Fly, Orvis, Sports, Salmon, Panfish, Education, Rosenbauer

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Confused about which floating trout line to pick when you need a new one? I'm not surprised as today there is a dizzying array of options and nearly everyone is confused. If you understand what the various options offer the decision is much easier, so I asked product developer Jesse Haller [41:00] to help all of us make this important choice. We talk about what you get in the more expensive lines that you don't get in the price-point lines. We discuss tapers, whether your fly line should be a standard weight or a half- or quarter- or full-size heavy, smooth vs. textured, clear vs. opaque, fly line colors, and other options. And take heart, we also give you the best option for an all-purpose floating trout line.

In the Fly Box this week, we have the following questions and tips from listeners:

Help in picking an array of fly rods and lines for fishing for various species in Pennsylvania.
How to get deeper for crappie in fall.
Is there a way to determine the line size of older, non-labeled fly lines?
Is putting a spoon on a fly rod considered fly fishing?
I bought a Euro rod but don't like that method. How do I use my 10-foot 3-weight rod for dry fly and nymph fishing from a float tube?
Where do trout go during droughts when the water gets painfully low?
Do you have tips for casting heavy flies like Clouser Minnows?
My son and I were frustrated during a blue-wing-olive hatch when the fish would just splash at our dry flies. Do you have any suggestions?
Do I need to cut the loop off my fly line and attach my leader with a nail knot?
Should I keep my waders away from electric engines when storing them?
A tip from a listener on using a pipe cleaner for a material clip on your tying vise.
I got a pigtail in front of my fly when using a Uni Knot. How can I prevent that in the future?
How much of a tag end does Tom trim off when he ties on a fly? I seem to use a lot of tippet in the course of a day.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast.
0:15.8	This is your host, Tom Rosenbauer.
0:18.3	And my guest this week is Orvis product developer Jesse Haller.
0:23.6	And the subject is floating trout lines because those of you who have searched for a new flyline
0:32.2	recently have seen an incredible variety of floating lines for trout.
0:39.1	And it is a confusing array.
0:41.7	I will grant you that.
0:44.9	Everybody has trouble picking a floating fly line.
0:47.7	And there's good and there's bad with this situation.
0:51.1	The good is that you can pick a floating fly line that's just perfect for your use,
0:58.7	for the conditions that you encounter when you fish. The bad is there are too many choices.
1:04.2	There are an incredible number of choices. So Jesse and I are going to go through the whole litany of choices that you have in a floating trout line.
1:15.9	Now, this is a topic that I've had requested a number of times, and I hope we don't overly confuse you.
1:23.5	But take heart, we do recommend one line or a couple lines that are good all-round lines that you just want to go to and get, and they're going to work fine for you.
1:36.5	But if you want to fine-tune your trout fishing and you have specific needs, then we'll go through those as well.
1:43.7	We're going to talk about tapers. We're going to talk about tapers.
1:45.8	We're going to talk about textured versus smooth. We're going to talk about quarter-weighted
1:51.5	and half-weighted and full-size heavy. We're going to talk about all those options. So hopefully
1:57.6	you can pick a new trout line for the coming season with a little bit more
2:04.6	knowledge and and hopefully we will sort it out for you you may want to take notes it does get
2:15.1	confusing i i share your frustration and I hope we can help you sort out the correct
2:24.3	floating line for your needs. And before we get into the flybox, a couple announcements.
	...

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