Rio Gold Line, anybody used it yet?
- This topic has 43 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated Jan 17, 2008 at 1:08 am by
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Mike that’s interesting, I’ve been using a prototype for a year and its still not a problem (its also been trashed in parks and at casting shows etc) and floats just fine. The slightly heavier weight won’t affect its floatation because there should be a corresponding amount of required floatation. I used one for ten days recently in NZed and cleaned it down once or twice with the new Rio abrasive cleaner pads (no floatant) and didn’t have a problem with it at all. I’d consider changing it…..
Morsie
Zed it is!
nice… i have the same set up (rod & reel) but never have been happy with the rio line i added for it… I may change it here soon to try something else better.
Kris, what didn’t you like in particular? Was the line casted on grass or used on water? I practiced with an instructor with my 6-wt Zed and Rio Gold line and found out that I wasn’t starting the cast with enough of the head out from the rod tip; it has a longer taper than other lines. Once I let out about 10ft more my rod loaded much better and this line seems to be made for the fast action Z-axis or other type rods. Also, it does not necessarily perform better in short casts such as the 10-30 ft range which is typically used for dry fly fishing.
By the way, I used the 6wt Zed/Rio Gold setup this past week while fishing woolly buggers and Zuddlers and it was an absolute beauty of a setup. I was targeting longer casts at pocket water; about 40-50ft range up-river with quick strips back. I then switched to nymphing with size 18-20 flies within the riffles and noticed that the Rio Gold line was not as effective because most of my line was on the spool and I was not open casting. I too noticed that the tip tended to sink (others have noted this as well) but it was not a major problem since I was nymphing. I will probably prefer this line when using the heavy stuff in the future.
Anybody use this line on a 9′ 5 weight Z Axis? I am currently using a GPX on that rod but have not feltit is a perfect match.
I haven’t used the line on a fast 8 weight but I have used it a good deal on a 5 ZAxis. Its a very sweet combination, great in short
We used this line this summer before it came out. We put two 790-4 Z-Axis rods in the boat one with a Clouser line and the other with the Gold. After a solid 40 hours of fishing on 4 trips the clear opinion of ours and clients was that the Clouser was better for loading the Z. We fished big streamers and poppers as well as some smaller unweighted streamers. We also fished smaller terrestrials on meduim sized water with it. It is absolutly a trout line, don’t assume it will work for everything. We thought it was better in the parking lot. We though still believe the Clouser Taper loads a Z much better than the Gold. We did cast it on the ZXL and it was much better. This technology will eventually tricckle down to other tapers.
I’m glad someone else finally posted the line floats like a turd problem. IMO the first thing a floating line should do is float.
Interesting thread on another chat site (Sexyloops) about the Rio Gold with Simon Gawesworth also contributing. The Specific Gravity of the line is .85 with the tip at .7. No complaints about is “floatability” there.
Morsie
I have logged over 25 hours of on-water time with the Rio Gold line on my 6-wt Z-axis this past fall. My previous line was a GPX. I have also used this setup during some casting lessons recently. It is a very nice line on the fast action rods and IMO is a superb line for shooting streamers at longer distances. I find myself using it often when I’m throwing bigger stuff but it does very well in closer distances with dry flies. I have noticed that the tip tends to sink a bit but then again most fly lines do when dry fly fishing. I don’t know if it is the line itself or just the fact that I’m pretty conscious of any change in my line tip when dry fly fishing because I’m so focused on getting a drag-free-drift. I would say that I unequivocally prefer the Gold to the GPX for setup I mentioned.
I would rate the line very highly for a 5- or 6-wt fast action rod. However, I am curious how the line will perform on my 4-wt Zed but I haven’t tried it yet. Does anyone have experience using the Gold on 4- or 3-wt rods?
I have used it alot and would say it floats fine. All the Rio lines have superior floating ability to anything else except the sharksin which floats like cork. I have fished all Rio lines until they are about as dirty as they can get and they still float better than anything I have ever used. Rating any line is hard because not all lines work on all rods. The question on this string seems to be about fast action rods. I thought it was very average when loading a fast rod, Z-Axis in this instance. The Clouser was much better loading the Z with larger flies. I am taking it to Chile next week and we will give it a spin with big terestrials. I think anyone who buys this needs to consider the application. It is truely a trout taper and so far doesn’t seem to do much but fish dries well. I ahve cast it on the ZXL and felt it was much better on that rod.
I have not fished the “Gold” but, as Wildcat stated the Clouser is the stuff for a faster action rod. I just bought a #8 for my #8 RPLXi SAGE and it loads the rod much better that the standard BASS taper line. I am thinking real hard about a #6 Clouser for the #6 RLPXi. I really like the clouser lines.
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