floating line for surface bass

[sporty1]

Hi
I am looking at targeting surface bass in the dams I already have a striper iv sinking line for deep schooling fish what is the best "other line " to have.

[flyfisho]

G'day Sporty
There has been a thread on this topic before , you can find it HERE.
As you probaly already know , surface feeding Bass are more likely to be found in low light situations and in my opinion making the colour of the line not as important to the fish . Clear lines are great for the fishermans confidence but can be just as effective as a fluro orange line , but lets face it your not going to fish a line that you don't feel confident with as hard as one that you do . I think the taper is more important for presentaion rather than visibility. You might want to go for a line with a short bulky WF (weight forward )taper such as the rio clouser line , if the majority of your casts in a short range (40 - 60 feet) , the taper on this line will turn over bulky flies easily . Alternativly you could go for somthing like the Scientific Anglers redfish taper , this is a WF taper that is more progressive and is meant to be a half a line class heavier than its rated line weight , this will be more suited to distance than the clouser line . I don't think you can do to wrong with a WF floating line for Bass , but threre are lines more suited to specific situations than others .
In my opinion if you want to turn over bulkier flies like dahlbergs , you would want to focus on your leader setup , by that I mean a nicely tapered hard mono leader and you don't need a 14ft leader either 7- 8 ft is fine , until you get a refusal.
I think that bulky flies are fine but for a more subtle aproach , I reckon somthing like the gartside gurgler and in particular the version of that called the grabhams gurgler would have to be one of the most effective topwater Bass fles at the moment . You can find the pattern on the fishing DVD 6 and in fly angler magazine issue 2 or 3.
I hope this helps you
I use a clear monic line ,and a rio windcutter in camo green. I sometimes reckon th eclaer line can give off a flash in the air , which doesn't really worry me for bass, but Toga is adifferent story.

[Matt_Campbell]

Sporty
I used the redfish at Christmas Island this year and it would be perfect for throwing bulky flies over short distances.
Matt C

[flyfisho]

I agree Matt , they probaly are , when I was at Xmas all I was throwing around was #4 gotchas and CI specials, witha SA bonefish line , with the windy conditions I wish I had the redfish taper.

Anyway Check these links out and you can see the taper designs for yourself .
The Rio lines have more of a chunky head in my opinion which will load th rod quicker and with les effort for a shorter cast rather than getting the whole 30 feet out
Scientific Anglers Redfish Taper
Rio Closer line
and I think this one looks alright as well
Rio outbound line

It really comes down to your fishing style and the conditions you need to apply them in. But as I said earlier it doesn't really matter any line you end up choosing will do the trick when it come to floating lines. They are all made by 3M they just come out of different ends of the factory