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I have been using Sharkskin lines for most of the year on my 6-8wt bamboo rods and I really like them.

It was really quite surprising the first time I used one. I had fished for most of the day with a 7wt with a RIO Selective Trout, which is a great fly line, and, knowing I had the SS line on a 6wt, figured I had better give it a try. I strung it up and was shocked at how much more easily it moves through the guides. The RIO felt outright sticky in comparison.

I have found the slickness to be an advantage in shooting line of course, but much more importantly in situations where you need to mend line and toss out a little extra slack, getting line out quickly with much fewer false casts, and even when stripping in line when trying to catch up with a fish that is running towards me.

The line does pick up off the water easier as it floats higher on the surface and therefore mends easier and cleaner.

It has a slightly thinner diameter than other synthetic lines of an equivalent weight, which is nice in windy conditions and when nymphing, much like natural silk.

I have found it feels more supple than most other lines. In some cases it actually feels too supple and I've wanted a little bit stiffer line. I have pretty much gotten used to it now though.

It is also plenty abrasive on your hands. If you have your finger tightly holding the line and you get a big fish running, expect some raw skin at the least. Very much like fishing in the salt.

The Trout taper is just a tad front heavy with a longer back taper. I'm hoping they come out with something more along the lines of a Wulff Triangle Taper. I have seen a few new tapers (magnum, steelhead) but they all seem geared towards distance casting, which I suppose isn't surprising given the direction they are going with the marketing.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how it does in the extreme cold and in conditions where ice easily forms. I've heard reports, both good and bad, and really want to see what the deal is.

Yes, it does make a zipping noise when moving through the guides. It is a little louder than natural silk, but having used natural silk for quite a while, the sound doesn't bother me at all.

In fact, it is the closest in fishing characteristics to a natural silk line in a synthetic that I've ever used. In most cases where I would normally fish my 6, 7, & 8wt Phoenix lines, I find myself using the SS more often than not. I don't have any smaller sized SS lines than a 6wt so I can't comment on those.

I don't want to sound like I am pushing this line. I have no financial interest in SA of course and I'm the last person to say 'this is the end-all-be-all of fly lines' or 'you'd be stupid to try anything else'. However, I do very much like the line and now that I have used it I will say that though I agree $100 is absurd for a synthetic line, I do like it enough to now cough up the full $100 for one if I had to (even though I didn't which made experimenting much easier on the bank account ).

Here is some information from SA in regards to some specific aspects of the line.

The Chain Effect:

The micro-replicated surface in Sharkskin lines gives actual points where the line can bend or flex without cracking. An additional benefit is the structure also relaxes or relieves memory of the line to give an anti-tangle effect which improves shootability and line control.

Wear on Guides?

Upon completing extensive testing by 3M on fly lines and wear on guides, Sharkskin has shown to wear less on guides than other leading fly line manufactures. Furthermore, the material used to make guides matters more to the longevity of your line than anything else. (Scientific studies and microscopic views available upon request.)

and:

SA wanted to find out exactly how abrasive they are as well, so they put all the top fly lines from all the manufacturers through a 800,000-cycle test of tip-top wear. If you trust the measurements of a $750,000 Interferometer machine, turns out Sharkskin is among the least abrasive fly line coatings.

Fly Line Stretch:

Over a 100 foot span of line, stretched with 500 grams of force the difference between Rio Gold, Cortland 555, SA Mastery Trout, SA Sharkskin was less than 1 foot of stretch. Interestingly, Aiflo was shown to stretch the most at 1.8 feet, with Cortland, Rio, Mastery trout, and Sharkskin stretching between just under 1 and 1.2 feet comparatively.

Flotation:

Current top end fly lines including, Rio, Airflo, and SA float half in and half out of the water. You can also think of this a percentage of fly line floating out of the water. In this case 50% of the line is out of the water. 3M has purchased a machine that can measure the angle of the line to the water, or contact angle. In the case of Sharkskin, when this contact angle is expressed as a percentage of line floating out of the water, it consistently tests out at a contact angle of 130, 72% of the line out of the water. Micro replication is a phenomenon found in nature, such as the pad's on Water Skipper's feet (do Water Skippers have feet?), and has been emulated in the Sharkskin series of fly lines for supreme flotation.

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