Scientific Anglers Sonar Series Lines - 2016

Let me start this article with the one most important piece of knowledge you need to know...

All Scientific Anglers Premium Sinking fly lines from hover to full sink are now identified by the title Sonar. 

This includes hover, intermediate, sink tip or full sinking lines. So if your looking for your old Streamer Express, they're here, looking for your Lake Line, they're here too. New in the Sonar Series is a whole lineup of powerful Titan Taper Textured sinking lines. These new Titan's are already having a huge impact in the sinking line game.

Sonar Titan

The sinking Titans have arrived!
Several options here that I want to spend some time on. First understand that all Sonar Titan lines have the Mastery Textured surface. This alone clearly separates them from the other Sonar Series lines which have a smooth surface. Personally I think the next 3 lines I describe have a significant place in the future of sinking lines due to the popular taper design and the benefit of the textured surface.


Sonar Titan Clear Tip
Think powerful clear streamer tip!

Sonar Titan Clear Tip is a weight bumped, powerful taper for easy turnover of big flies, three color for easy length determination, textured for easy pick up and long distance shooting ability and formulated to suit most temperate environments.

Sonar Titan Intermediate

Many Streamer Anglers are discovering the benefit of going all in with full intermediate lines. Getting the running line under the surface improves your connection to the fly and allows for truer swimming action of streamers.

Sonar Titan Int/Sink 3/Sink 5
Triple Density Sinking fly line?! I am already hearing major buzz following this line. It starts with an intermediate running line section that seamlessly transforms into a type 3 sinking mid section that flows into a type 5 sinking Titan tapered head. Triple Density, full sinking, powerful Titan taper, braided core, made for temperate environments and textured for reduced friction allowing for easier pickups and longer cast. Streamer anglers even if you're not a textured line fan you might ought pay attention to this one. We could easily be looking at a game changer!

Triple Density

Non-Textured Sonar Lines

Sonar Sink 25 Cold - replaces Mastery Wet Tip Express
A 25' extra fast sinking tip with floating running line. The running line incorporates a large diameter handling section for better mending and line control. With a braided multi-filament core and Shooting Technology Plus the Sonar Sink 25 provides an excellent low tangle design which increases shooting distance. An excellent streamer line for trout. Measured in grains and formulated for cold-water.

Sonar Sink 30 Warm and Sonar Sink 30 Clear Tip - replaces Mastery Streamer Express
Two version of this popular sinking line. First the Sink 30 Clear is a 30 foot clear intermediate tip with a colored intermediate running line. The Sink 30 Warm is a fast sinking 30' tip with a colored intermediate running line. Formulated for warmer climates and ideal for big streamer fishing. Both lines feature different colors in running lines between various sizes to make identification easy. Sink 30 Warm uses a braided multi-filament core to aid in better sinking and strike detection while the Sink 30 Clear uses a Mono-filament core for clear tip stealth.

Sonar Sink Tip

Sonar Sink Tip
Exactly as the names implies. Sinking Tip, Floating body and comes in 3 different sinking densities, Type 3, Type 4 and Type 5. On this Sonar Series line actual sink tip length increases with line size. It makes sense to me that length of tip would be dictated by rod weight. The bigger more powerful rod can handle more sinking tip and larger flies. The benefit to the angler is you can now set up multi rods to better handle different fishing situations and remain with comfortable casting conditions.

Editors note: 

Too often I see anglers use the biggest sinking tip line they can get on smaller weight rods. We tend to always assume that we match our rods to our quarry. An approach that I have found that works better for me is to match my rod to the type of line and size of fly I wish to fish. An example is I will use up to an 8 weight rod for bass fishing. Most anglers I talk to think 8 weight is too big for bass angling but what an 8 weight can do for me is allow me to fish bigger flies and/or sinking tip lines all the while making casting much easier and less tiring and allowing me to reach further distances to provide more opportunity. Sure if a particular fisheries average size is 12" than an 8 weight is certainly overkill but in that type of fishery I am probably not going to be fishing as large of a fly or have the need to get down as deep. It's something to think about when choosing a rod for a particular species, also consider fly size, fly weight. fly wind resistance and type of line needed.

Sonar Specialty Lines

Sonar Titan Big Water Taper (Slow Sink and Max Sink versions) - This big water Textured line is created to be the strongest of its kind. With a 100lb tropical formulated monofilament core and the strong turnover power of Titan taper the Big Water is designed for species such as Giant Trevally, Arapaima and all Blue Water species. Two formats, Slow Sink and Max Sink

Sonar Saltwater Intermediate - Clear head for stealthy presentations

Sonar Stillwater - Full clear intermediate sink line ideal for lake angling

Sonar Hover (Freshwater and Saltwater versions) - When you just want to get your line under the surface chop. Both versions are built with hover tips and floating running lines.

Sonar Uniform Sink - A graduated sinking line to get a straighter connection to your fly designed for lake and stillwater applications

Sonar Custom Tip - Lets and angler customize a heaving sinking tip line to their own personal needs.


A lot of changes with Scientific Anglers for 2016 and while many changes also bring some confusion I can easily say after learning all the changes, today's Scientific Anglers is much easier to understand and has much more to offer. S/A has always built high quality durable fly fishing lines and continues this tradition and commitment into the future.

Please don't hesitate to shoot us an email or give us a call with fly line questions. Remember this, the right fly line matched to your rod will bring out it's best qualities! The wrong line on the best rod will make you question your ability as a fly angler.

Learn about the floating Titans
Scientific Angler Wavelength Titan - Prepare For Launch

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Scientific Anglers Frequency - Whats your Frequency

Scientific Anglers decided it was time to clean up all the confusion in the mid-price line market. After examining what was available it was determined that the choices were too confusing. There must be a simpler way! Frequency Fly Lines solves this problem

Great lines at a good price...$49.95. This series has 6 tapers (3 floating and 3 sinking) all with AST coating and welded front loops. There are only 4 sizes for each taper (5-8 or 3-6..depending on the taper)

Frequency - Trout (3-6wt) 

Trout

General Purpose Trout Line

Exactly what you should expect in a trout line. It features a mid length head for ease of casting and enough rear taper to make mends at moderate distances. It features a braided multifilament core, formulated with AST for slickness and Line ID marking system for easy identification. Looped on the front end for easy leader attachment.

Boost

Frequency - Boost (3-6wt)

Half of a line size heavier than the Trout taper Boost gives you that extra edge needed for modern fast action trout rods. Boost will carry larger heavier flies more easily than the Trout line and all the same great features.

Magnum

Frequency - Magnum 

(5-8wt)

Big flies, indicators, large dries will all turn over with ease with this 1/2 line size jump Magnum Taper fly line. Looking for a streamer line this is it. 

Frequency - Sink Tip (5-8wt)

10' Sink Tip

!0 foot of type 3 sink tip material makes this the line of choice for streamers and wet flies to get them down. Mid-Length head for easy control and a sink rate of 2.5 - 4.0 ips. 

Full Sinking

Frequency - Full Sink and Intermediate Sink (5-8wt)

Ideal Still water angling fly line. Choose between the intermediate with a 1.25 ips sink rate of the full sink with its 3-5 ips. 

Lot's of good choices in this new series from S/A and especially for $49.95...By eliminating features such as rear loops, multi colors and more sizes than one could ever need S/A was able to bring the price down to a mid-level creating a good line for the price. 

So what's your Frequency!

Airflo Streamer Max Fly Line Review

Airflo Streamer Max Sink Tip Fly Line

The new Airflo Streamer Max Short is a very powerful sink tip line. What I mean by this is that this line is an extreme weight forward line meant for turning over big heavy flies. It packs a lot of mass over a very short distance (the WF6 is only 24 feet long) which helps to shoot a lot of weight with very limited back casting (minimal line outside the rod tip). These types of line tapers are not revolutionary. There are many on the market today that have very similar tapers with similar lengths of sink tip fused into the front of the line. Most of these lines have a floating portion and a sinking portion, but there are a couple that actually integrate an intermediate section of line between the floating running line and the high density tip. This can be found in the Rio Outbound Short, as well as the Streamer Max.