Sinking line types and colors

[Merle]

I’ve been going though all my reels and lines, trying to document what I have into an accurate Excel database. I have so much in my inventory that I’ve sometimes bought lines, not realizing that I already had that size or type loaded on a reel or spool buried in my drawer.

I’ve come across a few sinking lines where I’ve lost the sticker and am not sure what the sink rate (type) is. Is there any standard on the line color indicating the type? Of the ones I can identify, the type 6 lines seem to be dark grey and type 3 are brown. But I’ve got a really old one (likely a SA wet cel) that is a dark bluish green and I remember it being a pretty fast sink rate. Maybe a type 5? And another one that is a much lighter blue and I know it’s a slower sink rate, but is it type 2 or 3 I’m not sure.

And maybe it’s not standard across brands. I know I’ve bought both Rio Mainstream and SA wet cels.

Anyway if anyone has any hints on decoding these let me know. Thanks

Andy

 

[Merle]

So I did some research online and as far as the current lines out there, here’s what I found:
Sinking Line Colors

SA Wet cel
Type 2 light brown
Type 4 charcoal
Type 6 black

SA Frequency
Type 3 dark green
Type 6 dark gray

Rio Mainstream
Type 3 brown
Type 6 black

Cortland
Type 3 brown
Type 6 black

I’m still a little stumped on my real old SA (?) line that’s dark blue/green. It was a inexpensive line so I’m guessing just a wet cel and sinks a lot faster than I would expect a type 3 to. Or maybe it’s some super cheap no name line since that’s all I could’ve afforded at the time. It’s probably a 30 year old line.

The lighter royal blue one is probably an SA Uniform Sink which is now replaced by their Sonar line which appears to be multi colored and none of the colors are royal blue.

Oh well. I’ll just note what I think they are in my files and call it good.

 

[Northern]

Could you take it off the reel, wet it, then drop the whole coil in a 5 gal bucket of water and time how long it takes to sink to the bottom? "Type" is usually inches per second, right?

 

[Pescaphile]

I made tips out of some SA shooting heads in the past. I remember the type II was a medium green, the type III was a dark green, and the type IV was medium grey. The dark green type III might be what you mention. It has somewhat of a blue/green tint to it, though this is subjective. I just called it "dark green."

 

[Tim L]

I vote replace and start over. It's only money, right?

 

[troutpocket]

I think you’re on to something @Tim Lockhart

The latest lines from SA, Cortland, and Airflo are really nice.

 

[Merle]

Could you take it off the reel, wet it, then drop the whole coil in a 5 gal bucket of water and time how long it takes to sink to the bottom? "Type" is usually inches per second, right?

Yes, I've thought about doing some science experiments to see if I can determine the sink rate. I was thinking of using just the first couple feet, and was worried that taper of the first few feet of line might give erroneous results. But the idea of wetting and sinking the whole coil is great!

 

[krusty]

I tend to buy cheap but very functional reels (like Okuma, TFO, Lamson and Cabelas) when I buy a new line and simply place the line identification sticker on the bottom of the reel foot. I don't buy spare spools. When I'm replacing a line that I don't particularly like I strip it off the reel and put it back on rhe spool it came on, and use that reel for whatever line I'm purchasing. The new sticker goes onto the reel foot. Truly shitty or damaged lines go in the trash.

Probably not a practical solution for most, but with very limited exceptions I fish only 5 wt rods/lines on lakes.

 

[Buzzy]

One other experiment you might consider (if you don’t remember) is the slinky test. I’ve thrown out a couple sinking lines when, no matter how hard the lines were stretched before use, the slinky tangles were just too difficult and time consuming to deal with. The test: strip 20 or 30 feet off, stretch it hard and then kind of kick it (like you might in a boat) if the line birdnests, throw it away before you endure that Tourette’s moment in your boat.

 

[Merle]

I think you’re on to something @Tim Lockhart

The latest lines from SA, Cortland, and Airflo are really nice.

Yes... I just checked out the Airflo Sixth Sense lines they do look nice.

Their colors look like dark green for Type 3 (like the Wet Cel) but now their Type 5 is a royal blue (same shade as that slower sinking SA line I was trying to decode).

 

[Wanative]

As the sink rate of a line increases the diameter decreases.
Slow sinkers are noticeably thicker than faster sinking lines.