I ponied up for some Sharkskin line last week and got to toss it a lot on the Yuba last week. Once you get used to the annoying noise, it does cast better and really floats well. I didn't think it was so far superior over other lines I've used in the past, but I'm interested to see how it maintains its' boyancy over the long haul.
The line did not tear up my skin as I've heard others talk about.
The only time I have heard about anglers having hassles with their fingers is when they are casting and stripping all day long...would be interested to hear what everyone else has to say though??
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"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Anon.
Hi Oneweight, I have been using Sharkskin lines on some of my rigs since day one of its release. I have found that I am inspecting my line a bit more often than usual. The texture picks up more dirt particles. It is an easy cleaning job. Just run the line through the special cleaning pad that Scientic Anglers makes. There is no need to dress the line.
You can get a line burn in a few ways. If you strip downward instead of pulling straight, you will get a line burn. If you strip hard when you streamer fish, there is more of chance with that. If you are holding onto dry slack line and a big fish decides to bolt, there is also a chance for a line burn.
I have about 35 fishing days on my 6 weight single handed rig with that line since I got it (maybe two and a half years). It has mostly been used in stillwater situations. But it seems to be floating well still.
I have a couple of Sharkskin lines and love them. I have gotten line burn a few times, but it was always worth it. The burns came from super hot steelhead that took off like freight trains.Â
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I've got about 10 hours on a 6wt wf floating sharkskin. Can't say that I'm wowed by it. It does seem to cast farther, more importantly you don't have to work as hard to make a cast of any length and this probably helps accuracy as well. However, it's noisy, is noticably abrasive (didn't get any burns, though but I haven't hooked into any monster steelies), and within the first 10 minutes of casting the tip was sinking which was kind of annoying.
A good line, but there is a trade-off for that ease of distance that you are getting.
