Fly line for permit

[nohackle]

I am making my first trip to Belize for permit in Feb. I have a Sage Xi 2 9ft, 10 wt rod.

I'm wondering what would be the best line to load my reel with for permit.

I hear that Cortland or Scientific anglers has a line with the last several feet being clear. Has anyone used that line?

I'm thinking that I might be better off loading my reel with 11wt line, to cast with my 10 wt rod. What do you experienced flats fisherman think about that? I have heard that the clear tip line does not come in 11 wt , though.

What about backing? What backing would people recommend for my Tibor Riptide 10 wt reel?

Nohackle

[mctrout]

I am also going to Belize in Feb to Punta Gorda.
I would not overline the 10 weight as it is hard to get a soft presentation with a 11 weight line. (IMO)
I almost exclusively use the Master Clear Tip lines as they have a braided core so they stay stiff. I guide in the Noreast so I have not used them all that much in Warm water, but bet they work well, but must say that for Permit fishing you should be using a Floating line. The Cleartip is an intermediate and will be hard to pick up and recast if the fish changes direction. They do make them in 11 as I have 3 or 4 of them for my 10 weights for Bass and Albie fishing.
The XI2 is allot of rod and I will be using my XI2 9wt for permit and the 10 if it is real windy. I also use Riptides for 8-10 rods and even sometimes 12 weights for Bluefin. Best reels there are and have many of them.
any Braided dacron 30 pound backing is good. some use GelSpun, which is generally unecessary in my view as you get 300 yards on the regular spool Riptide and well over 200 on the Spool 2 (which I love)
Good luck. Will be there on the 24th

[joshr]

Definitely agree with Brendan re overlining...wouldn't do it. A few companies do have lines now with clear tips that are NOT intermediate tips (cortland's 555 flats ghost tip is one), but I really don't think they do anything for you in terms of stealth, and they just make it harder to find and track your fly, which is way more important when permit fishing, cause you want to see the fish tip down on the fly and know when to strip strike...you can miss a lot of permit by having them eat and spit it without you even knowing they ate.

I recently tried the Sage Equator line when bonefishing in Andros and loved it. It's made by 3M, but I liked it a lot more than the current version of the SA Mastery Bonefish. I also tried and liked the Royal Wulff Bermuda Triangle Taper...not as stiff as the Sage, but handles very well.

--Josh

I am also going to Belize in Feb to Punta Gorda.
I would not overline the 10 weight as it is hard to get a soft presentation with a 11 weight line. (IMO)
I almost exclusively use the Master Clear Tip lines as they have a braided core so they stay stiff. I guide in the Noreast so I have not used them all that much in Warm water, but bet they work well, but must say that for Permit fishing you should be using a Floating line. The Cleartip is an intermediate and will be hard to pick up and recast if the fish changes direction. They do make them in 11 as I have 3 or 4 of them for my 10 weights for Bass and Albie fishing.
The XI2 is allot of rod and I will be using my XI2 9wt for permit and the 10 if it is real windy. I also use Riptides for 8-10 rods and even sometimes 12 weights for Bluefin. Best reels there are and have many of them.
any Braided dacron 30 pound backing is good. some use GelSpun, which is generally unecessary in my view as you get 300 yards on the regular spool Riptide and well over 200 on the Spool 2 (which I love)
Good luck. Will be there on the 24th

[teflon_jones]

Why would you want to over line the rod? :confused:

You don't need a clear tip line imho. The presentation of your fly is much more important. I'd use the Cortland Tropic Plus Lazerline. Great line that casts amazingly well, including in stiff wind.

[ikan besar]

I've caught a fair amount of permit and tarpon in the Southern half of the country and never felt the need for more than an 8wt rod. A 9wt would be ok but a 10wt is overkill IMO.

[Count]

I think I read somewhere that Del Brown used a 9wt. Sage RPLX rod with an Abel 3N, which he overlined with an 11 wt. line for his permit ventures.

I would think you would be fine with 200 yards of 30lb. backing and a 10wt. line on that Riptide.

I heard good things about the Bruce Chard permit line (can't remember who makes it...maybe Teeny?)

I'm thinking of trying that Sage Equator or the Wulff Bermuda TT line this spring for bonefish. Heard good things about them, too.

[Strat]

I was in Belize earlier this year and used a 9wt Xi2 with a 9wt Orvis Bonefish floater. Worked great and was plenty of rod for the "average" 8-10 lb permit.

Also used a 10wt Xi2 with a 10wt Orvis Bonefish floater for the really big crabs on the deeper flats. The 10 is a little stiffer for it's line weight than the 9 and a 10wt Tarpon line would probably have been better.

I would not use an intermediate or clear tip line. There is too much turtle grass and the floater helps you locate your fly a little better.