Line Review - Cortland Sylk (4 seasons on)

I'll be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of many of the fly lines made or distributed by Cortland. However, there are a few gems in their line-up including the old school 444 (Peach), the 444sl Camo Clear, and the more recently added 444 Sylk.

The Sylk line initially received a lot of press as a synthetic silk line substitute. It's slightly stiff makeup, thin diameter and subtly mottled finish apparently does a passable imitation of the real thing, but it wasn't any of these features that drew me to the product. Indeed, my interest was only aroused when I watched an episode of the locally produced Sportsfishing BC. In it the host peeled the Sylk line off the reel in bitterly cold weather to demonstrate how it "pooled" on the deck of the pram without coiling. Having suffered through many lines that coil like slinkies in the cold (including other Cortland offerings), I was immediately smitten.

After a fruitless search in the local shops I had one of them order the line from the distributor. This turned out to be a crucial mistake as the line took four months to arrive (I discovered later that "small" orders through the Canadian distributors were only shipped with larger purchases and my line fell victim to this problem). Not content to wait, I went on-line and was fortunate to find Herndon rods across the line in Washington state who stocked the line as a complement to their custom bamboo rods.

One line out of the box looks very much like another in most cases, but the Sylk line was a bit different. Unlike most modern lines the first thing that struck me was the subtle cloth-like texture to the finish of the line. The mottled olive gold colouration was also a contrast with the generally brighter monochromatic fly lines available. A quick crimp test on the line indicated no significant "instant" memory issues, and the line diameter was as thin as promised.

On the reel the Sylk line performs as promised with respect to line memory. Even after being spooled on a small diameter Hardy Flyweight for an extended period, the line comes off the reel without coiling. The line shoots very well out of the box and with only the occasional cleaning it has continued to do so for the past four seasons. Its casting profile is definitely enhanced by the relatively narrow line diameter and good weight/length ratio, and on the medium to medium-fast action graphite rods I favour it casts very well. I have tried both WF and DT designs and while I rarely have to cast them any distance, I would give the slight edge to the WF design for my casting style with higher weight rods and the DT for the light and ultralight rods (profile information is available here ).


The Sylk line has a lot of advantages over other floating line varieties, but some of these same advantages also create shortcomings. For example, while the line is an excellent cold water/weather performer, it doesn't do as well in the heat of summer and some have complained that it becomes "sticky" in the heat. While I don't live in a climate where this is a significant issue, I could see this being a problem in areas where the average summer temperature is the high 20's (Celsius) and above. Another issue is with regard to the narrow line diameter, which results in a low floating line--definitely a consideration for some presentations. A final issue of note is with regard to the coating on the line. While this makes for a low memory line, it also means that it doesn't stand up to abuse from abrasion, nicks and the occasional boot against the rocks.

I think it's safe to say that the perfect "all-purpose" line has yet to be invented, and given the variety of rods and fishing conditions out there, I don't think I would want one. For my part I have found the Sylk line works very well on most of the slower traditional action graphite rods and softer tip nymphing rods that I own (eg. Scott g-series, Sage SP & VPS-light, Grey's Streamflex, et al). I particularly like this line for small cold water streams with tight cover that require fairly accurate casts over shorter distances. Based on it's narrow diameter, low floating characteristics and subtle low memory construction, I feel this line is best suited to dry and wet fly presentations in moving water conditions. While I occasionally use this line for stillwater applications in the five and six weight range (particularly in cold weather), higher floating more aggressively tapered lines are perhaps better suited to most stillwater fishing conditions.

Aaron