The Slickstream fly line is a new product from SShoot, a company who are already well known for their innovative tackle such as the stunning Backwinder fly reel. SShoot say that the Slickstream has been designed with the Sea Trout fisher in mind and comes as a weight forward in any colour you like as long as its white – oh, and orange. The orange bit is the clever part as SShoot call this the ‘Hauling Zone’ which, for the benefit of mere mortals such as I, clearly marks the ‘sweet spot’ for hauling just behind the head and about 4-5ft into the running line.

Initial impressions were that there’s no doubting that this is a very capable line indeed. The finish is very good and the line made available for testing had very little memory, it floated high in the water and (with a tapered leader attached) turned over flies of all sizes I would likely use for Sea Trout fishing. I tested the line on 3 different rods a Bloke 9ft#6wt, a Vision 10ft #5wt and a custom built Greys GPRL 10ft #7/8wt. Using the orange hauling zone all the rods loaded impressively (perhaps in the case of the Vision just a wee bit too impressively, but nothing ventured nothing gained) but you do need to keep hauling and watching that orange section to get the best results from a conventional cast whether you are single or double hauling – but by maintaining line speed I was rewarded with nice tight loops. For me at least there was no point in keeping a lot of the line in the air – those nice loops quickly become less manageable and it all ‘fell apart’. For best results the ‘Hauling Zone’ does indeed appear to be very well marked and with one or two false casts it fairly flies off to the horizon.
Switching to a roll or Spey cast and results are very good indeed, with a wee bit of playing around I was getting not far short of the same distance with a roll cast as I was with a ‘conventional’ cast; not sure what that says about my casting!! It’s in this type of cast (roll/spey) that I see the most benefit for any likely use of this line for night time Sea Trout adventures. Although saying that, this is certainly the type of line I wish I’d had in my possession a few years ago when I fished the Ythan Estuary on a regular basis – there’s no doubt as an easy to shoot distance line it would have made my life considerably easier!
I suspect that SShoots colour change ‘Hauling Zone’ (whilst not entirely revolutionary) is likely to assist anglers of all levels. After you’ve bought one it would be worth playing around with where the ‘Hauling Zone’ works best on your own rod, it will yield results and finding the sweet spot will make you quite content indeed. However, do be warned that initially the #6wt line I tested on a #6wt rod felt quite heavy, which is why I subsequently tried it out on my ‘brute’ of a #7/8wt where it performed impressively but only enough to convince me that it is indeed a very interesting #6wt.
In conclusion I’d say that SShoot have produced a very good quality distance fly line; perhaps I’m just obtuse but I’m not entirely convinced (or simply cannot see how) this line will be of specific benefit to the Sea Trout fisher per se although as a quick loading distance casting line it is very good indeed.

Fish Wild