Review: RIO Permit Taper Fly Fishing Line

RIO makes quite a few fly fishing lines these days. Having a large selection of lines to choose from that can give you a better edge out on the water is never a bad thing. Recently we reviewed the RIO Bonefish Taper fly line in 7wt and today we’re going to take a look at another offering from them. Here’s an excerpt from RIO’s website for the Permit series of fly lines:

RIO’s Permit line has been specifically designed for the Permit fly fisher. Each line features an easy casting taper that loads at close range, and yet empowers the cast for quick distance.

…and does it do these things quite well!

When I was asked to evaluate this new ‘Permit’ line from RIO and choose a weight to test out, I immediately had the perfect setup in mind. My favorite all-around setup is my Orvis Helios II 9wt and Tibor Everglades reel. The 9wt just provides, for me, the perfect balance of wind-cutting line weight and cast-ability for all types of fish and scenarios.

After unboxing the new RIO Permit line I immediately noticed that it’s a two-tone line much like Wulff Triangle Taper lines. The color difference lets you know when the belly of your taper is running out as it fades to the next color. I rarely find myself doing this but it’s a nice feature to have.

After spooling up the line and stretching it out on a Friday, I set out on the lagoon the next two days for a full weekend of frustrating fish-finding and line testing to see if this RIO Permit line was right for me.

Turns out- it was!

What line you use is going to depend on your casting style and what rod you are using. Some people like fast actions and some people like slow actions. Some people like a light whip of their line while others may like to really feel a tug on the rod during the back cast. Personally- I’m the latter. During my false casts and back casts I like to really feel what the line is doing and wait that extra quarter of a second to feel when the line is perfectly loaded on the rod.

The RIO Permit line did that- just as it’s description on the website said it would. Now, I’m not a closet over-liner, but I do like so called ‘half weight’ lines for fishing in salt water on the flats. Given my penchant for the line to rod loading factor above these slightly heavier lines keep my casting efficiency up when tossing little flies to smart fish.

A quick loading of the rod with a solid feeling of where exactly you are in your cast makes all the difference. Matter of fact I’m pretty sure that’s what we all strive for when becoming better fly anglers, right? The weight of this RIO Permit line also lets you get pretty good accuracy out of longer casts. I’m not one of those guys that can toss the entire fly line out of the reel until you hit backing, but the Permit line allows me to cast quickly and accurately at any normal distance out in the shallows.

Many fish were caught in various situations the weekend I first took this line out on the water. I wrote about it a month or so ago in a post titled ‘the lagoon as of late’ because it was so out-of-place-edly awesome. As a testament to how well the RIO line worked on this setup- I’m still using it on my 9wt setup to this day.

If you’re looking for a new line to load a fast action rod like the Helios II that allows you to make quick and accurate casts, don’t hesitate to give the new RIO Permit line a try.

More details and purchase RIO Permit line today!