I have been fishing with the Arcay nymphing line for about four months now, using it and alternating with some of my other lines throughout an afternoon or so.  I've used it on big water and small waters nymphing for trout and whitefish, as well as the odd steelhead.  Here are my thoughts:

The line is two coloured, with the main body being black and the tip (about 12' long - I haven't measured it precisely) being light blue.  I have been surprised how well the light blue tip shows up, as initially looking at it I would have thought it would be tough to see.  Quite the opposite though - I can see it quite well when fishing out far with an 18-20' leader, and I can't help but think that the light blue tip section is very subtle to the fish when the line is overhead of them.  Dead easy for me to see and possibly more subtle to the fish:  win-win scenario.

The diameter of the line is very small, pretty much bang-on a precise 0.22 inch, which is the minimum diameter we comp anglers can use.  It leads to less sag and goes though the guides well, yet at the same time there is enough substance to the line to firmly grip it when fighting fish (one of the problems to the all-leader approach)

Photo: Chris in action during a competitive session on a BC river

The line is very supple and soft, which I suspect helps it shoot through the guides when you are counting on the weight of the fly to do most of the work (and you don't want the line slowing it down!).  When you hold the line in your fingers, you can feel how supple it is.

Long and short of it, for a nymphing line it casts very well (didn't try it with dries mind you!).  I paired it with a 2 weight 10 foot rod, and casting out to about 45' with a single tungsten bead nymph was fairly easy.  Really, like any fly line, you want it to help you cast, not get in the way, and help you fight a fish, and this line does all this very well. 

Often we go through nymphing lines on rivers fairly quickly, as the lines have only a thinly coated jacket, and on the rocks they take an incredible amount of abuse (sure do from me anyways!).  I am looking forward to seeing how this line stands up over time and will be certainly giving it the long term test this summer. 

Chris Puchniak

Smart Angling Pro Staff and Competitive Angler

The Arcay Spanish Nymph Line is available in Canada exclusively through Smart Angling.  

More about Chris:

Chris has been fly fishing for about 30 years, and his interests have sent him to many fishy locations between Canada and Tasmania. Since 2011 he has been active in the Competition scene, and  has been fortunate enough to fish on two consistently medal winning teams within Canada.  He has had the privilege to be selected to represent Canada for two International teams (in 2014 and 2017), and has competed in numerous events within Canada, where he has been fortunate enough to have won a number of individual and team medals. 

For the past couple of years Chris has also been involved in helping the Canadian National Youth Team as an Assistant coach, as well as being involved with Trout Unlimited.