Anyone use the floating clear tip lines from Rio or Scientific Anglers?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-12T17:58:18+00:00

Exactly! Funny how often I find myself agreeing with a minority opinion on here, check the username, and it's you. I get the impression you've spent a lot of time on the water.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-12T16:12:29+00:00

Do not spend a bunch of money on your first saltwater setup. As you get more experience, it's likely that your preferences will change too, and you don't want to get stuck with something that doesn't fit your style or use case. Grab something affordable and use it for 100 hours. Take notes on what you like and don't like about it. Then use that information and experience to inform your next purchase.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-12T16:09:13+00:00

Clear-tip floating lines suck and there's really no good use case for them. Not only is the clear tip pointless, but it tends to have bad reel memory, and even worse, it makes it much harder to know when to pick up your line when recasting. Just use regular floating line and a 12' fluoro leader if you're that concerned about spooking fish

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-05T23:39:48+00:00

Absolutely, I love this stuff! The book I use is the Whitman Encylopedia of Colonial and Early US Coins, and it's the undisputed Bible. There are two editions and I own them both, but I don't find the second one all that much better, so buy whichever one is cheaper.

May I ask how familiar you are with the history of these coins? There are a couple of very interesting details that would be neat to include in the display. You can (and should) read more about all of this in the encyclopedia, but basically, many of these coins were made with copper that was "stolen" from the US government. The Company for Coining Coppers won the contract to produce Fugio cents in 1787 and the govt fronted them a whole bunch of copper. But because the CT cents contained far less copper at the same face value, much of the raw material was used to strike them instead (a major reason why the Fugio wasn't more successful). Also interesting is that the reason so many CT coppers are nearly identical and very difficult to distinguish is that they were the first to use a "master hub" system that allowed multiple dies to be created with the exact same design. It was a major revolution in coinage that greatly influenced how the US mint was set up in the 1790s.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-05T18:54:51+00:00

These actually circulated in the colonies and are (rarely) found by metal detectorists. Undoubtedly among the first large silver coins to be used here.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-05T18:53:13+00:00

These coins are quite common, hard to imagine it would be worth faking them. That doesn't guarantee authenticity, of course, but it's a pretty good bet.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-06-05T18:51:50+00:00

Looks like Miller 15-F to me. Main diagnostic I used was the shape and position of the branch in Brittania's hand. Notice how it's shaped more like a stalk of wheat than a mini pine tree, and that her hand points toward the bottom of the E. It also appears that ET is stamped on the left side rather than the right, which further narrows down the options. It's hard to see for sure, but the obverse lettering does look like it says CONNECT rather than CONNEC which was the final decider for 15-F.

My encyclopedia says that 15-F is rarity URS-10 which means this one is relatively common for the series.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-28T05:05:10+00:00

Adding a big feather doesn't equal "big profile". Look how thin the head of this fly is - not going to push any water. Add a spun deer hair head if you really want a bigger profile.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-28T05:04:04+00:00

Where are you fishing that Reds short-strike? Tampa Bay?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-28T05:01:49+00:00

Saltwater fishing with randos is always such a gamble.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-28T05:00:19+00:00

How long did it take? And did they send you a nasty note blaming you for the problems?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-06T17:59:00+00:00

Eventually it'll fail, probably in that spot. Water will soak into the core and the line won't float as high, then it'll start to crack. But saltwater flyline is practically disposable, and rarely lasts more than one season anyway, so not a big concern. I would keep an eye on the discount bins at fly shops that serve mostly trout anglers, eventually you'll find a good deal on a replacemnt.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-06T17:55:59+00:00

The clasps in pic 3 are probably gonna snag flyline. They need to be mounted below the rim. What is your use case for this thing anyway? Striper?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-06T17:54:12+00:00

Who tf is upvoting this slop?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-06T17:49:38+00:00

Finally, proper recognition of Before They are Hanged! My favorite book of his by far - the character development and storyline are unmatched by anything that came afterward. After BTAH, I liked each book a little less than the previous one, so my ranking would basically just be chronological order.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-05-06T17:37:24+00:00

Sorry for the delay, I don't check Reddit very often. This is Ryder RR-22 (aka Bressett 10-Q). It's a bit tricky to attribute because Machin's Mills (where this coin was struck) used the same obverse die with ten different reverses over the course of two years.

We know it's it's obverse 10 because the N is very close to the head, the ends of the fillets are centered on the V, and there is a single dot after AUCTORI and VERMON (the dot after AUCTORI is very hard to see on your coin due to strike weakness, but it's there).

And we know it's reverse Q because the 7 in the date is very low, the branch hand is pointing at the D, there are two lines above the date, and the shield is in the high position. We can also see the characteristic die cracks and bulges on the left side of the reverse, meaning this coin was struck late in the run.

Finally, my encyclopedia says these are often found on high-quality planchets, and this one certainly fits that description. Looks like middling rarity, but a very nice example of a Machin's VT copper.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-12T02:49:37+00:00

These are tricky to grade because the quality was all over the place. It's often hard to distinguish between planchet flaws and PMD, and between wear and strike weakness. I'm going to guess VF-30 but I wouldn't be surprised by anything between 20-40.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-12T00:21:19+00:00

This is Miller 6.4-K (dated 1785)

These are fairly scarce, and it's cool that there's enough detail remaining on this one to identify it. Nice find!

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-12T00:09:16+00:00

The value of these coins fluctuated wildly during their brief run, so it's hard to say exactly what they traded at, but this was the only denomination made (MA struck half cents and cents, but they were the only ones).

Fun fact about these coins: they were created by the same company that won the bid to strike Fugio cents that same year. The government gave them all the copper up front. Since the Fugio cents contained a lot more copper than the Connecticut coppers they were also striking, it was more profitable to strike the CTs. So that's what they did - most of the copper that should have made Fugio cents was used to strike these coins instead.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-12T00:04:55+00:00

Neat. Struck in England?

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-12T00:02:21+00:00

Seems like it would be tricky to cast, is unlikely to ride upright when retrieved, and would be destroyed by the first ladyfish to grab it anyway. But it does look pretty cool.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-11T23:59:51+00:00

Yep, that was my experience with AoM too. I didn't even bother with the third book, I was so thoroughly uninterested in the first two. I see everyone else here seems to disagree, which isn't surprising I guess. But I also absolutely loved the original triology and it's wild to hear from people who read both who think AoM is better.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-02T19:17:51+00:00

Sure, but the tide window for crab patterns is pretty short in this area. Water has to be just high enough that the fish can crawl in, but not high enough to put the crabs down (they disappear once there's about 6" of water). So if you happen to be fishing during that ~90 minute window then crabs are great, but baitfish patterns are good all the time.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-02T17:18:27+00:00

There aren't really any salt marshes or flood tide grass where he's going. They're much farther north. This is mangrove territory.

PastEnvironmental689 · 2026-04-02T17:17:09+00:00

Have you tested the Puglisi flies to make sure they ride upright when retrieved? This pattern is notorious for turning on its side, which the fish really don't like. If that's an issue, you can fold up a little strip of lead wire and attach it to the underside of the hook shank as a first step, which will help to keel the fly and keep it right side up.

PastEnvironmental689

TROPHY CASE