The fly line is a very important part of the fly fishing gear. Unlike spin fishing, it is the fly line that is the casting weight when you fly fish.
Fly lines are available in several different "densities" (how quickly they sink), from floating line to fast-sinking lines to fish effectively in the deepest parts. The most common and easiest-to-cast line is the floating line. It is also the line that the beginner should choose. On your fly rod, it states which class (#) of the line works best with the rod. Backing is used as filler under the fly line and as a reserve line when the dream fish has bitten.
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Fly line or backing
Fly fishing comes with two casting variants: single-hand fishing or two-hand fishing, referring to how many hands are needed to perform the cast. A single-hand line weighs less and thus only requires one hand holding the rod to cast.
A shooting head is a small part of the line that weighs significantly more than the rest of the line. It’s used as weight in the cast to efficiently send the line out without needing multiple back-and-forth motions before casting.
Backing is the part of the line used as your anchor. Since a fly line is very short, you might need more line than the fly line itself when fighting a larger fish—here’s where backing comes in. A thin, often braided line that you spool onto your fly reel as a base. For standard single-hand fly fishing, you typically use 50 meters of backing.
Line class (fly fishing)
The number on the line class determines the fly line’s weight, in other words, how powerful the fly rod you’re using is. That’s why the intended rod’s line class determines which line class you should choose for the rest of your gear, like the fly reel and line. A fly rod in line class 3 (#3) is a lighter rod for smaller waters and smaller fish. A fly rod in class 9 (#9) is a heavier rod designed to handle larger flies and bigger fish. When matching fly fishing gear, ensure the line, reel, and rod are of the same class. The best-selling fly fishing gear in Sweden is a 9-foot rod in class 5 with a class 5 floating line (WF) and a matching reel.
![Hurricane Sinking [FS] fly line 26 m black](https://d1ry2pq5lodqfa.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/19125e564c9e8562edf69a4be0af0029/W/F/WF7FS_1.jpg)
![Hurricane Slow Sinking [SSI] fly line 30 m](https://d1ry2pq5lodqfa.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/19125e564c9e8562edf69a4be0af0029/S/S/SSI-8_1.jpg)
![Hurricane Short Head Floating [SHF] flytande fluglina 30 m](https://d1ry2pq5lodqfa.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/19125e564c9e8562edf69a4be0af0029/S/H/SHF-8_1.jpg)
![Greys Platinum X Comp floating fly line 27.4 m [9 g, 11.6 m] 2-4#](https://d1ry2pq5lodqfa.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/19125e564c9e8562edf69a4be0af0029/1/6/1632555_MS)
