New Airflo Bandit Fly Fishing Line | Review
Have a read as to what Jeremy Burke from Hunting & Fishing Ballingers has to say about the new Airflo Bandit line
The original Airflo Bandit taper created a cult following with NZ anglers, it’s unique camo tip design took the classic olive coloured line to a new level and we had a number of anglers who swore by it for chasing spooky back country fish.
New for this 2023 Airflo have updated the Bandit into its two premium fly line collections Ridge 2.0 and Superflo. Both of which utilise Airflo’s new microsphere buoyancy system, improved coating slickness and incredibly low memory for better handling and drag free drifts. The Ridge 2.0 version boasts reduced friction at the guides and a larger surface area for even more buoyancy.
The crew at Manic have worked with Airflo to create an updated taper profile for the NZ market. Like the original Bandit the new taper utilises a long rear taper that allows you to aerialise more line, making it perfect for longer casts but also gives better control when wanting pin point accuracy on a long cast.
What’s new is the front end of the line where a double belly has been created in the weight forward section, the rear belly is relatively standard however the shorter front belly is slightly heavier. This does a number of key things for the NZ market, it loads the rod quicker on short casts, preventing the need to upline the rod.
It releases a tone of power at the end of the cast so the line rolls out and doesn’t loose power in those critical last few feet. It has enough mass to turn over heavy nymphs, yarn indicators and bushy dry flies like cicadas. Lastly this extra energy is perfect for knocking over the super long leaders we use in the South Island. This is a critical issue with regular tapers where too much energy is lost before it gets to the long leader.