# Cortland Liquid Crystal: Guide vs Flats Taper?



## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

The one would work good with the guide for quick shots. I have a 6wt one. I use wulff btt on it, but I use the Cortland guide taper a lot as well. My 7 wt salt has the guide. 

I have used the flats taper as well and it's a great casting line. If I was fishing spooky fish and needed 60ft+ cast consistently I would use the flats over the guide. I can cast to the backing with the flats taper. It allows you to hold a lot of line in the air and land a bit softer. The trade off is that it's not a great close range tool. Think redfish taper vs bonefish taper, that basically what they are.


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## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

I agree with elsurf on the above. 

I have the flats taper in clear on my 6wt BVK. I like the longer taper for spooky fish. I went ahead and went with a 7wt flats taper to get a little more grain weight and help it load a bit quicker( the 7wt fell in the grain window I like on the rod) and I feel like it's really good trade between stealth and ability to easily make short shots.


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## Jfack (Nov 2, 2014)

When I was buying cortland here's what they emailed me back:

"The Guide taper will load better in close. Its slightly heavier than the Flats taper."
"Weight wise the Tropic Compact will load quicker in tight compared to the Guide Taper. The Guide taper will be a little nicer for longer casts as the head is longer than the Tropic Compact but will still load fine in close."

Hope that helps.
My personal opinion after using the lc guide for a little bit now on my nrx, it's a greaaaat casting line. BUT, memory has been a B the past few months. I'm talking after stretching 3 times through, then a ride in the boat out, it'll lay out as tightly wound as the reel. I'm hoping when it warms up even more it'll be better. My wulff has been fine in any Florida weather so far.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

excellent info, thanks guys!


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## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

Jfack said:


> BUT, memory has been a B the past few months. I'm talking after stretching 3 times through, then a ride in the boat out, it'll lay out as tightly wound as the reel. I'm hoping when it warms up even more it'll be better. My wulff has been fine in any Florida weather so far.


My LC Guide had memory so bad that I sent it back and switched to Wulff. Water temp was 68. Customer service with Cortland was excellent, and they did replace the line, but I've grown quite fond of the Bermuda lines with Wulff. I know quite a few guides in my area that swear by Cortland.


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## SkiffsDoWha (Dec 23, 2016)

I use the both the LC Guide and clear Flats Taper on an 8wt. I use the LC Guide taper for more windy conditions and slightly heavier flies (deeper water, longer leaders, etc.). I tend to use the LC Flats Taper with smaller flies in situations where I might have to false cast near several fish without spooking them. It is a great shallow water line....lays down great and you can use shorter leaders if you want. I use a 7wt LC Flats Taper on a 691 TCX for smallmouth. Great setup as the casts are not very far.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Chris, I have a new 6wt LC Flats taper that you are welcome to try out on your One, if you are coming down to my side of the bay. It might be the "one" for your One! 

The Guide is a 1/2 line weight heavier than the Flats taper. PErsonally, I don't like the heavier weight, but with some rods, slightly over lining them helps them to feel the load better. That's not a problem with the Sage One in a 6wt. If you buy the LQ Flats taper, I recommend you get the Sky Blue, since you can still see your loops with that color, while still being stealthy during the daytime. The clear is just hard to see. For guys like me that can cast blind and can go on feel alone, the clear is fine. But if you are still trying to work out your casting demons (usually under 5-6yrs worth of fly casting), seeing what's going on up inthe air will make a world of difference in your casting.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

I don't really want to over line and like the thought of being able to carry more line in the air when wading on foot. 

I also got a recommendation of the SA Mastery Bonefish line for light presentations to spooky reds. So I'm going to take a hard look at that as well.

I've been throwing the Airflo Ridge Clear on my previous 6wt. Its going to be primarily a gurgler rod now, which will give me a fly I can track visually while casting against edges.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Rio Bonefish for that blank as much as it pains me to type it.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Fyi my sage one 6wt with wulff btt is a magic combo. No issues carrying a lot of line for long cast.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

If you want a Cortland lq line the flats taper would be a good fit based on your comments.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

I agree with el9surf. Either one would be good. If you go to the SA bonefish, you will seriously reduce the size and weight of the fly. Like flies with no more than a bead chain eye with flies basically the size of small bonefish flies. The other lines, you can get away with flies up to an ex small lead eyes and flies that are up to the size of larger bonefish flies and small redfish patterns (except for bunny, which absorbs water (= more weight)).


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