I
f you are looking for an all-round trout
line, the Sharkwave Siege is not likely
to come up as a top choice. The Siege
is a niche line. It was designed to load
a rod quickly in order to cast large flies
with minimal backcasts. It works very
well for that purpose. I first fished the
Siege line on a 5wt Winston Nexus. It
was easy to lift and fire heavy streamers
with a single backcast. In the past, I have
often over lined my rods by one or even
two lines sizes to achieve similar results.
The Siege line is designed to match. I
used the 5wt on a 5wt. It was a joy to
fish and definitely covered that niche as
advertised. If you want a floating line
to fish streamers, the Siege line is an
excellent choice.
Sharkskin texturing on the tip section
for the ultimate in floatation.
I have since discovered several more
niches where the Siege line excels. I set
it up on a 5wt Sage One for nymphing
during windy conditions on the Missouri
River. The Siege line worked exactly
as I’d hoped. The extra mass up front
pushed casts into the wind that would
have crumpled with standard weight
forward lines. Any type of cast works
well with the Siege. Lift and chuck,
roll cast, dynamic roll cast, single spey,
double spey, snake roll and snap-t. You
can fish the line however you want to.
The quick loading, mass up front profile,
provides effortless spey style casting
options. If there is one drawback, it is
that the Siege line easily casts beyond
its mending capabilities.
The head
length is 38’. Mending control quickly
diminishes beyond 40’.
Mastery textured running line delivers
longer casts without abrasion.
The short head profile also excels for
fishing small water. I’ve enjoyed using
the Siege line on the East Fork of the
Gallatin River. Tight little roll casts
and short water loads are perfect for
constricted spaces. I’m not going to say
I never caught a bush, but mostly, I kept
the line wet.
Features the Tactile Reference Point
(TRP), a non-embossed section at the
end of the head.
After finding success with the Siege line
on the formerly mentioned applications,
I was eager to try it out on a 3 weight
Winston BIII TH Micro Spey rod. I already
found that I could spey cast it on a 9’
single hand rod. I figured that putting it
on a 10’ 6” rod designed for spey casting
should work well. With a 12’ hand tied
Maxima leader and a small streamer, it
put a smile on my face. To me, that is
truly the mark of good gear. If it makes
you smile, you are onto something.
There is no question that the Sharkwave
Siege is a niche line. The only question
is which niche will it fill for you? For me,
the only time I would not use the Siege
is for dry flies. Unless of course I was
skating dries. Hmmm…