How does RIO do it?

What do nonlinear dynamic deformations, numerical algorithms, non-uniform elastica, and the legendary Serret-Frenet reference frame have to do with fooling fish?

Lots, we’ve discovered. All the concepts, all the revolutionary tapers, all the passion in the world won’t magically turn out the world's best fly lines – you need the technology to make it happen. (Of course, real life fishing experience is required – you ever try to cast with a slide rule?) Luckily for anyone who knows everything about a caddis fly and nothing about a copolymer, RIO has done the research.

Look no further than our more recent industry-changing technologies—AgentX™ and Super Floatation Technologies™. We've all wanted a higher floating line for a long time but, even as remarkable as our fly lines are, they can’t float without a little technological intervention. Traditionally, getting a line to float has required mixing a bunch of tiny glass balls (cleverly called microspheres) into the soupy coating compound prior to the curing phase. The higher you want your line to float, the more glass balls you must add. But this creates a problem in that the microspheres can create a rougher, microscopically abrasive coating that has less plastisol which results in a structurally weaker fly line that cracks.

So, after years of experimenting with exotic compounds and plenty of waist-deep R&D, our super-smart lab people in the dust-free rooms discovered an element six times more buoyant than those made by our competitors. Six times. But the right element was just the start. It took an “exponential leap” (that’s how the labcoats talk) in rethinking the manufacturing process to put it all together. That is how RIO developed "Fusion Technology" (used in all AgentX and SFT lines). By simultaneously processing this super-buoyant undercoating with a super-smooth outer coating (remember far fewer micropheres) the results are the smoothest, most durable, and highest floating fly lines imaginable.  

And we didn’t stop there. If one coating of AgentX is so buoyant, then two coats must be, well, really buoyant. Introducing Super Floatation Technology, a manufacturing technique that allows us to fuse two coatings of AgentX seamlessly. No regular microspheres are used at all in SFT. This specialized process is applied to the front four feet of the fly line, producing a tip with a specific gravity of around 0.65. Compare that to the standard s.g. of 0.88 or so and you get an idea of just how significant this is. You can go look up specific gravity now, but, trust us – 0.65 is incredibly good.

Better yet, go try it for yourself and see how productive fishing with a tip that stays afloat can be.

That's revolutionary.

That’s what technology and passion can do.