majicwrench wrote:
Any line without a memory problem works for me.
That covers it pretty well. In truth, neither my 'glass nor my carbon rods have ever cared what brand or taper line was used, the rod is mostly just a handle, so pick the line to match the fly and the job; floating lines for top water work and sinking lines for deep water, heavy lines for large flies and light lines for delicate presentation of midges and so forth.
If one looks at the taper profiles and weight distribution of each line it will probably indicate some manufacturers market the same line under several labels aimed at specific fish, differing only in box color and price.
Cut a DT in half and splice it to running line and it becomes a WF, cut 5-7' off the front of either and they become basic level lines.
Add a few inches to the tip or to the rear taper of any line and you can market it as some new line for $10 more.
Change the color of the dye and double the price and everybody will need the "new" "improved" line.
After several decades of every company touting how slick their lines were and how wonderful "slick" was/is, they suddenly found that rough/textured/sharkskin/etc could sell.
I'm not a good enough caster to appreciate the difference that ten grains of weight (spread over 30') or six inches of extra rear taper or ten more feet of running line makes. I do like slick. I can get about any front taper I want by changing leaders or leader design. By 1985 the lines had about as good of design as they do now, as far as I can tell. Plastic is still plastic and there is only so much manipulation that can be done with any material, marketing though has no limits.