Quick Hit Review: RIO Elite Gold XP Fly Line

Quick Hit Review: RIO Elite Gold XP Fly Line

RIO Products has come out with some new fly lines for 2025, and the one I think will get the most traction is the RIO Elite Gold XP fly line.  “XP” is for extra power, but it’s a multi-purpose line, so you can swing wet flies in the morning, switch over to dry flies when you see the hatch come off and then throw small streamers later in the day, and the line works equally well in all situations. I think it works best as a line for fishing dry-dropper rigs, and I like the 6-weight best.

The line is a half-size heavy by grain weight, so it’s definitely engineered to complement fast action fly rods, windy summer rivers, indicator rigs etc. “Elite” references the company’s “ConnectCore Plus” technology, meaning it’s a low-stretch line, and more in touch with you, the angler, and it’s coated with a proprietary SlickCast, so it shoots easily.

But what I really want to talk about is the taper. At 15 feet, it has a pretty decent back taper–this is good for mending, especially if you’re nymph fishing with an indicator. The total head length is 42 feet, just slightly over half of which is the body. This is the business part, which translates to pretty easy loading, even at short distances, though I’d say the line performs best at around 30-40 feet.

The front taper is fairly dramatic at 5-feet 6-inches, which creates an ability to make delicate presentations with dry flies. I wouldn’t call this a spring creek line by any stretch, but for an all-arounder, it’s more than gentle enough for the vast majority of your dry fly situations.

I’d rate the “float factor” to be better than the older Airflo (pre Airflo Superflo Power Taper) fly lines, better than Cortland and about equal to the similar half-weight-heavy lines from Scientific Anglers (the Amplitude Smooth MPX).  

The color scheme is gray in the running line, electric green in the back taper and the front of the line is moss green. Color critics might rather swap out the gray and electric green, but that doesn’t worry me for most fishing conditions.

As an all-around line you can spool up now and expect to fish all summer, in all sorts of spots, it’s a keeper.

The price is $130.

From RIO Products: “Weighing in at a half-size heavy and powered by a mid-length head, new Gold XP is the most versatile multipurpose taper in RIO’s freshwater Gold lineup.”