This is the second generation HMT line. The first was a single coloured line – this has a cream head, orange hauling zone and grey running line.

Figures for the HMT are 12.2m head, 2.55m front taper, 2.1m rear taper – which, if you don’t speak fluent Anorak, translates as a fairly standard head length, medium front taper and rear taper.

As I loaded this on a reel I thought the surface was very smooth indeed; slightly slick and a slightly stiff coating. This is a PVC-coated line so all my usual knots work. I can nail knot a leader to the pointy end.

And so to casting. The smooth, slick surface feels great in the hand. Peeling it off the reel on a freezing cold morning, the HMT has some coil memory. Scierra has opted for a hardish coating on this the HMT which gives great shooting characteristics.

In the UK, we seem to have either a passion for limp lines or a passionate dislike of fly-lines with any hint of stiffness. The former makes sense for some types of precision, presentation fishing. The latter is foolish. Obviously, if a fly-line has enough coil memory on retrieve it’s not good. But, if you want to false cast a long line, longer than the head of a WF line, then a stiffer line helps. If you want a line to slide over rings – slick, smooth, firm makes more sense than smooth which tends to drip and droop between the rings.

The HMT loads a familiar 7-weight rod quickly and turns over easily. Quick loading suggests to me this is at the high end of the AFTMA scale, possibly over-weight. (Many top class WF lines are technically overweight; they do not break your rod and don’t frighten horses.) The hauling zone on the rear taper gives a convenient reminder of the head position. Cast with that at the tip ring and it works. Allow a little overhang (hauling zone a yard or two outside the tip) and it goes longer. Put simply, the HMT is a modern, easy-casting line.