Jan 22 2008
Cleaning your Fly Line
For some time now, I have been asked by many people how to clean a fly line. I have explained it to them but I still seem to get more and more people asking me what to do.
As you may Know, keeping your fly line clean is essential. If the fly line you are using is not clean, it will not react the way it was designed to. I have seen some floating lines over the years that are so dirty that you can barely make out that it was yellow when it was new.
I have also seen a sinking line so built up with dried slime and dirt that it would not sink at it’s designated speed.
Cleaning your fly line is a simple yet important task you must do as a flyfisher. the following is a simple step by step guide on how to do this.
1- Fill a large bucket (Around 5 gal) about half way with warm water. Not hot or cold, hot will damage it, cold will not clean it correctly.
2- Add one table spoon of liquid dish soap to the water and give it a mix.
3- Strip you entire fly line into the bucket.
4- Walk away!! Let the fly line sit in this solution for anywhere from 3/4 - 1 hour.
5- Get a soft dish towel (Lint Free if Possible)
6- Start reeling in the line. As you do make sure to run the fly line through the dish towel to dry it.
7- Once the entire line has been dried, strip it out once again but this time onto a sheet on the floor.
8- Use fly line dressing (conditioner) to protect the line. Follow the instructions o n the bottle of dressing for application.
9- Re spool it on your reel and you are done.
This is a simple way of ensuring that you expensive fly line will last you for many years. You can also go out and buy fly line cleaner and follow the instructions on the package, but I have found that doing it with warm soapy water is just as effective.
I do this procedure on ALL my line at the start, end and half way mark of every season. I will also do it more often if I am fishing in lakes that have a heavy bloom of algae.
Tight lines & Fun Times
Rick Passek ( The FlyFish Fanatic)
Another good article on one of the little things that can help make fly fishing more enjoyable. Here in New Zealand, although we have a good reputation for clear clean water it is not always so everywhere, all the time. The benefits of using a clean line are many, but the two main ones, better line performance and increased line life are enough to follow your advice.
Have posted a link on my site.
Be good if I could spell the the link to my own site, don’t you think - still it is 2.30am here!