Care and Maintenance of Fly Lines
The single most important part of your fly fishing gear is the fly line. The fly line gets the fly to the fish! Taking the time to clean, dress, protect and properly store your fly line will go along way to improve your casting and fly presentation.
The fly lines of today are loaded with technology to provide you with performance that should last a season or more. We are fortunate to have many fine manufacturers providing us with many different designs to help catch just about any fish that swims.
But even with all the advances in fly line materials, only proper care will ensure performance and satisfaction over time.
To maintain optimum performance of your fly line, the following steps are recommended:
- Visually inspect your lines for small surface cracks that result over time and use. The cracks are the first signs that the line is reaching its final days. Cracks form over time and use due to the loss of chemical plasticizers. These materials provide flexibility and lubricity to the fly line.
Check your fly rod guides for wear to be sure they are not causing any excessive wear on the line.
- Deterioration of fly line is accelerated when the line comes in contact with organic solvents such as gasoline, suntan lotion, insect repellents and cleaning fluids not designed for use with fly line.
The chemical action of solvents hastens the loss of plasticizers and other surface treatments applied by the manufacturer. Avoid storing your lines near or around excessive heat (car trunk, car seat, and dashboard for instance), and away from prolonged exposure to sunlight (UV).
- Cleaning and dressing your fly line on a frequent basis will extend the life of your line and maintain optimum performance. How you clean your line is most important. Under normal, everyday fishing conditions your fly line will become coated with dirt and other substances in the water.
All of which will impact your lines performance whether it be buoyancy or shoot-ability and possibly the longevity of the line.
There are lots of opinions out there on what to use to clean you lines, including the manufacturer’s recommendations. Some manufacturers include a cleaning pad with the line.
In simple terms, I use a mild (dish washing) soap/water solution on a soft pre-wet chamois followed by a soft clean cloth and a silicone based line dressing (many good products available). I inspect and clean my lines at least once every other time out. It only takes 10 minutes!
- Line storage is also an important aspect of proper care. Always store your lines clean, dry and dressed. Avoid excessive heat and sunlight. I usually leave the line on the spool (in a spool sock) and have not experienced any observable issues.
Another method of storing fly line that helps minimize line memory is simply transferring the line from the spool on to a large diameter coffee can or plastic jug.
One manufacturer recommends storing your line in the refrigerator or freezer if the line will not be used for an extended period.
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