Techy Thursday - Cleaning Your Flyline
One of the most important things we can do as fly fishers to better our on stream performance is to regularly clean our flyline. Your flyline is the delivery system for your fly, not only rolling it out, but manoeuvring and ensuring it gets the best drift on / instream. Floating lines work as they are light, buoyant and designed to repel water. Even the best of lines will pick up dirt, scum and residue with use, and this will diminish its ability to shed water, and make it sit lower in the surface. A clean line will not only float higher, reduce 'stick', mend and pick up off the water better, but will shoot through the guides with ease making for effortless distance and casting overall... having trouble with the double haul yet feel your backcast is pretty darn good? Try cleaning your line...
Its easy. Check this...
1/ fill a large sink with warm water and a small amount of mild soap. Avoid dish detergent and any other chemicals which may harm your flyline (however being 100% plastic free, you don't have to worry about that with Airflo lines). As a general guide, anything you are happy to put on your face or hands should be fine.
2/ Remove your leader and flyline from the backing - trust me, this makes life easier (another tip for newbies is to leave a tag of backing on the rear of the line so you know which end's which)
3/ In large coils, strip the line into the sink so that your leader end is on the bottom and your backing end is up top and let it soak 5 - 15 minutes.
4/ Soak a cloth in the sink and strip your fly line through it from the back to the front. Notice how much scum ends up on the cloth?
5/ Using a dry cloth and Whizz Lube, or Loon Line Speed and Line Cleaning Tool run your line through this from the front to the back.
Attach your backing to the fly line and wind onto your reel.
While the first 4 steps alone will bring life to your flyline, using a good lubricant will not only further enhance your lines ability to repel water, but make it so slick that shooting distance is a breeze, reducing the need to false cast. You'll be surprised at how a good lubricant will rejuvenate even the most tired of floaters...
Personally I clean my lines 2 - 3 times a season, or immediately following a casting session on the grass...
You're welcome!