Line Maintenance

[Paul Kalajainen]

Question about fly line care: My floating line has a lot of "memory" you could say.  Each time I use it it comes off the reel very stiff and holds some serious coils rather than straightening out.  I find I have to stretch it by hand to get it to straighten out at all.

Is there a way to avoid this?  Or a product that will help keep it "softer"?  It doesn't happen with my sinking line, just the floating - why is that?

Thanks,

Paul

[Richard Farino]

Paul,

What line are you using, and where are you using it/what are you using it for?

R

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | ric...@urbanangler.com    

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[Eric Y.]

Rich nailed it. If the line memory is really, really bad in cool to cold weather, you probably have a warm water/tropical line. Unfortunately for us consumers, the technology isn't there yet to have a line that will work well for cold water fish like striper and trout/salmon/steelhead while also being a good fit for going after bonefish, snook, tarpon, redfish, etc. Your sinking line, as many are, is probably made for cooler water temperatures so it works well here (and especially now) but will become limp, prone to tangles, and poor for shooting if used in Florida or points south. 

[Paul Kalajainen]

It's the Orvis Access 8 wt fly line.  I didn't know how big an impact the temperature had - but that makes sense.  I've been using it through the winter to hang a nymph below a strike indicator at 4MR when I'm going after carp.  I find I lose a lot less flies than when I use a sinking line there.

So it sounds like this is just something I'll have to deal with in the winter.  Am I damaging the line at all or is it just something to get used to?

[Eric Y.]

I don't know anything about the Access lines, but I'm sure plenty on here use them.

Personally, I typically just keep the warm water line on a plastic spool and swap lines if I'm heading south. The cold-water WFF I have seems to have a much wider temperature range than the warm water line (SA Sharkwave GPX and an old model-unknown Rio, respectively). I would imagine that something with a braided core might have an even better/wider temp range (SA Sharkwave Saltwater, for example) but I can't say for sure.