WD-40

[fishinbros]

Does WD-40 make for a good cleaner and lubricant for fly line?

[goblueM]

I have no idea but I wouldn't want to be putting that chemical residue in my trout stream!

[fishinbros]

Oh, im sorry, I ment to ask about armor all.

[DEADhead]

It used to work fairly well on the older fly lines. I'm not sure I'd want to put armour-all on the new coatings that come on newer fly lines. The fly line manufacturers spend a lot of money developing those new coatings like Agent X or AST. I figure if I spend $65 on a new fly line, I can afford the extra $5 and buy the proprietary cleaner/coating like the Agent X bottle Rio sells.

[so haaad]

Cortland lines come with a cleaning patch/formula. That's what I've always used to clean my lines and they work fine.

[DeanoB]

Reminds of back in the day years and years ago in MT, we used to fish Holter Dammm on the missouri river, get right on top, and fish above the dammm, guys would use all sorts of things as bait, one night there was a guy just hammering the salmon using Preperation H on the old style treble hooks with a spring on the shaft, he'd put a dab of prep H on , and spray a shot of wd 40, drop her down, and dang near immediatly start reeling up another fish. still blows my mind. [i AM NOT recommending this method for fishing!]

yea I agree with others, get a fly line cleaner.

[Fishin4Sanity]

A little different subject but still related. At what point do you determine your fly line needs to be replaced vs. just cleaned. Fly lines, as expensive as they are, seem to be made to last. I only have one rod and I'm still using my first line I purchased last winter. I've easily fished with it 50+ times. I realize it is dirty and needs cleaning right now but when do I know it's had enough or am I already pass this point. It still seems to cast pretty good and seems durable enough but maybe not as smooth as when I first used it (probably normal wear/tear plus lack of cleaning it in last month). BTW, this line is WF not DT so I can't just flip it around. Thanks in advance for your two cents.

[so haaad]

If you clean your line on a regular basis your line will hold up for a decent amount of time. But after awhile you will notice the outside of the line will start to show cracks. You can still fish them with cracks, but they don't roll over as smooth as they do when new.

[DEADhead]

ditto what so haaad said. your line will start to crack. when it becomes too cracked or pieces of the coating become too brittle and fall off, exposing the core, it's time to replace the line. Though you'll likely replace the line long before then, because your casts will eventually just fall apart.

Keep your lines clean and treat them with a commercial treatment like Rio's Agent X or Scientific Anglers' fly line cleaner/treatment. That should help keep the coating supple and minimize cracking. Also, keep your lines out of UV light or heat extremes, i.e. keep your reels out of your car for extended periods of time. I have a SA Mastery Trout line that is going on 4 seasons and still looks and performs well.

[goblueM]

50 times? Bah you still got many a fishing trip left in that guy. Unless you been casting on broken glass or ashphalt:)

[turiprap]

 Quote:

50 times? Bah you still got many a fishing trip left in that guy. Unless you been casting on broken glass or ashphalt:)

Or, like me, you step on loose line at your feet and grind it into the rocks, or pierce the line with a stud on the soles of your wading boots.

I used to watch my friend Herb, a retired physicist, wash his flyline with bar soap a couple of times a day on steelhead trips and I used to watch my friend Bill, an expert distance caster, meticulously apply line cleaner to his line before beginning a casting session. It took years for me to reach the conclusion that both men were exactly on track. There's no doubt that clean fly lines both work better and last longer.

[DEADhead]

Yeah, I wish I was better at cleaning my lines. I always say that I'll do it the next time I go out, but when the time comes to hit the water, I'm in too much of a hurry to tie a fly on. I even have a bottle of the stuff in my fly bag. I also have a problem with stepping on my line. I REALLY should get/make a tripping basket, but I'm too lazy

[Fishin4Sanity]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my problem probably lies with the deal of cleaning my line more often. It seems to perform pretty well still, just a little dirty. I also treat it like pooh and like a few of you, I let it lie at my feet to get stomped on way too often. Thanks for the tips. I'm always thinking some seasoned flyfisher is going to look at my line one day and be "dude, you really need some new line." As far as I can tell I have no cracks, just needs some cleaning.

[erickol]

This winter I cleaned all my fly lines and applied dressing. During the season I try to keep up the cleaning (warm soapy water follwed by dresssing) but am lucky if I remember to apply line dressing every couple of outings. It's nice to be in the habit of cleaning it right after every fishing outing with dressing and a cleaning pad.

One nice thing about regularly dressing and or cleaning your line is you are able to really see how it's holding up. Another nice thing is that line isn't cheap. A well kept line lasts longer.

I'm pretty cheap (lazy too) so I'll use a dead line far to long. I have a four weight reel spooled right now that I swore I would throw the line away last year. The thing will soak up water and sink, I'll cuss and complain, and then I'll use the darn thing next time.

(I think i'll soon turn it into frankenstien experimental sink tips, as I need to learn to fish sinking lines better.)

Clean healthy line makes life so much better! casting, mending, general sense of well being are all improved by clean dressed line.

By the way, the subject line "WD-40"....... I thought it was a post about that wonderful little fly pattern.

[Buck_Hunter04]

Cleaning fly fishing line?? I've had my line for about 5 years and never cleaned it. It looks good, no cracks or anything like that. But, I don't get out as much as I would like. Should I just skip the cleaning and get new stuff or try to clean and condition it.. I'm not an good flyfisherman by any means, and probably wouldn't know how to fish with clean/new line but any advice would be GREAT!!! After this question gets answered, can someone help me catch a fish!! LOL