Get A Grip Photo by Louis Cahill
I love casting mono running line on my Spey rods.
At present, I’m using Rio Slick Shooter. It lives up to the name. I saw a big improvement in my distance when I made the switch. It casts like a dream and fishes well but the down side of any mono running line is that it gets slick and hard to hold when you’re casting.
There’s nothing more disappointing than losing your handle on a cast. That’s when the running line slips from between your fingers and the cork just as you make your forward casting stroke. The rod unloads and your cast piles up in a useless heap. Fortunately my buddy Andrew Bennett showed me a cool trick to solve this problem.
Simply wrap the end of your grip with silicon tape. You can find it in the plumbing department at Home Depot under the name Stretch and Seal. This tape has a natural friction that makes it stick to itself, not your rod. There’s no adhesive so it doesn’t leave a residue on the grip.
It does, however, give you a nice slip-free surface to pinch your running line against. It doesn’t get slippery when it gets wet. Heat and cold don’t disturb it and it doesn’t come off in water. So for about eight bucks you can put a stop to slippery mono running line on all your Spey rods.
Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
I need to practice with my switch more but I love DIY tips!!! Wait till you see the polycarbonate stripping bucket i’m making 🙂 Just needs a big G n G (girl on girl?) sticker.
I’ll get to work on that.
Can I wrap it around my finger, too? Always get line cuts on the inside of the knuckle joint when I hold the running line with my right index finger while I am stripping it in.
I think it would cut off the circulation. I use athletic tape. Kent has the Lycra finger sleeves and likes them. Check this out.
http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing/save-your-fingers-fly-fishing-use-lycra-finger-sleeves/
Thanks! Was unsure just how tight you had to wrap it to get it to stick to itself. Thought it might be a good substitute for the athletic tape that I use now.
Saw the post about the finger sleeves and thought about making some. Either that or raiding my mom’s sewing kit for a leather thimble.
I will tray it.
There is a new version of this called Fuseall tape which has a spongy feel. You can use it to make things float that usually sink. No adhesive and comes in multiple colors. You can find it at fuseall.com