Routine fly line maintenance and cleaning is something all fly anglers should get in the habit of practicing. Taking the time to clean a fly line after every 2 to 3 uses will greatly increase the life of the fly line, and it will also keep it performing at its best on the water. Remember, it’s not just the dirt and grime that builds up on fly lines during our fishing that degrades the performance and life of fly lines. It’s also the harmful chemical residues that we often involuntarily bring our fly lines into contact with, such as sunscreen and bug repellent that cause the real damage.
4 Places Fly Lines Get Dirty Quick and should be cleaned more frequently.
1. Practice casting on the lawn
2. Fly fishing in a drift boat
3. Fly fishing in saltwater
4. Fly fishing in still-waters (lakes and ponds)
3 indicators that a fly line is dirty and needs to be cleaned
1. The last few feet of the fly line is sinking during your drifts or fly line mending is harder than normal.
2. The fly line seems to have extra friction working through the rod guides and you can’t shoot as much fly line as usual.
3. You notice that the fly line is getting tangled more than normal.
This year, RIO came out with an economical fly line cleaning towelette (one towelette per package $0.95) that’s small enough to stow just about anywhere, costs under a buck, and works great for quick fly line cleaning on the water. Zach Dalton from RIO, explains the benefits of keeping your fly lines clean and the proper way to use the RIO fly line cleaning towelette in the video below. I like this product because I can pack several of the pre-packaged towelettes in my pack and I don’t have to remember to pack a bottle of fly line cleaner and a cleaning cloth.
Keep it Reel,
Come fish with us in the Bahamas!
Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Good one! Anything that helps flyline maintenance be a simple and effective process has got to be worth it! Sometimes, and especially on stillwater lakes, with a bit of scum in the surface, it’s really useful to have a quick cleaning aid like this. This is all part of those useful little tools and aids we flyfishermen need from time to time whilst out on the water. Got to get some.
Great to know! Thanks for taking the time to share kent
-hayden latimer
Been using them this season, the cloths get dirty quickly, amazing how much stuff accumulates on the line, even fishing clear mountain streams…why is driftboat fishing on your list of things that cause lines to get dirtier faster?
Jeff,
The reason I put the drift boat on the list is because a lot of the time your fly line ends up piled up on the bottom of the drift boat. Plus it’s easy to step on it repeatedly. Both of these make it easy for fly line to get dirtier quicker.
Kent
Kent,
To limit the frequency of the need for line cleaning, I carry a soft, cotton cloth neckerchief. At the end of my fishing day I simply cast or let out line at or beyond the max I fished and pinch the line with the cloth while reeling it in. This does three things: (i) it cleans most of the dirt and scum from that day, (ii) it allows me to pack the line on the reel uniformly rather than having it on the reel in a disorganized fashion, and (iii) it allows me to pay attention to the entire working line to check it for defects and cleanliness. It takes only a minute to do, and it works for me. I still clean and treat my line, but it is needed less often.
I 100% agree with cleaning my fly lines regularly. I have cut up some old T-shirts in 6″ squares and carry one or two in my chest pack. I also have an old squeeze bottle in which I have filled with a mild cleaning solution. At the end of the day I wet the T-shirt square with the cleaning solution and give the line a good wipe. Quick and easy and it did NOT cost me $0.95 / use.
Jeff
Just don’t keep it in your wallet. Rookie mistake.
Armor All wipes have been getting the job done for me for many years now, and its very inexpensive.
I’ve been using baby wipes for about…..5 months now. They work pretty good I must say. I always like to have something handy to clean my lines just like everyone posting here. I fish a lot of ponds and lakes for bass during the summer and my lines really get dirty. You can ruin a fly line after a few trips if you don’t clean them after every trip. I like what Rio is doing with the wipes, and 95 cents isn’t bad. I’ll give them a try and see how they work.
I really like this idea for it’s convenience, but in the future I’d like to see these made of 100% biodegradable materials/chemicals (including the packaging). I think fly fishers are probably more environmentally responsible than the average Joe, but bringing more disposable material out to the stream makes me think of all the crap I see out there on the banks already.
Good point!