FLY LINES AND MEMORY

All our fly lines hold memory. That's the coil like spring that you see when you take your line out the first time in the new season. They remember in which position they were stored, usualy left in the reel or on a spare spool.

Most fly lines are made of nylon and PVC (PolyVinyl Chloride) and those two products keep their form. The weather also plays a large role in memory for fly lines. The colder the weather, the more memory will be retained.

We are experts, and we know as expert that we need a fly line without memory to cast a good fly.
Fly lines made for cold water and weather have a soft core and coating. This will minimize memory in cold water. For tropical weather the core and coating are made of stiffer material. If you use a tropical fly line in cold weather you will have a line that will have a strong memoty and you wont be able to cast it out. What can we do to maximize our fly lines?

Primo, choose a fly line for the type of condition that you will be fishing in. If you think that a tropical fly line will work fine in cold water, you will fight the line instead of the fish!

To get your fly line as straight as possible, stretch it by hand. Take out 3-4 feet of line out of you reel and stretch it, and keep doing this until you have done the whole line. If you work out of a boat, the line will be reversed on the floor of the boat. Make sure to turn it back the right way before casting or you will end up with a great mess.

Some will tell you that stretching a fly line will beak the coating. No way I say!. These lines are 20 lbs test. The PCV is more stretchable that it's core, so there is no way that the coating will break or crack.

Today's fly lines are the best that the world of fly fishing has seen. The only problem that has not been resolved is it's memory.

CARE

Fly lines need some real good care if you want to keep them for many years. If you fish 2/3 times a week, I suggest that you take it out of your reel once a month and clean it by stretching it between two points and wash it with mild soap and warm water. Rinse it out with clear water and let it dry. Then apply a coating of conditionner that you can find at your local fly shop and polish it. If you fish only a little, then clean it twice a season.

In the fall, when the season is over and you know that you wont fish till the spring, take it out of the reel, clean it as described above and store in large loops to take all memory out of it. Hang in a dry and clean place. During the inactive months, the lines will take it's original form and will be protected from cracking and chaping.
In the spring clean it again as the winter month will have deterioted the finish and accumulated some dust. With this care your fly line will last for many years to come.

Good fishing

Michel Lajoie