Damaged Flyline

[Charlie_Thompson]

I\'ve got a couple of snicks in a floating line caused by my leader / tippet cutting through it. Is there anyway I can repair it? I\'ve only had it out 5 or 6 times and it\'s not a cheap one. It\'s a weight forward thing so I can\'t just reverse it. Am I right in thinking there\'s a super glue option? If a repair would seriously compromise it\'s performance then I\'d rather bin it and get a knew one (the kids can starve) Any ideas?

TIA

[MickA]

Charlie (Ell)

Years ago when I used to fly fish I was given a good tip by an old bloke after he noticed the tip of my floating line was sinking due to the exact same reason as above. Don\'t tie your leader directly to the fly line itself. Little bit of surgery required first but it should last a season and it definitely saves the fly line.

Warm up (not hot) a fine sewing needle and poke a hole in the end of the flyline, slide the needle up the middle fo about 1/4 inch then out thru the side. Slide a bit of 10-15lb mono up and out through the hole and knot this around the flyline. The thickness of the 10-15lb line should not cut into the flyline. Then cut the mono down so you have about 6-12inches left sticking out from the end of the flyline. Tie a small knot in the end of this and then your leader knots onto the 15lb mono not the flyline. Once you\'ve finished you session nip off the knot and tie a new one in. It takes a lot of leader changes to use up the 12inches of mono.

So what you end up with is you flyline with 12 inches of mono permanatly attached to the end of it and then your leader attached to the end of the mono.

Hope this make sense, not easy to explain in writing. If it doesn\'t I can draw up a diagram and send it to you.

It also has a tapering effect on the leader so helping it to turn over.


Mick


[Edited on 26/10/2005 by MickA]

[Ian_D]

They can be repaired to an extent as long as it\'s the coating that\'s damaged and the core is still sound.
By far the best repair material is the isocyanate based wader repair solution. I use Stormsure or Aquasure but there\'s probably more.
First clean the flyline as directed on the tube. They sometimes recommend washing, then cleaning with acetone. I\'ve done this with no problem but don\'t soak the line in it as it can damage the coating. A quick wipe with a cloth damped with it seems to be OK.
Then just smear a small amount on the damaged section. Easiest to apply with a cocktail stick or something. Very small amount needed, then wait a minute or two till it starts to go off and smooth the repair with damped fingers. Word of warning, it sticks like sh*t to an army blanket.
The repair needn\'t be too obvious, but it will leave a slight bulge in the line.
Shouldn\'t interfere with casting too much and is very strong. Once properly cured you won\'t get it off. I\'ve stuck soles on waders with it and even repaired damage to an inflateable boat.

[Charlie_Thompson]

Thanks Mick but I messed up in my original post, didn\'t explain properly. The \"snicks\" are 15 yards or so down my line due to wind knots,gold head fly, poor casting, not removing the gorse bush from my last cast.

Snick half way up me line, I would hate to lose the fish of a lifetime through not fixing it or replacing it.

£30 -£60 a through for good stuff (35m) innit?


innit?

[Charlie_Thompson]

Hey thanks Ian, I know the stuff you\'re talking about. Smeared the inside of me waders with it to seal em up. It went rock hard under UV as advertised but in small peaks with razor sharp edges. A pleasure to wade in To be honest I\'l save up and get a new ones( ) for next year.

[Charlie_Thompson]

Hey Mick, a needle knot has go to be much better than that loop de loop business. Added grief though.

[Grommit]

Charlie,

I use the braided loops and find them much easier than a needle knot and have never had a problem with them

Pop the line up to my shop if you want and I will see if we can repair it for you.

Out of interest what fly line is it.

[Ian_D]

I hate braided loops. I\'ve lost a few of them over the years.
The needle knots OK but I prefer to splice a loop in the end of the flyline.
A bit messy to do but lasts the life of the flyline and makes it much neater when I use a poly-leader.

[Grommit]

Never had a problem with the braided loops and it is still the most popular method of fixing leader to fly line, We sell over 1000 packets of them a year!!

Things to remember with the braided loops

1. Dont have them too long (they are made too long), cut them short enought to get 2\" of line in and push the line right to the end. If they are too long the loop/fly line will \'hinge\'

2. Always glue them in place. Dont believe the stuff on the packet saying that they allow quick and easy changing of loops from floating to sinking. As soon as the silicone sleave hits the tip ring and bends it releases the braided loop.

3. Dont use normal superglue. Most of them aren\'t waterproof and even fewer are flexible. I always use and recommend Anglin Glue as it is both waterproof and flexible.

If you stick to the above points then a braided loop should also last the lifetime of your fly line.

[Tat]

Braided loops for me.Never had a problem.

[Charlie_Thompson]

Thanks for the offer Grommit - It\'s a Snowbee XS line which apart from this problem is a lovely line at a decent price IMO

I bought it to replace an Airflo line which was recommended to me by a young lad in a tackle shop. About £19 great value, good line I was told. I used it a couple of times and the memory on it was awful. Went back to the same shop, same lad and told him I needed a new line. \"What are you using at the moment\" he asked. \"That Airflo stuff\" I replied. \"That\'s rubbish that\" he informs me. \"You effing told me to buy it in the first place\" says I.

I\'m happy with the braided loops and though a few people have said don\'t bother I also like to use readymade tapered leaders.

Thanks for the info lads

[Ian_D]

I might be out voted on braided loops but I\'m not changing my mind
I used them when I was using shooting heads a lot,and lost too many. I don\'t like gluing them to the fly line as it defeats my reason for using them in the first place. Don\'t lose them when the silicon catches on the tip ring either, and in fact I\'ve never lost a fish because of one - they seem to hold firmer when there\'s something pulling back. I lose them on the cast - don\'t really know why.
Agree with the comments on Airflo lines though. They\'re cr*p (the floaters anyway). Only tackle worse are Airflo rods.
Best value fly lines are Shakespeare. I think they\'re the only British manufacturer now apart from Airflo - Grommit will probably know more about this.
I\'m pretty sure they make the Snowbee and Partridge lines anyway and I think Greys and Hardys - Not sure about Michael Evans.
I use ready made tapered leaders as well, for river fishing. Better still are the furled leaders (not the braided ones) especially the ones made from soft thread.

[Charlie_Thompson]

I get the feeling braided loops get the vote as they are more convenient, slightly less hassle. I wouldn\'t be surprise in the slightest if the needle knot outperforms it.

Betamax was a far better video recording medium than VHS (Eh!)

ya get me though?

This edit is to remove the first one which was unnecessary
the edit was one letter thought - though


[Edited on 28/10/2005 by Charlie_Thompson]

[Edited on 28/10/2005 by Charlie_Thompson]

[Grommit]

Couldn\'t agree more about Airflo, utter garbage. More memory than a heard of elephants.

SNowbee, IMHO, are the best fly lines on the market at the minute. All mine are Snowbee and all but one of my staff (I have 9 staff) use them. The one who doesn\'t uses Rio, which are also very good but next price range up i.e. read expensive!!

You are right in saying Shakespeare is the last UK manufacturer of fly lines and do indeed make the Snowbee range with the exception of the clear intermediate which is made by Masterline. Reason for this is that a normal fly line is built on a braided core whereas the clear intermediates are built on a mono core. This is the reason that the clear intermediates tend to coil more

[mark]

I have in the past used clear low modulus silicon on floating lines, blob between the fingers and run the line through it. Its flexible, waterproof and makes the line float better I found.

do the same with your braided loops when you fit em to the end of the line, they\'ll not budge and again are a bit more floaty

make my own braided loops so I\'ll drop you some if you want charlie.....might even be able to supply you with some new fly lines, Hardy WF6S and WF8S never been out of the box, nee floaters (plenty of roughage!) though

got heaps of lines that have hardly been used if you want some just to stick on and destroy when you practice casting in the bath