From: Gordon Hill
[hillshead@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 3:14
PM
To: 'Bill Toone'
Subject: Salt water tackle care
Bill....
I'm using my
salt water tackle regularly, here in Florida ...... so I never put my stuff up
for a winter any longer.
When I lived
up on Long Island, I'd clean and lubricate my fly lines, then wind them under no
real pressure on 10" diameter, "Cuban Yo-Yo's" ( The black plastic hand
reels used in the Caribbean for actual fishing. ..... available in most
any South Florida tackle store.) I placed the reel with the line on it in
a plastic bag to be kept in a cool dry place so the line wouldn't dry out with
home heating over the winter and wouldn't freeze, either.)
Here, in
Florida, I do that with demo lines I use only occasionally. Some lines, I
wind up by hand on a wide tapered large diameter plastic tumbler... slip them
off the tumbler and use plastic ties with stainless wire in the center. (In this
salty environment, paper covered wire twist ties rust and discolor the line just
from the salt in the air !) I place the coil in a large plastic
sandwich bag which, in turn, goes into an opaque plastic box. I keep those
on the shelf in my den ...... usually air conditioned room. The opaque box
keeps the light and sun from changing the color.
Twist Ties,
Bradshaw International, Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 (100'
spools)
Dennis Grant
(CBOG in Nova Scotia .... and owner of the Atlantic School of Fly Casting)
has more demo lines than I'll ever have. He stores them in large loop
loose coils on a peg in a cool dry area after cleaning and lubricating them and
has been very successful in doing so.
I don't soak
my rods. When I tried that, I noted that the cork handles felt a bit
strange and wore more quickly. Now, I hose them down with fresh water,
then dry them with a soft cloth. Once dry, I use candle wax on the
ferrules and 3-M Boat wax on the guides, tip top and reel seat as well as the
epoxied wrappings. I only dry and wax them once or twice a
year.
When I
travel to new salty destinations, sometimes I don't have time to do anything
more than hose down the rods before catching a plane. I dry them with a
towel as best I can, then pack them. Trick is to unpack them
and dry them out further right after you get home
!
3M
ULTRA PERFORMANCE PASTE WAX 09030 Part # 05113
269g.
It is
expensive, but that 269 can will last for many years. I wax my reels with
that stuff, too.
When using my
SW outfits on a daily basis, I simply hose down the reels with fresh water, then
bring them into the house in the air conditioning overnight and use them the
next day.
If I go away
for a month or so, I'll peel off the line to make certain that the backing dries
well on the spool. I use only Spectra for my backing .... one advantage of
that is that the stuff is non-wettable (hydrophobic.) When I used Dacron
and multifilament nylon for backing, I'd remove it .... because it would pack
down and hold water and at least a little salt which resulted in corrosion of
the inner surface of even the most expensive reels. I tried a material
called, SALT AWAY..... Didn't work.
When I set up
a new reel or remove and replace all line and backing, I clean the spool with
soap and water, rinse and dry .... then use the 3M
wax on it before placing new backing and
line.
NIX on the
freezer ! Meat and fish get something called, "freezer burn".
My fly lines dried out and cracked more easily when I tried
that.
I, also,
tried to bring them back by using a plasticizer which I think was called,
Armorall. This did help when used lightly. Then I tried soaking the
lines in the stuff and ruined them.
Living right
on the open salt water, I've come to look at it as living in a milieu of dilute
fuming nitric acid ! I used stainless steel nails for my house ...... my
dock is put together with stainless screws and bolts. I even have a
stainless steel shingle custom roof. Everything corrodes if not
protected. My flies tied on any hooks other than stainless steel will rust
even in plastic boxes on the shelf in an air conditioned room
!
Gordy
Gordy I hope all is well.
The following is not a question for the study group but one where I could use
your vast salt water expertise regarding maintenance of equipment after a
trip. I don’t fish salt water often so having just returned from some
bonefishing I wanted to be sure I was not missing any tricks regarding proper
cleaning of my rods, lines and reels. The following is what I have or am
doing:
Rods
·
Soaked in bath tub with fresh
water
·
After drying thoroughly cleaned
them with Pledge furniture polish and re-waxed ferrules
Reels &
Lines
·
Thoroughly rinsed with fresh water
and then soaked in laundry sink – reels and spools
apart
·
Line stripped off to the backing
and cleaned/dried when re-spooled.
·
Backing still on spools but soaked
and flushed with fresh water
Is there anything which I missed
that you do to keep your salt water equipment properly maintained? The
reels have sealed drags (Ross Big Game and Rhythm). Do you store
your spools in the freezer to keep the line fresh if you are not going to use
them for another year?
Thanks in advance for your
assistance.
Regards,
Bill
Toone
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