Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Cleaning an old fly line DT F/S

Friends:

I have an old DT-10- F/S line. Not a USA line, I inherited it from family in England. Its a double taper with a sink tip at both ends. I'll be using it on a 15' Spey rod which is under construction as I write this. My objective is King Salmon in Alaska on a bucket list trip this summer while I am still above ground....

I'll guess the line is from about the 1960's- 1970's. I'd like to save this line if I can, and use it, keeping up the family tradition so to speak. I have washed the line in warm water and Dawn detergent, and dried it, so it is nice and clean.

The floating part of the line, with the heavy belly I am confident I can handle. Reason being I also inherited some fly line conditioner which is probably...err "organic" (pig fat based?)... so it will probably handle the pre-modern lines. At least that is my theory. I'm a believer in stretching a fly line so I'll stretch it, and treat it.

The problem is in the sink tip part (at both ends)which is really stiff. Perhaps it is because of what is underneath the coating. I need it to flex out a bit so it will lay straight. I've ruled out Armorall, as I have recently learned that it does no good to a line, so be it. But what to use? I don't want to lose the sinkability.

Any suggestions or comments welcomed.

Thanks in advance!

Blu_Cs

Replace it.

This.

You say you are having a custom Spey rod made for a bucket list fishing trip to Alaska. I'm as sentimental as the next guy when it comes to things like guns, but I wouldn't let an old fly line potentially ruin my trip of a lifetime.

Whenever I come across a used reel, the first thing I do is chitcan the line, whether it's a fly reel or spinning/casting reel, unless the fly line is as good as new, but a 1960s or 1970s fly line ain't.

If the line has sentimental value, put it in some sort of display with an old reel and some flies.

Replace it. If one's doing thousand$ on the trip, don't let a poor shooting/floating/potentially damaged line hinder ones efficacy. Kings don't come easy, even in Alaska. With out for sure knowledge on the conditions one might encounter, I'd suggest a Skagit set up with a full array of heads from floaters to deep sinkers.

If your using a guide/outfitting business, quiz them for suggestions. If they're professional at all, they will know.

Good for you on the build. Just wrapped up a 16 footer myself. Might still do some feather inlays, but it's ready to fish.

Good luck,

Agree with replacing it... it likely would cast horribly on any and every spey rod, especially when you tried for a little distance.

It is also very unlikely to survive. And a spare reel and lines is a very good idea.

OK got it, thanks for everyone's input.

The line has been replaced with a WF-10-F which triggers a follow on issue - there is no sink tip on this line.

I believe I'll put a few sink tips together before heading north, and then attach them once I get there and can figure out the lay of the land.

Two questions:

1) has anyone used sinking line to make sinking tips out of? The lines I have are about a 2 (1-2 feet per second sink rate).

2) and if yes, what length of tips would you make in advance?

Thanks again!

Blu_Cs

Spey rods typically dont use WF lines they usually go by Grains... Look up scandi and skagit lines and go from there. You could alway use a floater and add an Airflo sinking poly leader .. Never heard of a fly line sink rate of 1-2 FPS...

I haven't used old line but I have used these to make my own sink tips.



The rivers I used these in were relatively small and you only needed to get down 4' to 6' so 2' to 4' of sink tip was enough.

Yes many fabricate custom sink tips.

In it's simplest form: Get on some water and determine the length of line and leader that one can cast/shoot most efficiently. Next put in some effort to determine the approximate weight of that length. Fabricate ones sink tips and note their specific weights. Label or code them in some way so they can be identified. When they are added to the end of ones floating segment, one will have to compensate for the added length/weight by bringing some line in through the guides to once again get that ideal weight outside of ones tip top.

If a tip ends up too heavy, one can start progressively clipping off segments until things come together.

Feet per second sounds exceedingly fast. Most are coded in inches per second.

It's a good idea to have interchangeable spools, or even reels, with various lines: sinking, floating, etc.