[FE427TP]

I noticed on my last trip out on the water that my floating weight forward line is sinking for the first 3 feet or so after a while, can this be resealed or restored to remain buoyant or is the line shot and it's time to replace it? It's only the start to it's second season. I'm using a speedloop to attach my leader and tippet, could this be too heavy for a 5 weight line? What contributes to line degradation the most?

 

[Mumbles]

Mild soap and warm water or fly line cleaner should do the trick. If that does not work you can apply floatant, but that will be an ongoing issue if it requires that.

 

[FE427TP]

Thank you sir, I'll try washing it. With regard to floatant that's kind of what I was figuring that if it was that bad I might as well just replace it.

 

[Stewart]

Cleaning can work. There are also little "gunk" soaked pads that you just rub on the line (the pads look like rifle cleaning patches, the ones I have are Cortland). The other thing could be that you can cut a couple inches off the tip of the line and re-attach the loop connector. I think that water can begin to soak into the line if the outer core is cracked due extended use. Not familiar with "speedloop". Is that a brand?

 

[FE427TP]

http://www.umpqua.com/pc-1287-89-drews-speed-loop.aspx

They don't have a good picture, but it's like a chinese finger trap you slid over the end of your line it has a short piece of heat shrink tubing you can use to hold the very end of it on the line and a prebraided loop you attach your leader and tippet to

 

[Mike Lee]

Was the line brand new when you attatched the loop? Did you put a dab of superglue on the tip of your line when you put on the braided loop? I had that same problem on an older DT line. I was told that the line can take on water after time, even more so if you clipped the tip off when removing the original nail knot.

 

[Salmo_g]

FE,

Flylines soak up water in the core that is exposed at the end of the line. It can help to seal that. The end of a floating flyline still can float lower than the main body of the line because the ratio of floating coating to core is lower in this small diameter section. So even tho the floating line coating has a specific gravity less than water, the nylon or sometimes dacron core has a specific gravity greater than water, so it naturally tends to sink. Sealing the end of a floating line and treating it with line floatant is about the best you can do.

Sg

 

[Kent Lufkin]

Salmo is exactly right. In my experience, braided-core lines are much more susceptible to waterlogging that solid core ones.

But it's worth remembering that not so long ago, nearly every fly line eventually sank unless treated liberally with mucillin before fishing and periodically during the day. Some silk line enthusiasts use double taper lines which they strip off the reel and reverse midway through the day. That way they're fishing with a fresh, dry tip the rest of the day.

Pick up a small container of mucillin at your fly shop (IMHO, the non-silicone formula is best) for a couple bucks. After sealing your (bone-dry) line tip with a very small drop of head cement, develop the habit of applying a thin coating of mucilin to the last few feet of your line with the little pad that comes in the container. Applying mucilin to a bone-dry line BEFORE fishing it is MUCH more effective than trying to do so midday to a waterlogged tip.

K