polepole:
I have a spool of 6 wt. floating line and a spool of 6 wt. intermediate sinking line (which I'm embarrassed to say was never used) that have been boxed and in storage for 10 years now. Are they any good?
-Allen
ThreeWeight:
Maybe. UV exposure, dirt, and abrasion are what kills fly lines. Age doesn't help, but if it has been kept in a box, it might still be ok.
Take it out and examine it pretty closely in the light, make a few tight loops in it and look to see if the coating is cracked. Run it through your fingers and see if it feels smooth or rough.
If it has no major cracking and is fairly smooth, it should still be fine. I think you can buy fly line conditioner at fly shops (Cortland includes a little piece of cloth pre-soaked with the stuff w/ new lines). Run a coat of it all over the line, and you will be good to go.
polepole:
Cool. Will try it. Thanks for the insight.
-Allen
[WR]:
hi folks, new guy here, but way old time feather caster. [ since i was like, 9 .. am now almost 50]
yeah, have had lines last as long as 10 years, but you have to; a. take them out every few months and treat them with line dressing/cleaner..also, cool dry dark place but do not store on a spool!! instead, make large lazy loops hanging from a wooden dowel..this takes the majority of the stress off the outer coatings and also doesn't cause the line to "set' into hard coils.
b. take the darn thing off the reel.. and remove and discard the backing every year..this prevents the reel oils from penetrating the line and backing and aiding that big fish in escaping you by having a weak line. even good backing is cheap, good fly lines arent. rich
Pisco Sicko:
On the backing, I've been using the newer braided lines instead of the traditional dacron. Zero memory, and it seems to last almost forever.
I wish I could get my casting lines to last 10 years! The only time that happens, is if I don't use them! :D