Fly Line Storage

[Aled]

Hello All
With the close season just around the corner i will soon be storing the kit carefully in my allocated corner of the garage. However come April, fly lines which have been left on the reel over the winter seem to coil up and need a good stretch, but the line never seems as good as it was the first year i bought it. Does anybody store lines off the reel in the winter to avoid this? I've heard of using an old bicycle wheel in the past.
Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Aled

[frankb]

Hi Aled, I always take all by fly lines off the reels in the winter. I place the lines in a large plastic storage box which you can get in B&Q. Place the first line in the box then put a sheet of newspaper over the line, you can then do the same with the next line and again place a sheet of newpaper and so on, you can get all your lines in the box and they will be memory free. The paper stops the lines tangling, without it you will spend the first week of the new season unknitting the lines.

[Aled]

Thanks Frank B

I have a type of box you are talking about and i will do that. I am also going to suggest Dad does the same, we got him a rather expensive fly line for Christmas last year.
Cheers
Aled

[fredaevans]

Good suggestion above, but I wouldn't use 'newsprint' due to the possibility of the paper 'leaking ink.' If you're thinking about the above system, use plain white gift wrapping paper.

What a great number of 'us' on this side of the Pond do is pull the line off the reel (no need to disconnect from the reel), wrap the line in loose 6-8 inch coils and secure same with a bit of pipe cleaning coated wire (probably the same stuff the new line was held onto the original spool originally).

From there you take a 1 gallon 'zip-lock' type bag, mark the out side with the reel/line info, pop the whole thing into the bag and zip closed to secure, and into storage you go.

[Aled]

Thanks guys, i've stored it in loose coils in a plastic storage box, so in theory we should be OK for next year.
Tight Lines All
Aled

[fredaevans]

Yup. When you're ready to go next Spring, just give the line a good cleaning/lubing and you're good to go.

Fred