Sunday, March 5, 2017

Laundry Day

 Photos from laundry day -- washing the lines.

Step One: find a delightful amber liquid. This is a dull process and you need the entertainment.
Step Two: get your tools. Nippers, at least. You'll find bits of old leaders and tippet from your last hasty departure from the stream. Throw them away.  New season, new leaders.
Step Three: mindless entertainment. In my case, re-runs of Top Gear. Parts of the hosts' personalities occasionally resemble the Amber Liquid guys. Never all at once; but, we can have May and Clarkson moments with very little provocation.
Step Four: Suds bath. Strip line into lukewarm suds water. Resist the desire to swirl the line. Strip and submerge gently. Give it a good five minute submerged soak.

The line goes into the soap with the part closest to the fly on the bottom. The tip into the suds first.
Step Five: Rinse water. Take the line from the soap and run it through a damp microfiber towel. The wiped line goes into the fresh clean water.

The line will be in the clear water butt end first. The tip is the last bit into the water. Don't drop it.
Step Six: Our of the rinse and into the dry bowl. Wipe the line one last time. The tip of the fly line goes into the bowl first.

Spool the line back onto the reel.
Inventory the reels and line. It helps when you pack for an excursion.













There it is. Laundry day. Riveting entertainment.

Prost.

2 comments:

  1. Just wanted to let you know your post is appreciated. I started washing my lines a couple of years ago and you have given me some fresh ideas. I do hate when the line becomes tangled, however - then it is like wrestling with a Rubik's Cube to get it back on the reel!

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  2. Great, Jim. The part for me is resisting the swirling of the line. If I swirl, then I've got a good thirty minutes untangling.

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