#60 Fly Lines and the Reel

Fly Lines and Your Reel, a learning curve

We’ve talked before about how fly lines are built and categorized but today we are going to talk about fly lines and the reel, and how they work together. In this article, I’m sharing a recent experience—something I had never done in 43 years of fly fishing—as a simple “what not to do” lesson.

I was recently going on a trip to float the Arkansas River out of Salida Colorado and try to hopefully catch the “Mother’s Day hatch” for the fifth year. Hoping for a successful trip this time I was getting all of my gear ready and suddenly realized that I did have a reel for my newly replaced Orvis 5 wt. rod.

So, I opened my trusty Amazon account and ordered a new reel, line and backing to complete the package. I got next day shipping and received my new products the next day. I was really geeking out on the new reel and immediately rushed to the garage to spool my new gear. I have been loading line on reels for many years, and comfortable doing it. When you spool a new fly line onto your reel there is usually a small tag on the end of the line alerting you to which end is attached to the reel.

When I opened the box for the line, there was no visible tag, but there was a tag end protruding from the spool. I assumed that this was the end to be attached to the backing, boy was I wrong.

After I spooled the line, I grabbed the intended rod and quickly made a few false casts in the street. My first impressions of the line was disappointing, but being in a rush, I just went ahead and packed it up for the trip.

Let’s go forward fast to the first day of the trip when we are scheduled to float for a full day on the Arkansas River. I was reeved up and ready to go, so I rigged up the 5 wt. rod with my brand new reel and line, boy I’m ready.

We set up to fish using a dry dropper set up to float the river due to higher water, so I rigged up my Chubby Chernobyl, with a small Beatis under it. From the first cast I knew something was not right, so I changed leaders, and changed tippet, but still it was not right. I accepted that I must have purchased a “crappy line” and resigned myself to just making it work. We landed a good number of fish during our trip, but I was just flogging my fly line about the boat.

At the end of the trip, I just put away the 5 wt. and fished for the rest of the trip. Once I got back home I went the shop and bought a new 5 wt. weight forward line from a trusted source and  proceeded to remove the line with the intension to replace it. This is where we take a twist in the story, and after 40 plus years this is the first time it has happened to me, and this is why I’m sharing this little story.

As I unspooled the line on the floor of my garage, “I do it very carefully” so as not to tangle the line when I re-spool it, I made a discovery. I discovered that in my hast 5 days prior I spooled the new line on the reel backwards. Yep, you heard it, I put the line on the reel backwards. Which means that the end section of the line, or the running line was coming off my reel first.

No big deal you might think, but there is literally no weight to the running line section of a fly line. The weighted section of a fly line is in the front section. This is where the weight (or mass) of the fly line is. What this means is when you try, and I emphasize try to cast your line there is no weight to cast. I was able to flop around the back of the back of the boat like a monkey but was able to get the job done.

If you take look at my refrigerator art title “Anatomy of a fly line” you will be able to clearly see the reason I was having such trouble. The weight or mass of the line is located toward the front portion of the line. The reason is when you are casting the weight of the line come out first, which is why we can toss a fly line through the air, (or in my case not)

I’ve told several of my fishing buds about my “real men of genius moment” and boy did I get a ration of it.

The reason I’m sharing this is just a reminder that no matter how long you’ve been fishing, stuff like this can and does still happen.

My takeaway from this is nothing more than a funny tale to tell.

Cheers

Gary

As always any comments are always welcomed.