Those sick, twisted little fly lines!

[Longhorn Flyer]

I bought an cheap reel at Sports Authority that had a backing and a 6 wt floating level line already on. This is for a starter rod for my 7 year old son for a Christmas present. (Line will get upgraded eventually, but this is good for him to start practicing on for now) I have been ?testing? the reel out and noticed that the stripped line at my feet tends to curl/twist up. Makes it a little hard to lay out line with it like that. My question is, what is a good method to untwist the line?? I have access to the side of a dam with a high wall probably 40-50 feet down to water. I was thinking about just letting all the line out and let it hang there and float in the water, then wind it back up keeping some tension on it with my non-reel hand. Think that will work, or will the twist just get reeled back onto the spool? I of course will tie on a large wolly bugger and see if I can pull a large bass 50 feet up into the air on a 3X tippet!

Thanks,
Alan

[Diane]

Alan, when I asked the same question once someone told me to attach the line to a tree, lay it out, and then pull on it. It worked. That said, if the line doesn't straighten it might be better to get an inexpensive but decent weight forward line for him. I know that when I use poorly made tools in woodworking I get too frustrated to even want to do anything with them.

[ducksterman]

Alan,
Diane is correct.

The twist is likely memory a function of it's quality [not that it was spooled improperly].
To correct that you need to stretch it and it works better if it's warm....I run mine back and forth from railings on my deck and let it stay there for as long as I can.... but you can do it anywhere...I think Fly Goddess mentioned once she puts a rag around the ball of her trailer hitch and pulls from there....two people can pull against each other too...

I suspect though that in this case that line will set very quickly on the reel and you will be fighting it all the time.

[J Castwell]

You may have twists and coils both. You need to figure out which you have and address each.

[Normand]

Dont feel bad. Even the high priced fly lines have "Memory" and need a stretch from time to time.

[Longhorn Flyer]

Thanks everybody. I believe it is twisting. There are really no ?loops?, just twisting up like the furled leaders everybody is talking about these days and I?m going to try soon. I?ll try the ?yank on both ends? trick and see how it goes. I mainly got this reel/line to try roll casting on a level line to see if I can improve at all. Thus far I would classify my roll casting as a weakness. Better yet, ?something to be improved upon?! We?re all about positives here at FAOL, right!
A new question. Above someone said it would be better if the line were warm before pulling on it. Would soaking the whole reel in warm or hot water before pulling be significantly helpful? Just curious. I?m fairly sure microwaving would be, ummmm? a bad thing?? Hee hee.

[ducksterman]

Longhorn...I've thought about dunking my line in a bucket of warm water when I'm doing this at home and not by the waterside...don't see why it wouldn't help...

Now if you are sure it is twisting I don't think stretching is appropriate....that would be more the thing we used to do by letting line out behind a boat and firing up the motor and dragging the line behind...more like what you were talking about hanging it over the dam.....

[Longhorn Flyer]

I think I may try this:
1. Dangle line over the high wall to try to remove as much twisting as possible if there is any.
2. Once that is done, there is a rounded railing at the top of the wall. I?ll loop the line through/around that and then walk backwards until I can hold both ends and no slack. Give a few controlled, firm pulls.
3. Reel line in while walking towards the railing (so I don?t scrape the line along the rail as I am reeling in). When I get to the rail, loop the flyrod through the rail so the line is no longer around it, and then just reel in the rest of the line.

Anybody see any major faults with the plan? It may or may not help, but I don?t think it will hurt.

Thanks for the help Ducksterman!

[ducksterman]

What you describe with the railing is pretty much how I do it on the deck.

When hanging over the wall I think I'd have a weight on it so I could actively untwist.

It bothers me to think of stretching if there's any twist present....what say you ,JC?

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Is Orvis a sponsor here? If so, I'd highly recommend getting in on the Silver Label lines that are currently quite inexpensive through Orvis directly.

If they're not a sponsor, forget what I just said.

Marty