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Making your own lines

Started by Malcolm, November 02, 2011, 01:02:23 PM

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Malcolm

Does anyone make up their own lines?

If so I wonder if you can help:

1. Where can you buy reasonably priced running line - like the running line of WFs. Most of the stuff I can find is extortionate and not what I would want to use for chopping up and experimenting. I may end up using something like amnesia but I would like to try several types.

2. How best to join lengths of line should I decide to play around with different AFTM ratings in order to come up with different profiles. I've alreadt been doing a bit of this by stitching the cores with kevlat thread then whipping and gluing with a variant of Aquasure but this is timeconsuming.

3. Lastly a source of cheap super heavyweight floating lines - I can get lines up to AFTM 12 but heavier lines are both rare and expensive. Not what I'd want to use to chop up.
There's nocht sae sober as a man blin drunk.
I maun hae goat an unco bellyfu'
To jaw like this

Traditionalist

#1
Yes, I have made up a lot.  What running line you use depends a lot on what you are trying to achieve.  For many things simple siliconised dacron line is great;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=dacron+fishing+line


May be of interest;
http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/flylines/

http://flydepot.com/flyfishing/cortland-444sl-classic-floating-running-line-031/pid--537/?sid=c9e738f83183ddd676af7069e6f93d73

http://flydepot.com/flyfishing/cortland-444sl-classic-intermediate-running-line-031/pid--540/?sid=c9e738f83183ddd676af7069e6f93d73

http://www.zooki.de/index.php?pid=2768 ( Braided nylon)

http://www.fishusa.com/Cortland-Precision-Fly-Line-Running-Line_p.html

http://www.caddisflyshop.com/shootinglines.html

http://www.aussiefly.com.au/line_weights.htm

Nearly all the commercial running line offerings are overpriced.


To join lines the sewing  method is the only really viable one;

http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/smoothconnections.shtml

especially if you are fishing for salmon etc.  I have not found any other reliable jointing techniques.

For heavy stuff  http://www.caddisflyshop.com/riotushhe30.html

You can also use various lead-core lines , but these are a beast to cast, and difficult to mate up to other lines.

There is a great deal of trial and error involved here. Also a precision scale is useful.

Also, you can use low weight mill end fly lines as running line. ( #4 weight etc.)  but be careful of the breaking strain! 
http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/fishing/fly-fishing-lines-and-backing/mill-end-and-budget-fly-lines/0/mullarkeys/2928/

TL
MC

Traditionalist

Will do at a pinch;

http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/balance-beam/

may also be of interest;

http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/shootingheads/

http://globalflyfisher.com/reviews/misc/smartspooler/index.php

I have a lot more links to various stuff. But it's pointless posting hundreds of links without a specific question or reference.

TL
MC

Malcolm

Mike,

What I am doing is playing around with full length spey lines with a 15ft rod. Playing around with gram weights and head lengths to suit - I have just built a 68 ft head with a mix of 12 (approx 15 ft nearest to the rod) and 10 weight and it goes better than straight 10 weight 75ft head.

I'm using an old DT2 as running line but it's only 70ft and that's not long enough - and also it's the only good running line I have. At the moment while I am getting the technique right I don't really like mono as it is more likely to tangle. I do have dacron but it is too soft and like mono prone to tangling.

Thanks for the links
There's nocht sae sober as a man blin drunk.
I maun hae goat an unco bellyfu'
To jaw like this

Traditionalist

Quote from: Malcolm on November 02, 2011, 03:27:00 PM
Mike,

What I am doing is playing around with full length spey lines with a 15ft rod. Playing around with gram weights and head lengths to suit - I have just built a 68 ft head with a mix of 12 (approx 15 ft nearest to the rod) and 10 weight and it goes better than straight 10 weight 75ft head.

I'm using an old DT2 as running line but it's only 70ft and that's not long enough - and also it's the only good running line I have. At the moment while I am getting the technique right I don't really like mono as it is more likely to tangle. I do have dacron but it is too soft and like mono prone to tangling.

Thanks for the links

The siliconised dacron is a lot stiffer and less prone to tangling and it's not too expensive.  I have never actually done much with spey lines etc.  Mostly specialised shooting heads, or trout sized lines.  There is quite a lot one can do, all my heads go a lot better than anything commercially available, and I have some specialised lines you can not buy, one of the most successful is a sinker with a floating tip.

If you want to try it, something I found a long time ago and have used a lot since. After seeing it and trying it,  a lot of my salmon fishing friends now use polypropylene bricklayers line in 1mm, I also use this for saltwater. It floats intrinsically and is more or less chemically inert, cheap too! :) I also use pieces of this as upstream spider fishing lines.

http://www.garant-mockenhaupt.de/Englisch/HP/Produkte/Produkte/Baustellenbedarf/051510.html

You may have to look around to find it in the UK. It MUST be polypropylene. The nylon stuff is no good.

TL
MC


Malcolm

Thanks,

I have had a look at the builders twine - it looks good and I can buy it for for 33p per 100m if I order 5000 units! Maybe Jewson or B&Q have it.

There's nocht sae sober as a man blin drunk.
I maun hae goat an unco bellyfu'
To jaw like this

Traditionalist

Quote from: Malcolm on November 02, 2011, 10:09:34 PM
Thanks,

I have had a look at the builders twine - it looks good and I can buy it for for 33p per 100m if I order 5000 units! Maybe Jewson or B&Q have it.



It's very cheap and easily available here, also in 100 or 200 meter spools, but one or two people in the UK who asked about it had trouble finding it there. Sorry, but I don't have a link for it in the UK.

TL
MC

Fishtales

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Traditionalist

#8
Quote from: fishtales on November 02, 2011, 10:48:37 PM
Would this do?

http://www.newitts.com/product/IT032631/Harrod_Polypropylene_Twine.htm?gclid=CKXgh9b2mKwCFcod4QodMzUEQA

That seems to be the right stuff. I have it in 1mm, and 1,7 mm,  and that stuff is 2mm.  If it's not too thick, ( although the thicker stuff is pleasant and easier to handle), then it will doubtless be fine.

As a lot of people ask, the breaking strain of the 1mm polypro is 14 kg  and the 1,7 mm 30 kg, so that 2mm stuff is likely somewhat higher.  Also, just as a matter of interest, the diameters given are estimates.  It is impossible to measure the diameter of a braid.

Also, as polypropylene is chemically inert, you can not dye it.  The colours are introduced at manufacture.  I have it in several colours, most people like green, but I don't suppose it makes a lot of difference really. I would probably go for the white if I had to choose between black and white, simply because it is easier to see. Incidentally, it shoots like a dream as it is "self lubricating" to an extent, it will not hold dirt etc, and it is actively hydrophobic. It is lighter than water with a specific gravity of about 0.7

Weights vary with estimated diameter of course, but the 1,7 mm stuff I have weighs about the same as  AFTM #4 level line in air. I would have to look up the exact weight in grains/foot if anybody wants it, I have all that stuff on another machine.

TL
MC

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