I'm about to pick up my fly rod(s) again after a 5 year layoff (I was somewhat active on the old forum).

I have some quality 4, 5 and 6 wt lines that are 7 yrs old and 10 yrs old. I always took good care of them. What's the conventional wisdom on lines that have been in a reel for 5 years?

I also have some unused good leaders of the same age. Should I just replace them?

Any advice would be appreciated.

If the fly lines were cleaned up and stored correctly they should be fine. Have a look at them. If you don't see any cracks, and they still feel supple, I would try them. However, you'll probably have to pull the line off and give it several good stretches to get the kinks out.

The leaders might be a different story. If they were stored where light couldn't get to them, they might be OK. However, I would probably just replace them.

I'd replace them. Check out hook and hackle for their brand to save a few bucks. 3 lines and 5 leaders will run about 100 bucks and you're starting back fresh. Good luck.

Quote:

Agree. I had to take a hiatus from fly fishing due to back and shoulder surgery. My lines were well cared for, and they performed well. Do they float and cast OK? Any coiling?

I also agree if the leaders were stored properly, they might be OK. Do a little testing on the tippet sections.

If the line is holding the memory from being on the reel try to stretch it out until the coils come out. Other than that if it floats it's fine.

Thanks for the advice. At least two of the 5 yr old lines were never used so I'll give them a try. Guess it's best to replace the leaders.

Thanks again for your help.

Bob

I found a leader today that didn't quite pre-date horse hair, but came close. It's an Orvis 7 1/2' 3X "one knot" leader. Probably had it since the 70's. So I gave it a strength test, and tied it on to a 6 weight line.

Fished it today for an hour and caught 3 bows, the largest pushing 18", with broad shoulders. I thought I was snagged in a riff, so I moved the tip of the rod around to free it. Then it started moving. The prettiest holdover rainbow I ever caught.

One advantage of ffishing tippets in the 8X range is that the strength of the rest of the line/leader is not a problem. In fact, when I pick up mono from the trees and parking lots (originally to declutter things and help the birds/bats - I've seen too many critters, dead from getting entangled in discarded mono), I usually repurpose the stuff and build the salvage into my leaders.

Some of the lines I use still are going on 40YO - I use Abolene or silicone paste on lines anyway to float them, and as long as I stretch the kinks out, they are almost as good as my brand new hi-tech GenXXXX lines.

tl
les