Proper dressing for a Silk fly line

[TimMurphy]

Dear Board,

A while ago I bought an Ocean City 76 fly reel. It came with an old dark green line on it but since it was set up for RHW I put it aside until today.

I cleaned and lubed it and switched it over to LHW today and removed the fly line. It turns out it is a silk line and once 15 feet of line is stripped off the reel it is in surprisingly good shape. The first 15 feet are a little dried out. It looks like a DT line but it was tied to the reel arbor with a quadruple square knot so I'm not sure it can be reversed.

Is red mucilin still the dressing to use to restore the line? It's not frayed or damaged and I'd like to treat the line and give it a try

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[CinnamonJoe]

Tim,

I think some of the members here may still be in close with 'Bulldog' and some of the other grey beards on the F'iberglass Fly rod' forum and 'Classic Fly Rod Forum'.

'Bulldog' is Ja with this old sh*t, as well as a number of others over there. 'Bam too, maybe. If anyone knows what to do, they do.

You're a better man than me, I have thrown much of that old stuff out: only so many rabbit holes I can dive into right now!

Go peruse those forums, they have info on this and related topics going well past 20 years, if someone doesn't chime in. I swear I have come across multiple posts on this topic. If I find something, I'll post up the link.

Joe

 

[CinnamonJoe]

(some ideas? 🤷🏻‍♂️)

https://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39297

The Fishing Museum Online - Refinishing old silk lines

Old, stiff, stcky fly lines on old reels - Reel Talk - ORCA

https://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139935

Joe

 

[Drifly]

try looking up Otter Butter, I believe made by a guy up in Vermont