Sunday 29th April

Well it looks like April is going out with a bang! Very high winds at the fishery and everywhere else today. Not much chance to wet a line, maybe use the time to give your fly fishing equipment a service? Fly lines in particular respond really well to a good cleaning, not only making them cast better but also prolonging it's life. For a basic clean just strip the line off the reel into a bowl of lukewarm water and swill it around, then pull it through some kitchen paper as you wind it back onto the reel. Do not use any detergents or washing up liquids. For a much better clean use a proprietary line cleaner, I think the best one is the 3m line cleaner that comes as a container of cleaning fluid and small cleaning cloth. This really cleans the line and makes it float high in the water again. If you are not in the habit of doing this maintainence then you will be amazed at how well your line performs and shoots line! Once your line is clean a quick way of maintaining it is to use a car cleaning product like the silicone impregnated dashboard wipes but in gloss not Matt. These will keep your line slick and clean between "proper" cleans. Take your reel apart and clean out the interior with water and then wipe clean. You can use a reel lubricant but use very very sparingly. Your rod also can be cleaned using a damp cloth, wipe down the rod blanks and eyes. Then use one of the green plastic kitchen abrasive pads to give the handle a clean with water again no detergents etc. You will be amazed at how the cork will clean up and look much better and give you better grip. All in all plenty to do when you can't get into the water!