Fly Gear Hacks

Fly gear hacks can save you time, money, or possibly both. Ben Rowell, owner/operator of Highway 3 Angler, shares three flyfishing gear hacks in this video. In Alaska, fly gear runs the gamut from 3-weight rods for grayling, to 10 weight rods for kings. Regardless of what gear you’re using, the three tips Ben provides in this video will apply, and you’ll surely find yourself in a situation where these tips will help you. 

The three fly gear tips Ben shares in the video are:

• Welded loop repair with 210D flat waxed nylon and UV glue

• Freeing stuck rod sections—using a soft foam cabinet liner

• Removing and installing fly lines, tangle- and knot-free

Since we usually attach a mono leader to the end of our fly lines, the end of the fly line, where the loop is, often gets damaged by the mono. For a floating fly line, this is not good for a couple reasons. First, water will intrude into the fly line, making the first few feet of your floating fly line sink. Second, the damaged loop may be significantly weakened, which could cause you to lose the fish of a lifetime. Should your fly line loop be damaged or broken, Ben’s simple way to repair the loop using 201 Denier flat waxed nylon fly tying thread, plus some sort of UV glue, is functional and effective. 

The second tip is a solution to the problem we sometimes find ourselves in, and it always seems to happen when we’re alone. That is, you have two sections of a rod stuck together. Unsticking them is easy if you have two people. If you don’t, employing Ben’s method of using a soft foam cabinet liner will often work to safely separate the rod sections.

Changing fly lines is often a PITA. Ben’s third fly gear tip is a way to install and remove fly lines from reels without winding up with a tangled mess. 

These fly gear tips will undoubtedly be helpful to you at some point.