To remove the coils from your fly line that are caused by storage on the reel, string up your fly rod, pull about 10 feet of line out and wrap it around the backside of a post (fence post, truck hitch ball, tree trunk). With the fly rod in one hand and the tip of the line in the other...walk backwards until you are about 15' from the post, letting line come off the fly reel as you go. Now clamp down on the fly reel and pull on the fly line with both hands...hold it for 10 seconds...your line is now strait. Reel it up, and get out on the water.
Don’t overdo it. Long casts aren’t needed on most of the streams fly fishers frequent. Accuracy is more important than distance 99 percent of the time. Focus on fish that are within 20 feet, which can be easily reached with a 7- to 8-foot rod and a nice easy cast.
When choosing trout flies, the relative importance of fly characteristics in your selection, in order, should be: size, shape, color, and action (for stripped flies).
Fly lines pick up dirt and algae through use. Any time you notice that your line is not shooting well, picking up off the water easily, or floating high (trouble making mends) you should clean your fly line and apply a fly line floatant. Best results come from using the dedicated cleaning and line floatants offered by major fly line manufacturers.
A side benefit of cleaning your fly line, is that you will not "groove" your guides as soon. "Grooving" is the caused by the line slowly wearing away the inside surface of the guide, which over a long period of time, will leave a sharp edge. Grooved guides are a sure way to destroy a brand new fly line in a short period of time.
