I never use anything to slick my spey lines but STP Son of a Gun. I have been fishing every night lately in temperatures that got well below freezing. I quit one night when my guides were freezing up in a big way. My line was also pretty dirty. I cleaned my line and gave it the El Slicko (STP Son of a Gun) treatment. I quit fishing last night and the temp was in the low 20's. I had beads of ice frozen all over my rod, the top 3 or 4 inches of my grip was ice covered. I had to hold my ferrules in my mouth to remove the ice and melt the wax enough to break the rod down. Here's the interesting part. Not a bit of ice on the guides.
Tip for fishing in the cold.
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dean_mt
Well-known member
Great tip, Dan. I was out last week at sunrise one morning and it was cold! High teens to 20 maybe. Anyway, it took about 8 minutes before our lines were frozen in place to the guides.
I said to my buddy, there must be something you can put on guides to keep them free of ice...but neither of us knew.
Please clarify, do you spray the guides or your line? Or both? Do you think Armor All would work?
I said to my buddy, there must be something you can put on guides to keep them free of ice...but neither of us knew.
Please clarify, do you spray the guides or your line? Or both? Do you think Armor All would work?
I don't put anything on the guides. I clean the lines by running them through a wet paper towel till I stop getting crud off of them. I let them dry for a bit and then run them though a paper towel with STP Son of a Gun sprayed on it. I run it through once, respray and run it back through again. I let it dry for a bit and reel it back in. It's a great line slick but I am really happy about the de-icing side effect.
By the way, the only product like this I trust is this. Armor All and some products can react badly with the line and cause cracks.
I'll bet if you wiped a paper towel with it on the guides it probably would not hurt. I have not tried it yet.
By the way, the only product like this I trust is this. Armor All and some products can react badly with the line and cause cracks.
I'll bet if you wiped a paper towel with it on the guides it probably would not hurt. I have not tried it yet.
billyspey
Well-known member
Airflo lines recommend stp son of gun for their lines.
That's the only line slick I have ever used on my Airflo Spey line.
wjc
Well-known member
Dan,
Which STP son of a gun do you use? The tire care or the protectant? There may be more too.
Posted this in the wrong thread already.
Thanks
Which STP son of a gun do you use? The tire care or the protectant? There may be more too.
Posted this in the wrong thread already.
Thanks
Will definitely have to get me some STP for the winter...Thanks Dan!
planettrout
Well-known member
pab1
Well-known member
Thats good to know Dan! I've had to remove ice from the guides every few casts for the last month or so. I start using shorter rods this time of year to make ice removal easier while wading and prevent my reel from taking a dunk.
dean_mt
Well-known member
I'll try the Loon product, I've never seen it before. As for the dipping in the water method...er...that doesn't always work, particularly when the water is soo cold that the current is that only thing keeping it open.
:lol2: Before I read the last of your post here, I was looking for where my answer went. I'm still laughing. I started to think maybe I hit preview post instead of submit reply. (Don't tell anyone, but I have done that.) I use this; son-of-a-gun-protectant/ I have the big bottle on the right.
I'm going to run out and get me some STP Son of a Gun!
I do a lot of jigging for Lake Trout during ice-in here, and I have always had decent success with regular silicone spray. I bought a can of that Reel Magic stuff, and I could tell that is was in reality just a can of rebranded silicone. I use an Abu Garcia baitcaster reel with a heavy custom-made 24" rod. I just spray the line still in the reel, and the guides and tha seems to work really well. I still get ice, but it pops right off.
My only gripe about silicone in any shape or form is that it is the antichrist towards any sort of painting or coating that you may be doing. I am a hobby gunsmith, and I've always got a gun on the bench in some various stage of rebuild. Silicone can raise hell with any sort of refinishing process if you aren't 100% diligent with keeping everything clean and sanitary. Just a little stray silicone can ruin a nice finish on your stock, or an applied coating to metals. It creeps! Still, it does indeed do wondrous things.
I do a lot of jigging for Lake Trout during ice-in here, and I have always had decent success with regular silicone spray. I bought a can of that Reel Magic stuff, and I could tell that is was in reality just a can of rebranded silicone. I use an Abu Garcia baitcaster reel with a heavy custom-made 24" rod. I just spray the line still in the reel, and the guides and tha seems to work really well. I still get ice, but it pops right off.
My only gripe about silicone in any shape or form is that it is the antichrist towards any sort of painting or coating that you may be doing. I am a hobby gunsmith, and I've always got a gun on the bench in some various stage of rebuild. Silicone can raise hell with any sort of refinishing process if you aren't 100% diligent with keeping everything clean and sanitary. Just a little stray silicone can ruin a nice finish on your stock, or an applied coating to metals. It creeps! Still, it does indeed do wondrous things.
J
johnjac
Guest
great tip dan i can't wait to put stp to use in my night runs. I have recently been introduced to night fishing on a catch and release stretch of the taylor river in gunnison co. we start at about 10pm and go on through the night getting into some mega browns the occasional rainbow and i have heard of a pike patrolling the stretch that came from the resivoir above. gunnison co is one of the coldest places in the winter and this is the best time to get into some monster lips, so one of my biggest problems was getting line out once my guides froze screaming profanities on the taylor was what came next. hopefully not anymore!!!!
thanks again!
thanks again!
J
johnjac
Guest
i was talking about this post to a friend and fellow fisherman he informed me that pam (the cooking spray) works if sprayed on the line. i'll have to try both and see which works best! cheers!
silver creek
Well-known member
I was surprised to read that so I checked with Airflo. There is no mention of STP. Warm water and detergent recommended to clean Airflo fly lines. Directions are similar to other fly line companies.
"Cleaning & Treatment
To clean your Airflo line, mix a small amount of household detergent with warm (not boiling) water in a bowl or sink. Strip the line from your reel into the water and allow to the line to soak for 2-3 minutes - this will loosen any dirt and clean any algae build-up from the surface. Then dry off the line by winding the line back onto the reel through a clean dry cloth. Do not put too much pressure on the line, as the heat generated in the cloth can distort a flyline, also, if you put the line onto the reel under too much tension then this will cause reel set or memory."
Airflo Fly Line Care
T
turbineblade
Guest
Hey Silver -- you noticed the date on this thread right?
Not that what you're saying isn't relevant 2 years later -- just wanted to make sure.
Not that what you're saying isn't relevant 2 years later -- just wanted to make sure
.