Soaking mono before spooling up

[hammercarp]

I just read some about an angler that is soaking their monofilament line before winding it onto their reel. Has anybody ever heard of this? Is there any advantage to doing this?

[BillM]

Same idea as letting out that fresh spool of line when you're on the water and reeling it back in?

[Raf]

used to do it when i used a lot of mono. idea is to stick it in water to soften it up/make it really limp before spooling -- makes it easier to do so and reduces line twist. the former is definately the case, i am not sure about the latter.

 

it's something my dad did all the time on spinning reels and i learned it from him

Edited February 7, 2014 by Raf

[GBW]

I did do it all the time when using mono. You never know what the memory is like on the spool as you just don't really know how long it's been sitting on the shelf in the store AFTER it's left the MFG's plant. A nice warm bucket/bowl of water has helped me in the past as far as I can tell. No more line loops since doing so with mono. Mind you I only have mono on, wait I've said too much...

[kickingfrog]

Soaking it water won't help "un-do" line twist. It might make the line more limp and it might take on the form of the reel's spool better.

[aplumma]

It is the same theory as wetting leather to make it pliable. The advise is old school though with the new mono's and the chemicals they use to make it pliable it has less memory than the old versions.

 

Art

[Lape0019]

Dave Mercer did a facts of fishing on this.

 

If I remember correctly, this is basically what he said.

Soaking it water won't help "un-do" line twist. It might make the line more limp and it might take on the form of the reel's spool better.

[Muskieman]

I've been soaking for about 20 yrs , usually in warm water , just seems to make it a little more souple and lines up a little tighter on the reel .

[Muskieman]

Has no difference in line twist IMO , line twists because it's not initially going onto the spool in the right direction or the lures you cast .. for me the most notorious line twister is a Jig & Minnow .

[Garnet]

When you spool up leave the spool in the water. It will be on correct every time.

[danc]

I have no opinion on this, but something to keep in mind is that mono absorbs water and expands. I left a fly reel in the water once and the mono backing expanded and blew the fly reel apart like it was made out of plastic. It was a very expensive reel too.

[dave524]

I just read some about an angler that is soaking their monofilament line before winding it onto their reel. Has anybody ever heard of this? Is there any advantage to doing this?

 

Is he 90 years old and started out with catgut leaders in his youth. You had to soak them before using them.

[porkpie]

I just read some about an angler that is soaking their monofilament line before winding it onto their reel. Has anybody ever heard of this? Is there any advantage to doing this?

No advantage. I don't suppose it would hurt anything, but no practical advantage.