How often do you clean your line? Be honest. I’m not talking Cash-line register somebody dropped a $5 bill you’re going to give it back to him honest, I’m talking deep down inside honest. Do you clean your line every time you go out or every other time you go out? Or even, ‘gasp‘- once a month?
I have noticed a dramatic increase in casting ability when I clean my line at least every other trip. This totally depends on the type of water I am casting into. Whether it is millpond weed frog scum-slime-slick slow  water or if I’m in a nice clean riffle filled stream, it can make a difference. There are still millions of micro particles that stick to your line every time you go out, and they accumulate. Over time, they will not only deteriorate your casting, but your line as well.

Frequency and method of line cleaning can improve casting and longevity of your line.

Recently, I had the opportunity to cast and fall in love with the new SharkWave from Scientific Anglers. When I lined up all my rods from a heavy week of casting into hoards of spent mayflies, I was concerned with ‘how’ and ‘how often’ I should be cleaning and conditioning this line that has improved my cast and has assisted other anglers reach that twenty incher they might not otherwise have a chance at. Is there a difference between merely cleaning the line and conditioning it? What about these household remedies I hear other anglers recommend, like Amor-All or Rain-X for their line cleaning? What is the best method for the long life and care of my line? So I sent out a few e-mails and got a rather quick and surprising response from Erick Johnson at Scientific Anglers.

The bottom line is we cannot guarantee what is in other dressing or products and how it will react with our lines. A perfect example of this is ArmorAll. For years people said that ArmorAll could be used to clean and condition fly lines. What we know now is that they actually reduce the effective lifespan of the line. This is due to the chemicals in ArmorAll reacting with the plasticizers in our coating and actually drying it out. This can lead to premature cracking and line failure. ~ Erick Johnson at Scientific Anglers

Here is what he had to say.

TNT> How often should I clean my line?

Erick at SA>Regarding frequency, it really depends on the water type and the amount of debris/dirt/grime/sludge in that water. The obvious answer is “whenever it needs it” and you notice a significant decrease in performance but that is hard to quantify. A good guidance rule would be every 4-5 outings in cleaner ‘trout’ water and probably every 2-3 outings in dirtier, warmer water. The BEST way to “deep clean’ your line is to put a small amount of hand soap on a wet cloth and run your line through it. Rinse it and wipe it clean in freshwater and it’s good to go once it is dry. This method is a little more time intensive than the bucket method, but it does a much better job.

Erick> Great question! The short answer is that we never want to use any line dressing or conditioner on any textured lines, including the SharkWave. By applying a dressing or conditioner it actually clogs the texturing and attracts dirt and grime which actuallyrenders the line less effective.

  A good way to clean any line is by using a small about of HAND soap(not dish detergent) in a bucket of warm water. You can then put the line in the soapy water and agitate it for a few minutes. Rinse your line off with fresh, cool water and set it out in loose coils to air dry. Once your line is dry you have two options depending on whether your line is smooth or textured (such as SharkWave, Mastery Textured or Sharkskin):

Erick>I get a lot of questions from users about different techniques and “home remedies” to use on their lines. The bottom line is we cannot guarantee what is in other dressing or products and how it will react with our lines. A perfect example of this is ArmorAll. For years people said that ArmorAll could be used to clean and condition fly lines. What we know now is that they actually reduce the effective lifespan of the line. This is due to the chemicals in ArmorAll reacting with the plasticizers in our coating and actually drying it out. This can lead to premature cracking and line failure. That is why we recommend using our Line Dressing. We can guarantee the contents are safe to use with our lines.