Weekly Round-Up: 'Tis Fishing Gear Maintenance Season
Keeping fly gear in top shape is a year-round task, but the start of winter always means it's deep-cleaning time for my kit.
Wherever your politics fall, it’s been a week for all my American readers. I hope you’re all able to step away from the screens this weekend and get outside for some fresh air—on or off the water. I took a long drive on Election Day (voted prior) and exchanging screen time for windshield time the best thing for my brain.
Now this weekend I’m back on the computer, facing a growing list of article deadlines and bookkeeping work. There’s a glimmer of travel and fishing adventure on the horizon (stay tuned!) but for now it’s writing, physical therapy, workouts, and work. Which isn’t a bad routine, either.
For this week, though, we’re tackling a topic that’s coming up a lot these past few weeks, everywhere from in client call conversations to Instagram messages. Gear maintenance and storage. For many anglers, the arrival of cold weather marks the end of their fishing season, and it’s easy to just chuck gear into a closet and worry about it all next spring.
Don’t do that.
Don’t be that guy.
Proper care and maintenance of your fly gear really isn’t that hard, and if you put in a bit of work now, well, when next spring rolls around, you’ll be glad you did.
Seasonal Fly-Fishing Gear Maintenance
The care and keeping of your fly rods, fly lines, waders, boots, and more.
Throughout any given year, I’ll be spending weeks fly-fishing a wide variety of locations, each which demands its own set of gear and equipment. In 2023, for example, my work had me chasing yellowfish in Lesotho, mahi in Mexico, sea-run brown trout in Iceland, golden dorado and pacú in the Bolivian Amazon, tarpon and permit in Belize, striped bass in Massachusetts, steelhead in Idaho, and trout right here home in Montana. It’s a schedule that’s made for complex gear requirements—each fishery requires its own set of equipment—therefore the care and keeping of that gear has been key.
I have a thorough cleaning routine I go through after every trip, whether fresh or salt. As many northern fisheries wrap up their season, the same tenets work well for end-of-season maintenance as well. A cleaning and maintenance schedule will help you ensure you’re getting the most out of your expensive gear, and that you’re ready for whatever trips are coming up on the calendar.
Rinse, Wash, and Dry
After every trip all gear is rinsed or outright washed, then dried carefully. Waders and boots get a rinse in the shower, then are hung to thoroughly dry before going back into storage. (This is a great time to check for leaks or seams that are showing wear.) Rod rods are wiped down, with special attention paid to the cork and ferrules, and on removing grit from beneath the reel seat. Reels are disassembled and oiled if necessary, all grit, dirt, and sand removed. I always dial the drag back to zero when not fishing to remove any additional pressure from the inner workings of the reel. Bags, packs, and any sort of gear which is now coated with mud or salt spray is rinsed off and everything is thoroughly dried before being stored.
Jake Palmer, who guides trout in Montana and steelhead in Idaho for the Clearwater Steelhead Syndicate, pays extra attention to his wader care at the end of the season.
“At the end of wader season I’ve found out just how important cleaning and storing waders is to the length of the life of the wader,” he notes. “First thing to do is let them dry out, all the way inside and out. Then I take a soft bristle brush like a toilet cleaning brush (new, not used… obviously) and I mix vinegar and water at about a 3-to-1 ratio. Then brush the insides and out of the waders. Let dry in the sun if you can and fold them up without folding the booties. Done.”
Fly Line Care / Storage
Our fly lines often receive a lot of abuse and very little love. They’re a key component of a successful day on the water, and it’s well worth spending a little extra care. After every trip in saltwater or the jungle, and a couple times a season for trout fishing, I give my fly lines a thorough wash and reconditioning. You don’t need fancy supplies; I simply unspool the line into my kitchen sink. Step one, rinse. Step two, add some mild dish soap and suds everything up. Step three, rinse multiple times until the water is clear. Dry thoroughly. You can add a line conditioner at the end as well. Washing your lines is a great time to check for cracks in the line coating or other potential issues before they become a significant problem.
I like to keep all my lines not currently on reels wound loosely and stored in labeled gallon-size Ziplock bags. This makes for compact storage and easy identification. With more than fifteen different lines on hand at any given time, this is a great system to keep things organized and make line changes on reels as painless as possible.
Fly Care
Any flies which have been used in saltwater are rinsed, then soaked in freshwater for good measure, and set out to dry thoroughly before going back in the box. (Don’t put a salty fly in your box without rinsing; that’s a great way to rust out your entire fly box.) At the end of every season I’ll do an inventory on all the fly boxes—saltwater, freshwater, jungle, bass, poppers, dries, nymphs, and more—and see what needs to be retied or repurchased. Streamers which look particularly scraggly will get a good combing to ensure they still hold profile in the water. I’ll sharpen hooks on flies which have seen hard use, ensure barbs are pinched down on everything, and make plans to refill boxes as needed.
Patch Waders, Boots, Jackets, and More
As much as we don’t like it, waders, boots, jackets, and our fishing clothing all has an expiration date as well. At the end of every trip I’ll rinse off gear and do a quick check to look for any points of possible failure (seams beginning to fray, holes starting to wear in Gore-Tex, laces on boots that are about to snap) and patch where needed.
A couple times a year I’ll do a more thorough check; patching possible wear spots in my waders and noting how much longer each piece might have. (Don’t try to push leaky gear; I did this with my wading jacket in Iceland this winter and was markedly damp wet during a wet week sea trout fishing.) Note what might need to be replaced, and keep an eye out for good sales where you can pick up new gear.
Reorganize and Repack For the Next Trip
Once gear has been cleaned and any necessary maintenance is wrapped up, it’s time to stow gear away. I like to keep waders either rolled or hanging (spare pair are usually rolled, and my current working pair hanging), and wading boots are stowed away in a safe place where nothing will be pressing against them (helps them hold their shape).
Most importantly, I’ll ensure items are organized, so when a short-notice job comes up and I need to grab gear, I can do so with minimal worry. I like to organize by fishery type: tropical saltwater, cold saltwater, jungle, and then trout is broken into streamers, dries, nymphs, and terrestrials. Rods are stowed either in their tubes or in a rod organizer case, and reels either in their boxes or in the same case.
However you choose to organize your gear, keeping a basic assessment, repair, and maintenance schedule can help limit gear failures on the water and ensure you’re getting the best performance from your equipment.
Free Live Travel Safety Webinar: Nov. 13th
Whether you’re traveling to the next state over for a work meeting or heading half-way around the world solo, it’s a wise move to pay attention to your personal safety. This seminar isn’t intended to spook anyone into feeling worried about traveling… in fact, quite to the contrary. This short online (free!) class will run over a few tips which can help put your mind at ease so you can embrace travel and enjoy it.
I’ve traveled to 27 countries solo, and as you can imagine there’s been quite a bit of… learning involved in doing so. Especially as I’m usually toting around a non-inexpensive kit of camera and fishing gear. Learn from some of my lessons—and some of my mistakes—in this seminar I’m giving for the Travel Goods Association on November 13 at 1 PM EST.
No registration needed—just join with this link (add it to your calendar now, so you’re ready to go the day of the seminar). I’ll give about a half-hour presentation, and then we’ll have some time for live Q&A afterward.
(This is an abbreviated version of a longer talk I give at trade shows, to fishing and travel clubs, and other groups. If you’d like to have me come speak on this topic—or others—to a group, please send me an email!)
See You In Denver This February
For those of you who are planning (or maybe should be planning!) to attend the Denver Fly Fishing Show this year, I’ll be teaching a couple different workshops during the February 21-23, 2025 show. (And I’ll just have returned from Argentina two days prior, so the odds are good the presentations will be jet-lagged and entertaining.)
I don’t have dates or times for the workshops or talks yet, but stay tuned for more information. I’ll be teaching on the following topics:
Capture Better Fishing Photos With Jess McGlothlin: A 2.5-hour intensive workshop with in-class “assignments”, $95 for the session and limited attendance.
Travel Tips and Tricks With Jess McGlothlin: A 45-minute presentation designed to help anglers be more prepared—and feel more confident—traveling solo or as part of a group. Free with show ticket.
I hope to see many of you in Denver at the show!
Upcoming Hosted Trips
Argentina 2025 Trout + Golden Dorado
Join me in Argentina next January for trout, dorado, or both! I still have a few spots open on this combined itinerary which offers a full week of fishing at Estancia Laguna Verde from January 25 - February 1, and then five nights on the Golden Dorado River Cruiser from February 2 - 7th, 2025.
January 25 - February 1, 2025
Estancia Laguna Verde, Lago Strobel, Argentina
$7,500 (7 nights / 6.5 days fishing)
Private room / shared guide
February 2 - 7, 2025 (ONLY ONE SPOT REMAINING)
Golden Dorado River Cruiser, Paraná River, Argentina
$4,200 (5 nights / 4.5 days fishing)
Shared room and guide
The prices include lodging, guides, and food at both locations. Want to learn more? Send me a DM on social media or an email, or peek at this PDF for more details.
Recently Published
It’s not all fishing. I recently penned a hotel review on the exquisite Langham in Boston for travel industry B2B publication Travel Market Report.
Pick up the latest issue of American Fly Fishing and peek at the cover. I shot this image of friend Jackie Jordan on the Battenkill River in Vermont nearly ten years ago. Peek inside the issue for a photo feature on New England fly fishing (and some unexpected adventures you can find in the region’s waters).
Read the latest issue of Fly Fisherman magazine for an article and images on the Golden Dorado River Cruiser, as well as a series of images from Colombia’s Darien Lodge accompanying an article from fly-angling great Jeff Currier.
Not our usual topic, but I recently published a large article on chronic wasting disease in whitetail deer for hunting GPS brand onX Hunt. CWD Planning and Preparation in Two Southeastern States focuses on education and research efforts in the two SE states which do not yet have positive CWD cases: Georgia and South Carolina.
Photography on the Water: Help Your Buddy Nail the Hero Shot ran on Epic Fly Rod’s blog this past week.
In Mind the Gap: Fly Fishing the Darién Gap for InsideHook, I talked about the realities of pelagic and inshore fly fishing off Colombia’s northwest coast in the famed Darién Gap.
Hopping cargo planes filled with concrete and beer in order to go fishing? Sounds like an Australian thing. Read Concrete, Beer, and the American in The Tom Beckbe Field Journal.
Global Rescue Partnership
I’m happy to announce a new partnership with Global Rescue. I’ve used the team’s medical evacuation insurance since 2012, and it’s a safety net which makes me feel a little more at ease on jobs both here in the U.S. and most certainly abroad. Most international lodges require some form of medical evacuation insurance, and I ask that all my hosed trip clients carry it as well.
If you’ve ever got questions on the who, what, or why of why it’s a good idea to cover your bases for a possible medical evac, reach out. Happy to answer questions and share what plans have worked for me in the past.
*Yes, I do draw a commission (a minimal one) off this affiliate link. No, I don’t get a free membership with Global Rescue. And yes, I still find it a worthwhile line item in my business budget every year.
Follow Along on Social
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