[Poul]

I like to cast my windcutter with about a foot of running line outside the tip. So, I tied a small nail knot with about 6lb test onto my running line about 14' back from the head: when the knot is under my finger, I have the right amount of line outside the tip to load my rod. This is pretty normal procedure, however, in cold weather and/or darkness, I found myself missing the knot sometimes. I decided to color my line so I could:

(1) tell where the "knot" was visually, and
(2) tell how much running line I had out.

I've used 1" long felt pen markings before, but find they're pretty hard to see, plus I'm never sure if it's the 20' or the 30' mark, etc.

What I wanted was to mark my running line kind of like a lead core trolling line.

My first attempt was to dye the running line from the knot back in 10' chunks (10' dyed fl. pink, 10' un-dyed yellow, the next 10' pink again, etc). The dye didn't really stick (which surprised me because I dyed a S.A. trout line a few years ago to reduce casting flash and it took dye so fast it turned too dark in seconds). My second attempt was with a perm orange felt marker with the same approach. It worked nicely in the short term, but my fingers turned orange and the markings faded and bled into the unmarked portions somewhat...

Has anyone found a dye (or?) that works on Rio lines?

Poul (the guy with the thick eye-glasses and orange fingers)

 

[Dana]

Hi Poul!

I too share your quest! I use Staedtler Lumocolor permanent markers on my lines but the "waterproof permanent" ink isn't so waterproof and permanent when it comes to fly line coatings. Once upon a really long time ago I roughed up a section of fly line with some really fine grit sand paper (professional caster on closed river--DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ON YOUR OWN LINES!!!) and marked it--the color stayed, but you can guess what happened to the line...:whoa:

However, NOT marking lines has some definite advantages...for example, a really long cast can be pretty much as long as I want it to be!

 

[Nooksack Mac]

For decades, I've marked my single-handed lines with black bands (done with a waterproof felt marker), one band 15' from the tip, two at 30', etc. This doesn't seem very useful on spey lines (you'd be up to six little bands at 90'). What gives me useful information is a bright mark (orange or red) 60' from the belly loop, or 75' from the tip of a floating line. With the usual 15' tips, I know that I'm casting 90 feet with the marker close to the rod tip. If I could play in L.C. Steve and Bubba's league, I'd add a second mark at 90'.