Restoration of silk fly lines: back to the origin (Part 1)

I have been fishing with silk since the last century and used a few silk lines offered in the market. Kaizer of Belgium, Phoenix and Thebault.

Using silk, you will encounter some day the problem of sticky coating. Especially with modern silks coated by some other ingredients than pure linseed oil of the old days. My case was that the Phoenix's coating became sticky due to the hot and humid summer of Tokyo.

What to do? Simple answer would be replace it with a new one. But I wanted to try what I wanted to do since long: to re-coat it by myself.


This silk line became too sticky to be used for fishing.


So the sticky coating must be removed from the silk. Sodium bicarbonate will do the removal with ease.




I put some sodium bicarbonate in the bucket of warm water and soaked the line in it. No exact quantity, weight, measurement; everything on my feeling.


Already after several minutes the water becomes coloured.


And after 30 minutes or so, all the coating applied to the Phoenix line get off from the line.






Here is the silk line without coating. Without coating, the line is very elastic to my surprise.


I went back to the original coating method of 19th century. "Dry-fly fishing in theory and practice" written by F.M.Halford tells me exactly what to do.


Prepare (1) boiled linseed oil and (2) a vacuum container which I bought for USD 20 - 30 at shop.


Place the line in coil in the container and pour the linseed oil in it.


Pump out the air in the container until no bubbles comes out from the line.


Voila! The line is now perfectly impregnated by linseed oil.