Quote:
Originally Posted by iamtheavalanche
How do you stretch out your line?
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To stretch out your line, go outside somewhere where you have at least 100 to 150 feet of uninterrupted space. I live in the countryside so I have plenty of room but a quiet part of a park or even a large parking lot would work fine. At one end of the space, find something unmovable to hook your lure or tie your line onto. Start walking back from it letting out line under light tension until you have about 10 yards out and stop. Point your rod tip directly at your tie off point (you want to stretch your line here, not flex your rod) and slowly and gently pull back on the rod as you feel the line stretch. I like to pull back and get a good stretch in the line and then hold it there for a few seconds and then slowly let it back forward to relieve the stretch and go back just to light tension. Give it a good stretch but don’t overdo it, you’ll get a feel for it. Walk back again letting out another 10 yards of line and repeat until you have stretched out about 30 to 50 yards of line. When finished, tip up your rod tip and under light tension reel the line back in as you walk back to your tie off point.
There’s no exact science to this but the above is what I found works well for me. If you are using KVD Line Conditioner, soak the spool full of line with it the night before and let it penetrate until the next day when you stretch out the line.
This works really well for both mono and flouro but remember that mono stretches much more than flouro so keep that in mind when your pulling on it. I know a number of guys stretch out their fly line too.
I agree with Jimmy about how most people use an improved clinch with flouro, I personally just like palomars. Here’s a decent video on Palomar knots with flouro – the general points he makes apply to most any knot though. I do suggest lubricating much more and earlier than he does in the video though. I also agree with Jimmy 100% about lubrication.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4lGUK_12Uo#t=294
On a side note, it sounds like you may want to tighten up the cast control on your reel a bit to lessen the overspooling.
