Marking your fly line means using a Sharpie to put a simple code of wide and narrow bands on the line, where a wide mark equals five and a narrow mark equals one, so you can read the line weight at a glance. It is an old-school trick straight from Lefty Kreh, and if you own a stack of fly rods and reels it solves the constant problem of not being able to tell an eight weight from a nine. In this How 2 Tuesday I show you exactly how to do it.
Watch and listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You use a Sharpie and a simple band system that Lefty Kreh taught: a wide bar equals five and a narrow bar equals one, and you add them up to get the line weight. Rotate the line in your hand as you mark so you coat both sides. For an eleven weight, you make two wide bars, five plus five for ten, then one narrow mark for the extra one. For a five weight, you just make a single wide bar. Read the marks, add the values, and you instantly know what the line is.
Because if you own a bunch of fly rods and reels, it is very hard to tell one line from another, especially an eight from a nine or a nine from a ten. Some lines come printed with the weight, which is great if it stays on, but plenty of older lines have no markings, or the printing wears off. When you have a big trip coming up and want to put a fresh line on one rod, you need to know which of your other lines is which so you can keep a good one as a practice or spare line in your tackle bag.
It is a simple value code: a wide Sharpie mark counts as five and a narrow mark counts as one. You combine wide and narrow marks to signify the line weight. So five and five makes a ten weight, and five, five, and one makes an eleven weight. It is old school and it works, which is exactly why Lefty used it. Once you learn the wide-equals-five, narrow-equals-one shorthand, you can read any line you have marked at a glance.
About an inch and a half long. I choose that length on purpose, because once you get out in the sun with saltwater on the line, a shorter mark can fade and disappear, and then you are back to guessing. Make the bars a solid inch and a half, rotate the line as you color so you cover both sides completely, and the marks will survive a season of sun and salt so you can still read the line weight later.
Yes. I put the marks on both ends of the fly line so no matter which end is showing, I can identify the line. Lines get loaded and reloaded, and you will not always have the same end out, so marking both ends means you can always read the weight without having to strip the whole line off to find the marked end.
They are fine if they stay put, but they usually fall off or get messed up over time. The little stickers that come with a fly line can go on your reels, which is handy, but they rarely last. That is why the best approach is the old-school Sharpie band method Lefty Kreh used, marked right onto the line itself, so the identification is permanent and travels with the line no matter which reel it ends up on.
Here are the steps I walk through. This one is quick and easy to follow along with above.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
If you have eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve weights around, it is genuinely hard to tell a nine from a ten. Some lines come printed with the weight, which is great if it stays on, but plenty do not, or the printing wears off. When a big trip is coming and you want a fresh line on one rod, you need to know which of your other lines is which. I explain the problem in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The whole system is just wide equals five, narrow equals one, added together. Five and five is a ten, and a smaller mark after that makes it an eleven. I make my marks about an inch and a half long on purpose, because sun and saltwater will shrink a short mark until it disappears. I walk through the exact marking in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I mark both ends of every line so I can read it no matter which end is showing, and I do it the moment I get a new line. The manufacturer stickers are fine on your reels, but they fall off, so the Sharpie bands are the permanent fix. I cover the habit in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Get in the habit of marking your lines the day you get them, wide for five and narrow for one, on both ends, and you will always know exactly what you are holding.
That is how to mark a fly line, the old-school Lefty Kreh way. Press play in the player above and we will talk next week.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Lefty Kreh · marking fly line · fly line weight · Sharpie · fly line maintenance · whipped loop · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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