Hi all. I purchased a second hand large arbor battenkill with additional spool with the intention in dipping my hands in some light saltwater fishing. I already know this isn’t the best reel for it, especially without the drag system being internal or protected from the elements, but again, I’ll be doing some wet wading in shallow inshore areas and wanted to just get my feet wet before I decide to spend more money.
I need help identifying these lines if at all possible, in case I can use them for this or something else. Lines are likely older however don’t seem abused and from what it looked like, case/pouch kept. Maybe a good washing and conditioning, but my main line for fresh water honestly looks more abused than these.
See pics with diameter readings.
Brown/tan line had two different readings on the taper within 1 foot. The rest of the dark brown and tan sections after 1+ ft.
The green line had three different readings at <1ft. About three feet. And then beyond.
Also I’m not so familiar with the connection with the fabric loop. Is that common on older lines. Only ever had welded loops built into the line.
Posted by Mindless-Ad2554
2 Comments
Unless you get lucky and someone here can recognize those lines by colour you are going to need more measurements. You need to measure further down the line, find the front taper, measure how long it is, measure the body of the head, measure the rear taper add that all together and that is your head length. Make sure you write those numbers down separately though because taper lengths will help identify the line as much as total head length. Then weigh the first 30 feet to figure out the line number or grain weight. It might be hard to find the information for out of production lines on manufacturers websites but recent lines will have taper diagrams shown.
If you have an accurate scale you can weigh the first 30′ and compare it to a chart to get the line weight.
The brown is likely sinking and the bright colored ones are floating. There are dark floating lines, but I’ve never seen a bright sinking line.
WF lines are most common. If they’re larger for the first 30ft or so then consistently small for the rest they’re weight forward.
The fabric loops work the same way as welded loops.
Honestly though you should probably just replace them. Old lines tend to get brittle, crack, and sink. Modern lines have better coatings that shoot better and are just generally more pleasant to fish.