Does flyline grease hurt the fish?

[Wiggley1]

A point was brought up about ones concern for the grease thats put on flylines to help it float. I never really thought about it before until now. I stopped using lead weight whenever I can but now I wonder about this muslin grease, and other cleaners and protectants.

Can the smolts be affected by these chemicals?

[AndyK]

Why are you putting grease on your fly line? Today's lines are coated and don't need the addition of floatant. There are cleaners available, but that is all.

When I started fly-fishing (a really long time ago, when Eisenhower was President), silk lines were the dominant type and they needed to be treated to float, sometimes more then once a day. Then Cortland came out with coated lines and the original silk had a slow death.

[Carp4Fun]

Originally Posted by Wiggley1

A point was brought up about ones concern for the grease thats put on flylines to help it float. I never really thought about it before until now. I stopped using lead weight whenever I can but now I wonder about this muslin grease, and other cleaners and protectants.

Can the smolts be affected by these chemicals?

Most flyline grease is a silicant and won't harm the environment. On the other hand, most flylines leech liquid PTFE over time, which certainly isn't healthy. It could easily be argued that the amount of PTFE getting into the water is negligible.

[Slow and Low]

Never Heard Of Flyline Grease. Do You Mean Flyline Cleaner.

[Wiggley1]

I guess nobody saw the word Muslin. I used to use it to clean and protect but it left a greasy feeling and needed to be reaplied alot. I and others call it grease, I guess as slang. I switched a while back and will never use that Muslin stuff again.

Anyway, just wondering if any of those chems affect the water.

[LaterPeter]

I think if you don't feed it to the smolts... you'd be ok.
& if you've purchased a decent quality fly line in the past 5 years... you're probably not doing anything (fish, river, fly line) any good.
Later,
Peter

[Ryan Pultz]

I dont think it would hurt them any more then putting a hook in them does rp