scruggs cues and cortland wrap
- Thread starter bbb
- Start date
Fishing lines used to be made of three substances: cotton, linen or silk and the lines
are either twisted or braided. The twisted lines may be made by hand but the braided
version is always machine made. It is spun to order in sizes for different lines. Flax is
spun into the manufacture of the line for added strength but for fine lines, only the
strongest and longest fibres can be used. And a variety of flax may be used for added
durability of the line. The exact size of the flax must be maintained throughout the thread
and the exact amount of twists used from 2 to 9 must be maintained throughout the thread.
The bottom line is the type Flax, the number of strands of Flax, consistent diameter of all
the strands of Flax and Irish Linen, the manual twisting of the different strands to create the
fishing line and Cortland's bleach & dye processes which were carefully & meticulously done
to avoid fraying of the strands, well, it is undeniably a very unique product as a pool wrap. It
has a unique feel that's different from other Linen wraps due to its unique manufacturing. And
it was one of the few fishing lines of that era that were hand twisted which understandably
contributed to Cortland Linen's higher cost of production but the quality was extraordinary.
Although Irish Linen can be used for other purposes, it was extensively used for fishing line
material and the advent of modern day chemistry killed the business. For quite a long time
now, fishing lines for spinning, spin cast, or bait casting reels are almost entirely made from
artificial substances, including nylon, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF, and called fluorocarbon),
polyethylene, Dacron and Dyneema (UHMWPE). The most common type is monofilament,
made of a single strand but Irish Linen hasn't been used in fishing lines for many, many years.
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