On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:04:41 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

rw wrote:
My philosophy is empiricism and utilitarianism. IOW, check it out and
whatever works.

To that end, I searched out the gnarliest old Rio leader I could find,
took it from the package, and immersed it in hot (not boiling) water. It
straightened out just fine, tippet and all. It didn't seem to be
weakened in any obvious way, although I didn't actually test the
breaking point. ...

I didn't hear anyone argue that immersion in hot water wouldn't
straighten a leader. All of roff agrees, you can straighten a
nylon monofilament leader by immersing it in hot water.

It's a bad idea and bad advice and I wouldn't trust the leader
itself or the knots made with it, but it'll be straight, no doubt.

Plus the coiled memory will return as soon as you store the leader on
your reel, or coild it and put it back in the package and into your
vest.

It is the same when you remove the memory the old fashion way - with
your fingers. As soon as you wind up that leader on your reel, store
it for a short period, the coiled memory returns, but it is never as
bad as when the leader was brand new.

If placing a leader in hot water before use was a practical solution
to the coiled memory, I am sure the manufacturers would have
recommended it by now. It is a neat trick, but one that is not needed
if you have two hands and know the proper way of releasing the memory.