When to change fishihg line?

[LWW]

I know this is a personal preference to most, but my buddies and I were having a good conversation about when to change your fishing line. In my friends case, he fish's tournaments every month, so of course he needs to change his line quite frequently. But for a recreational fisherman like myself, I'm not so obssesive about changing my line every 2 weeks. First off, I have about 10 poles I like to rotate through and that can add up to big bill every month trying to keep them all with crisp new line. My main question is, how much does "time" effect the line as opposed to the amount of use or "memory" a line might build up. In my opinion, if I haven't fished a rod "as much" as other rods, and have had it lined for several months.. I'm not so worried about it because the memory is still low. My freinds think I'm crazy, and should reline every month on all rods no matter what. I have learned one thing recently about this, no more buying individual spools of line, only the bulk, and I'll be staying with floro in Pline or Vanish 8#,10# and 12#.

What do you all think?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I think lines have come a long way, and they have certainly outrun the old lines that didn't have a good shelf life. If you take some care and don't leave your lines exposed to a lot of sun, electric motors, or heat, they last years if you buy good lines. The lines you listed should last years, with reasonable care. I'm using some braided line that is several years old and the P-Line CX I'm now using is starting its third year. I change line when it gets low enough on my reel to inhibit casting, which for me isn't real often because I change plastic more often then the terminal tackle.

[Omaha Willie]

I do like to use predominantly Trilene XL (so that makes me 'old school', cheap, or stoopid, I guess)...spool up with fresh line each spring. Going to try Fireline this year (with flourocarbon leaders) to see how much of a difference it makes.

Thinking that I'll probably 'spool' the fireline and reload it once/twice a year...but that may be foolish...

To date, I've never been outfished by the folks using the superlines (braids/flourocarbons, etc)...but there'll certainly come a day...

[SKMO]

LWW -

Agree with you that buying bulk is only way to go. Keep it in a cool dark place. I fish a lot too and don't have any hard and fast rules but some of my thoughts include:

Really good line is expensive so I almost run my reels with some "backing line" i.e. you can put several yards of subgrade line on the spool first and keep the last 50-60% of spooled line with good fresh stuff. Kind of a cheapo way to do it but I never fish with the line on the inner spool anyway. When my breakoffs get me down to where I see my connection knot it is obviously time to respool.

For sure the smaller the diameter (#test) the more you should change it. I might change 2/4/6# line on crappie rods every 2-3 trips. The larger the line the longer it should hold up. So I change 15/17 once or twice a year as needed, 10/12 every few months and smaller stuff more frequently. Also has a lot to do with how much use the line gets, and how often you are fishing itand how: cranks and jigs in rocks wear out line fast.

Shiney and slick is good, cloudy or rough is bad.

I always put the type of line, and date of the line change on each reel cause it can get kind of confusing.

If you can see/feel nicks or abrasions break off the last few feet, if it continues up the line replace the whole line.

Like Wayne said sun and heat is BAD. Nicks/abrasions are worse.

Since you have bulk reels to campare with, do a pull test comparing the line on your reels versus the fresh stuff. If your reeled lined seems weaker than the spools replace it.

Finally, as you are fishing if the line is stiff or kinky causing problems change it. However even good line can develop memory and be kind of funky on the first cast of the day, especially larger lines and colder temps. Just make a couple casts to get it wet and make a long cast hooking the closest tree or rock, back off about a cast and a half and stretch it real good for several seconds and you will see a great improvement.

All this said tourney fisherman are different from me and probably do need to change line daily so they can sleep at night. Personally I struggle to draw the line between my anal fishing obsessions and the desire to keep an enjoyable hobby fun, so you might want to factor this in as well. If you took that last sentence seriously and reflected upon it, you have a serious fishing habit and should seek counseling.

[LWW]

LWW -

Agree with you that buying bulk is only way to go. Keep it in a cool dark place. I fish a lot too and don't have any hard and fast rules but some of my thoughts include:

Really good line is expensive so I almost run my reels with some "backing line" i.e. you can put several yards of subgrade line on the spool first and keep the last 50-60% of spooled line with good fresh stuff. Kind of a cheapo way to do it but I never fish with the line on the inner spool anyway. When my breakoffs get me down to where I see my connection knot it is obviously time to respool.

For sure the smaller the diameter (#test) the more you should change it. I might change 2/4/6# line on crappie rods every 2-3 trips. The larger the line the longer it should hold up. So I change 15/17 once or twice a year as needed, 10/12 every few months and smaller stuff more frequently. Also has a lot to do with how much use the line gets, and how often you are fishing itand how: cranks and jigs in rocks wear out line fast.

Shiney and slick is good, cloudy or rough is bad.

I always put the type of line, and date of the line change on each reel cause it can get kind of confusing.

If you can see/feel nicks or abrasions break off the last few feet, if it continues up the line replace the whole line.

Like Wayne said sun and heat is BAD. Nicks/abrasions are worse.

Since you have bulk reels to campare with, do a pull test comparing the line on your reels versus the fresh stuff. If your reeled lined seems weaker than the spools replace it.

Finally, as you are fishing if the line is stiff or kinky causing problems change it. However even good line can develop memory and be kind of funky on the first cast of the day, especially larger lines and colder temps. Just make a couple casts to get it wet and make a long cast hooking the closest tree or rock, back off about a cast and a half and stretch it real good for several seconds and you will see a great improvement.

All this said tourney fisherman are different from me and probably do need to change line daily so they can sleep at night. Personally I struggle to draw the line between my anal fishing obsessions and the desire to keep an enjoyable hobby fun, so you might want to factor this in as well. If you took that last sentence sreiously and thought about it, you have a serious fishing habit and should seek counseling.

SKMO,

I agree, I've had enough bad habbits.. I'm gonna have to put my foot down somewhere!

As for "Backing the Line", that in itself has cut my budget in half. It just makes since once I saw how much line I would strip that never even got used. I always like a full reel cause it seems to help me cast more accurately.

I'm glad to see others share a similar philosphy on some of this. I'm pretty comfortable with respooling twice a year. Although, I might kick myself in the butt if I neglect a reel a little too long and get to see that big boy reeled in to the boat only to give me the bird in swim away for ever! That's fishing!

LWW

[Sam]

That's lots of good information you guys have posted here. I have just two more comments to add.

One advantage of using a monofilament backing under some of the premium lines like Fireline is that it keeps the line from slipping on the spool. The first time I used Fireline, I got out on the lake and couldn't fish because the line was going around on the spool. Fortunately I carry superglue on my boat, so I stripped off all the line, put a drop of superglue on the spool and knot, and re-wound as soon as the glue dried. Using a monofilament backing avoids that problem.

The other thing is about twisted line. If you troll a Roostertail, even with a good swivel on the line, it's going to twist. I've been surprised too at how much line will twist when fishing a wacky-rigged weightless plastic worm. You let the worm drop straight down, but every you retrieve the worm it goes round-and-round - and a few hours of doing that really twists the line.

When that happens, I'll run the boat at full speed with the outboard motor and trail all the line out behind with nothing on the end of it. That straightens out a twisted line pretty well.

[MOBass]

At the start of spring I strip everything down to the bare spool and put line on those rods I'll be using during that first trip. Anything that won't be used until later in the year doesn't get line on it until a day or two before the trip. I'll fish with line until it has memory, discolors, becomes rough, or I have a tournament and will be using that rod. When I change line I strip of half the spool and refill. I use line and reel magic after I spool up, the night before a trip, and during the day as needed. One thing that will help is to pull the rods out of the boat when not in use. High summer temps can kill line in a rod box.