Fishing Line Questions

[RobbyZ5001]

I have two new reels sitting at home with empty spools. Would you buy line now if your not going to be using it until May?

How often do you spool new line on your reels? <-- This question is for mono and flouro users.

Are bulk spools worth it, doesnt the line have a memory from sitting on the spool so long.

Do spools of line have shelf lives?

Do you put line on my hand or use the machines?

[Tin]

-Nope dont bother till the night before you go out.

-I put new line on 4 times fishing or everytime after I fish a rocky lake. So I change my line atleast once a week. But I'm just OCD about it too. You can go much longer though, I just have a sponser deal so I'm able to go through line and do not have to pay for most of it.

-I go with bulk spools, usually about 800 yards, but I go through it quick.

-Shelf life I'm not sure of but there is a big differnece in old/unused line and new/unused line.

-Either or, machine when I have one around.

[Marty]

I have two new reels sitting at home with empty spools. Would you buy line now if your not going to be using it until May?

How often do you spool new line on your reels? <-- This question is for mono and flouro users.

Are bulk spools worth it, doesnt the line have a memory from sitting on the spool so long.

Do spools of line have shelf lives?

Do you put line on my hand or use the machines?

I put line on my reels when it gets down enough that I can't make a long cast. This can be weeks, months or years, depending on how much I use that particular reel. I have had line on a reel for five years or more and not experienced problems.

I don't know what the shelf life is, but line can last a long time if not exposed to the elements.

I spool reels by hand.

I don't buy bulk spools, but I wouldn't hesitate if I went through line more than I presently do. If I keep a 300-yard spool around for a couple of years, the memory on a bulk spool wouldn't be any more of a problem, especially if I went through line faster.

I check my line frequently for nicks and other signs of weakness, but I can't recall a problem I ever had that I could attribute to old line.

[Tokyo Tony]

Mono definitely has a shelf-life that's not too great.  My brother got a bad batch this past summer and I'm almost positive it was at least partly because the line was old (it was Trilene XL in an old box I hadn't ever seen before).  He lost 5 or 6 fish either on the hookset or halway through the fight, and the line was just snappin in random places (his drag was set correctly too).  It was hilarious  

Finally he switched rods

[A_Glenn_2]

How often do I change line, well depends on how bad the backlash is :-?

[NBR]

I live in the north country and winter is my time for getting tackle ready for ice out. I would buy line now except I have plenty.

I spool new line on when needed for casting distance or once a year at most. Fluoro longer but part of the time is learning about its shelf life and its cost.

If you keep mono out of the sunshine and extremes of temperature it has incredibly long shelf life. I have a spool or so that must be 15 years old and outside of a little bloom on the outside I find nothing wrong with the line. It fishes just fine.

In my opinion line failure has more to do with poor knots, no spit before tightening, knicks from cover in the water and sometimes bad guides. I watch my line very carefully when tieing a knot and check it often for knicks and abrasions. If it is suspect I retie. I can't recall the last time broke off on a fish but I fish water that has little cover except for rocks. Rarely any wood, no dense weed beds and few if any reeds or lillies.

It does have a memory from the line spool but when you put it on a reel it conforms to the reels spool and begins a new memory.

I spool by hand on my spinning outfits and use the manual Berkley Spooling Station. The only reason for the spooling station is I don't have to wait for my wife to hold the spool.

[roadwarrior]

I rarely respool completely, but add line as needed. I like 100 yards of relatively fresh line and will replace that entire amount when I can feel the connecting knot buried in the spool.

Yo-Zuri Hybrid, Ultra Soft, most copolymers, fluorocarbon and braid never get "old". Monofilaments are effected by ultraviolet light and water absorption and will deteriorate over time. However, in a controlled environment, mono will last indefinitely, too.

I add line or respool by hand.

Bulk spools will save you money. I sometimes buy 600 or 1000 yard spools, but have recently purchased a 1 lb spool of #15 Yo-Zuri Hybrid which is 3000 yards. This should last awhile!

8-)

[Infidel.]

I rarely respool completely

I'm the same way.  With the expection of a couple of my reels that have very shallow spools (TD-S 105, Morrum UM Forrells) I remove half the line off the spool and then tie the new line to the old.  It's normally between 75-100 yards.  This saves time and money when respooling.  

[Branuss04]

I re-spool a lot.  I actually went out and bought a line stripper because i'm tired of doing it by hand.  I've been using a lot of leaders lately so that way I dont' have to completely re-spool.  I use cheaper line for the backing.  I do buy some bulk, but I dont' know if it was worth it, I still haven't used it all after a year.  

[Bankbeater]

I rarely respool completely

I'm the same way. With the expection of a couple of my reels that have very shallow spools (TD-S 105, Morrum UM Forrells) I remove half the line off the spool and then tie the new line to the old. It's normally between 75-100 yards. This saves time and money when respooling.

Same here. I have been using mono, and if the line starts feeling kinky, or if it looks faded compared to new line out of the box I will put new line on.