How often do you change you main line?

Hey Fellas,

Quick questions. How often do you change your mainline (braid)? I've been thinking about what happened to me last Friday. I figured my line is frail. I think its 4yrs old. I was trying to horse a big fish and I know my reel has enough drag. In the end, the line snapped. The same thing happened when I tried to set the hook. Do you change line every season? Im using 40lbs PowerPRO.

Well, that sounds like a good time to do it after a breakoff    Generally I spool my reels with a LOT of braid, and once or twice a season cut off about 50-75 feet, and I like to do a rod length of top shot that gets replaced after it gets short.  Since I rarely fish more than that depth, cutting off the used portion and keeping the rest until it gets low enough that I replace it is my usual plan.  I also have heard people re-spool from one reel to another to reverse the line, but i'd only do it in a pinch myself.

I'm almost all mono.  I never change it.  Rinse and repeat.  Store in shade.

Ive been using a top shot (30 ft) of mono or flouro to a swivel that i snap my terminal gear too, and just replace that a couple times a season and maybe cut off 20 ft of my braid each year. The topshot gets shorter and shorter then I just re-tie a new topshot w/ the FG knot. Rinse gear every outing and will prolly respool in a little bit but my braid (65 and 40lb power pro) seems healthy for now, prolly 4 yrs old only. Its easy to tell when your mono/flouro is shot from the abrasion. But usually all the damage from rocks is on my leader.

Well, that sounds like a good time to do it after a breakoff    Generally I spool my reels with a LOT of braid, and once or twice a season cut off about 50-75 feet, and I like to do a rod length of top shot that gets replaced after it gets short.  Since I rarely fish more than that depth, cutting off the used portion and keeping the rest until it gets low enough that I replace it is my usual plan.  I also have heard people re-spool from one reel to another to reverse the line, but i'd only do it in a pinch myself.

This is almost exactly what I do. Braid. Mono topshot (25 or so feet) that gets trimmed down as it wears and then replaced. Every once in awhile I’ll strip off maybe 15 feet of braid when I retie the mono topshot.

Why not loosen the drag and actually fight the fish? 

Well, that sounds like a good time to do it after a breakoff    Generally I spool my reels with a LOT of braid, and once or twice a season cut off about 50-75 feet, and I like to do a rod length of top shot that gets replaced after it gets short.  Since I rarely fish more than that depth, cutting off the used portion and keeping the rest until it gets low enough that I replace it is my usual plan.  I also have heard people re-spool from one reel to another to reverse the line, but i'd only do it in a pinch myself.

this is what i do, and i also flip the line as Al mentioned. Braid is kinda pricey and it effectively gives you another couple of years as long as you're not fishing crazy deep.
I wash it when I'm flipping it as well . I use an old braid spool with holes drilled in it. I soak the line in fresh water overnight, and then rinse it really well before putting it back on a reel.
4 years is prob maximum I'd go without replacing the line.
speaking of which, I gotta order some line!

Well, that sounds like a good time to do it after a breakoff    Generally I spool my reels with a LOT of braid, and once or twice a season cut off about 50-75 feet, and I like to do a rod length of top shot that gets replaced after it gets short.  Since I rarely fish more than that depth, cutting off the used portion and keeping the rest until it gets low enough that I replace it is my usual plan.  I also have heard people re-spool from one reel to another to reverse the line, but i'd only do it in a pinch myself.

this is what i do, and i also flip the line as Al mentioned. Braid is kinda pricey and it effectively gives you another couple of years as long as you're not fishing crazy deep.
I wash it when I'm flipping it as well . I use an old braid spool with holes drilled in it. I soak the line in fresh water overnight, and then rinse it really well before putting it back on a reel.
4 years is prob maximum I'd go without replacing the line.
speaking of which, I gotta order some line!

I do flip my line too. I will try to cut probably 50ft.

Why not loosen the drag and actually fight the fish?

I have enough drag and loosen it wont be able to retrieved line and when it ran, takes couple of yards. It was actually towing me to save some line.

I'm almost all mono.  I never change it.  Rinse and repeat.  Store in shade.

When you snag mono at a 100 feet it is a bitch to break off unless you are using light stuff.

Well, that sounds like a good time to do it after a breakoff    Generally I spool my reels with a LOT of braid, and once or twice a season cut off about 50-75 feet, and I like to do a rod length of top shot that gets replaced after it gets short.  Since I rarely fish more than that depth, cutting off the used portion and keeping the rest until it gets low enough that I replace it is my usual plan.  I also have heard people re-spool from one reel to another to reverse the line, but i'd only do it in a pinch myself.

this is what i do, and i also flip the line as Al mentioned. Braid is kinda pricey and it effectively gives you another couple of years as long as you're not fishing crazy deep.
I wash it when I'm flipping it as well . I use an old braid spool with holes drilled in it. I soak the line in fresh water overnight, and then rinse it really well before putting it back on a reel.
4 years is prob maximum I'd go without replacing the line.
speaking of which, I gotta order some line!

I do flip my line too. I will try to cut probably 50ft.

Why not loosen the drag and actually fight the fish?

I have enough drag and loosen it wont be able to retrieved line and when it ran, takes couple of yards. It was actually towing me to save some line.

It was towing you cause you’re drag is buttoned down too tight…..and your line snapped.  If you back the drag off a bit, the drag and rod will do what they’re supposed to do, the fish will tire after a couple runs and come up. Just my .02

All synthetics have a life span simple with heat and daylight. Saltwater is more caustic than fresh, and if you are contacting barnacles and rocks on every cast while rockfishing, it adds the ability to nick or fray to the mix.

If I am in freshwater I'd flip it after two seasons. If I'm using it in salt (with the aforementioned contact with rox and barnacles, I'd remove the last 20 feet after each trip and retie. Braid shows the obvious damage (fraying and the like) by lightening up in color on the worn areas. Monitor the line and remove the worn area after each outing.

Two seasons tops, either flip if freshwater or discard if salt.

There is a possibility that the braided line was still good, and the problem could be caused by a damaged rod guide(s).  Carefully examine the guides, especially the rod tip and the guides near the tip.  Look for any nicks, cracks, or grooves.  A cracked guide could fray the line easily and the line would break under tension.

I found an old rod in the basement (well, stand up crawlspace really, but storage under the house either way) last summer, a medium 7' ugly stik with the garbage "ugly spin" reel it came combo'd with.  I got it about 20 years ago. The reel had some old mono on it, like 15 or 20 lb test, that was as old as the rod and reel.   When I first got my kayak I was excited to try it out, so I took it out for a quick paddle at new brighton one evening and grabbed that old rod with the old reel and old line on my way out the door.  After maybe 10 minutes on the water, I foul hooked a big bat ray.  It towed me all around the cove for 45 minutes, even broke the stuck drag on the garbage old reel loose and got it working again.  It was a fun old man and the sea adventure, and the line never snapped.  I eventually got the ray to the side of the yak and unhooked him.

I tell this story as an anecdote that old line, even 20 year old line, doesn't always degrade and fail.  That line had seen a fair bit of salt 20 years ago, but had been stored in the dark since then.  I'm generally not great about putting new line on my reels (though 20 years is longer than my average ), but I think mostly all of my breakoffs are attributable to something other than line age.

Next time, you will be ready to land that GWS!   

If I land a GWS on 20 year old 15 lb test I'll be ready to retire from fishing

I did once catch a 100lb hali in Alaska on 20 lb test (also about 20 years ago) while working for Fish and Wildlife Service on their research vessel, but that line was pretty fresh at the time.  I was sure he was going to break off every time he ran back to the bottom. I brought him up from deep 4 times before a crewmate got the gaff in him for me.