How Often to Change Out Fishing Line

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JohnnyG

Member
I think I change my floro out too much throughout my fishing season, which is usually March-Oct and it gets expensive. I do use a line conditioner too. I may fish about 50 times during this period (recreational). My question is how often do you guys change out your floro? I use Sunline floros because it’s just what works best for me. Thanks.
 
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Kickerfish

New member
I dont change mine as often as I probably need to. Like you said, it is expensive to do if you use even a decent quality fishing line. I think that the advise given by pros is just a work to get more money in their sponsor's pocket as they can afford to change line as often as they want to. If some of my line goes bad and I feel like it is breaking easily or just feels old, I'll replace it then but if not, I'll run it as long as it casts and works.
 
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churly

New member
I go through a ton of line. for me its about feel. As flouro gets worn out it starts to become stiffer, opaque in color, and even fraying. If I see this, I am changing. That being said, the heavier the LB test, the longer it last usually.
 
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31airborne

Member
I'm with churly - I also go thru a lot of line. During the tournament season I will change out line before every TX (I usually fish ~10 or 12 each year). Not as often during the off season. If I see discoloration or feel knicks or kinks in the line I change it out.
 
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occasionalfisher

Member
I use mono or old braid as backing so I am not changing out a full spool at a time. If you have a flipping rod no need to change out 100 + yards at a time, just go out in the yard and put on a 1/2 oz jig, throw it as far as you can, use a black magic marker to mark that place on your line that you want to change. Make a couple of casts, then come in and strip off that much line, plus about 15 more yards so you can bury your connection knot then tie a double uni to attach the lines and spool on the new line. I do this on almost all my reels and it works for almost all baits. I use 30 lb braid to throw most of my topwaters, so I will put a little more on that reel at at a time because you can throw it so much farther with a spook or buzzbait. Also, for my deep cranking reel, (I almost always use the same one for that) I will put more new floro on there because I do not want that connection knot to ever see the light of day. I have one of the silver Zillion 4.9 cranking reels that I use for that stuff, and that spool will hold about 175 yards of 12 lb floro, so I will normally put a good bit more line on there for long casts with bigger cranks. Another thing I really like is for my moving baits I use the Sunline Assassain line, it comes 225 yards to a spool and believe it or not, that extra 25 yards can give you at least one extra refill per spool.
 
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VolsFan24

Active member
I don’t change my line unless it feels bad. By that I mean I will cast out and reel in holding the line (like you do when you backlash). If the line feels frayed and no good, I will change it. Now I don’t fish tournaments and I probably should change more often. But in my experience, if I use line conditioner, i usually don’t change line until it becomes too low to fish. And I put cheap mono backing on all my reels. I like to think I’m very economical when it comes to fishing line. When I take braid off, i reel it onto an old reel I don’t use and the next year i will just spool it back on from that reel. I buy the big spools of Seagar Red Label in 10lbs, 12lbs, and 15lbs and they last me over a year. I fish around 50 days +\- a year.
 
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Tight_Lines

New member
I have gone strictly to braid on my medium heavy and my medium light rods. one the heavy i have 18 lb braid on and the the other i have 12 or 14 lb braid on just because i was i having several knot breaking issues with several types of mono and flouro lines. that being said i will probably reline those rods if i start to see a lot of fray in them or when they start to seem thin on the spool from breaks and tying new Lures. though prob should change more often. my ultra light rod i use for pan fish and trout i am getting ready to change out though i think my reel is worn out so i will probably being buying another reel also. that line on that reel has been on way to long... prob a couple of years tho i have not had any issues with it.
 
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occasionalfisher

Member
If I do not have many bad backlashes I can make good floro last about 7 months. I have found the reels that I use for moving baits, cranks, spinnerbait, chatterbaits, swimbaits etc, that line gets beat up much faster. For the slower stuff like worms and jigs I can make that heavier line last a while. I fish lake Weiss a lot in the spring through fall and when you are flipping around that many docks with posts in the ground, sometimes you have to change that line out a little more often because even a 2 pounder wrapped around 3 dock posts can shred 20 feet of line in a hurry.
 
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captain kirk

Member
Here is what an old fisherman has learned to do to save money. I fill my spool with mono. About halfway through the season I cut off about 70 yards of line then tie the used end of that line back on the filler, this way I am using new line. There is no use in throwing away good line .
 
FishingwithRusty

FishingwithRusty

Active member
here's my perspective on this...of all the equipment we use in fishing, line is the cheapest BUT the ONLY direct contact you have between you and the fish. i quit using flouro years ago as i dont see enough benefit to justify the use over some brands of mono. i swap line frequently and quickly, fresh line casts better, is stronger and makes me more efficient and confident. i carry spare spools of line in the boat and can respool a reel and be back to fishing in under 5mins. when in doubt swap it out! and definitely using backing for braid.

this thing has been HUGE for me to quickly spool reels: https://www.piscifun.com/collection...ling-station-fishing-reel-line-spooler-winder

i can stick the suction cup to the windshield of the boat and spool a reel right there QUICKLY!
 
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wweaver

New member
Yeah that's me. I fish about 75 days/year and I only change my line about twice/year. Maybe 3 times. I don't think I'm breaking off on fish because of any line issue. Of course I'm not catching as many big fish as most of you guys are.
 
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