How Often Do You Replace Your Fly Line?

[fadeaway263]

I just replaced my 10 year old line on one of my rods and was wondering if fly lines have a "best if by used" date?

 

[Maurice]

So far as I can tell they are fine until they are cracked. Which reminds me, I have to replace my five weight line. Its cracked. I noticed last week. I think it lasted me five years. Not bad for an $11 line.

 

[bikerfish]

I still have ones that are at least 10-15 years old, still cast nice and still float. I do take care of them, cleaning and conditioning quite often. just got some new hook and hackle lines though, thought it was about time, hopefully going to try one out this afternoon! seems like a nice line for 33 bucks, supple and a nice olive color.
never could figure out those horrible flourescent lines, even a muted color one is easy to see on the stream, besides, I watch my fly or indicator, not the line!
as for some of the new lines? not for me. 90 some bucks for a line that cuts your fingers off??? I'll pass

 

[slimyrock]

What kind of annual maintenence do you do on your flyline?

 

[JackM]

I do very little maintenance on my lines and therefore am lucky on my 3-weight and 5-weight floating lines to get more than a couple years from a double-taper line, which is all I buy, so that I can get two years.

 

[tomgamber]

I used the same fly line ( a Cortland 333) for over 10 years before it finally got cracked and heavy. That was 5 years in Idaho and 5 years in Pa. In the last 5 years I have gone through 3 lines. One of them the same 333 line. One other a more expensive line and one cheapo second. I am on year 3 of the sharkskin I won in a drawing. I cleaned them if I remembered. (Never did that in ID). I don't think there is a best if used by date as long as you don't store it in your car all summer long with the heat and sun beating on it.

 

[afishinado]

As Tom said, there is no expiration date on fly line, as long as you don't store it under extreme conditions. Wearing out is more a function of use (and abuse) and not time. I have fly line that I replace in less than two years on rods I use all the time, and have other fly lines on for more than 10 years on rods I seldom fish.

As far as maintenance, I clean my lines frequently after use with Zipcast, which seems to help them perform and last.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I have never replaced a line, however, I have shortened them and used the opposite end of the line already.

I will say that I will not buy the expensive lines again, I felt no performance gain or better quality in the high end Rio line I bought with an outfit last year.

I no longer own my first rod, I gave it to a cousin in hopes he would go fly fishing with me, it was a Browning, I can't say if that line is still good.

I can say that my second outfit was a St. Croix 7'6" #4 with a cheapo Scientific angler reel. and the line was still good when the rod broke. I used two of the snake guides to repair a newer rod last year. I used head cement and thread and the repair, although not pretty, seems to have done the job for good on my Tfo rod.

 

[fadeaway263]

Well I decided to replace my 10 year old line and $39 year old Shakespeare reel this weekend. Mainly because I noticed that last year the Prof's casts just shot off his rod with blazing speed and length and he feels it was due to getting a brand new high end 5wt Orvis Flyline. So I went to Cabellas in Hamburg [the world's largest man cave] and chatted up one of the guys in the Fly Shop over by the indoor aquarium and he recommended a $69 weight forward 5wt Scientific Anglers GPX Fly Line. [Cabellas doesn't sell Orvis products] I bought a G-Loomis Venture 5 reel and now I'm really itching for spring. BYW if you are married to a "quilter" a woman has a quilting shop she runs out of her home called the "Happy Sewing Room" right on 4th Street in downtown Hamburg. This made for a great day for us as a "couple".

 

[bikerfish]

slimyrock, many flyline cleaners/conditioners out there. I usually strip off about 50 feet or so( I never get into it any further anyways) wipe off any dirt and then wipe it with a conditioner. makes them nice and slick again and helps with floatation.
the cleaner/conditioner stuff doesn't cost much, and a little goes a long way, plus it only take a couple minutes to do.
also, how many folks stretch out their lines before they fish??

 

[PaulG]

That is one of the things I"ll have to do, whenever I can get into my shed(snow). I use zipcast on my lines a good bit during the year.

PaulG

 

[slimyrock]

Gotcha

 

[MKern]

I've bought fly lines that have been on shelves for years and they are fine.

I replace when the line is out of shape and I got the $ to spring for a new one.

 

[TroutBuster]

Whenever I can't get at least half of the line out of the tree I tossed it in!

 

[Highsticker9]

I have Cortland 333 on 2 of my rods and Cortland 444 on another, great line! All of the lines have been on for around 10 years, still work perfectly!

 

[osprey]

The longest i ever got was six years , a cortland 444sl in 4wt , and yep the thing that happens most is they crack. I did notice when i bought one of those "leave the reel on" cordura rod cases and leave everything in that i'm getting longer line life.

 

[pcray1231]

Well, I use my line a lot. I really only have 3 lines. The most used (5 wt) gets used on all my 5 wt rods, I move the reel around to the rod I plan on using. The 6 wt line is mountain brookies only and mounted on the spare spool to the 5 wt reel, and the 7 wt on a LA reel that sees only occasional steelhead and bass duty. The 6 and 7 wts get used a lot less than the 5 wt.

Maintenance: Every winter I clean and treat all my lines with zipcast. I may do the 5wt once in the summer too, if I remember or notice dirt, but the winter cleaning is all I'm reliable for.

Durability: 2 years is typical for the 5 wt before replacement. It's a Wt-Fwd line, so it needs replaced. The other two lines I haven't had to change yet, but they're only a few years old. The steelhead line is a DT so it'll just get turned around. The brookie 6 wt line is also DT, but I actually cut the thing in half, so the other half is collecting dust, but ready for use when its needed.

As a side note, its not just number of hours of use. The water plays a big part. Limestone streams seem, at least to me, to dirty a line much more quickly than freestone streams.

 

[GreenWeenie]

The better care you take of your line the longer it will last. I’ve got 30 year old Cortland 444 line that is still very fishable. If you remove, stretch and clean your line at least once a week you should get many, many years of life. Simply run it through a wet cloth pinching it between your fingers. Then run it through a dry cloth until it comes relatively clean and keep repeating until it comes relative clean. Then wrap it loosely back onto the spool it came on. I apply Muscilin when putting it back on the reel.

Don’t store the reel/line in your trunk over the summer/winter. And be very careful if stripping line and dropping at your feet so you aren’t stepping on it and grinding dirt into it and cracking the finish in the process. And as pcray said if you fish dirty water, that will affect your lines performance. Once dirt starts getting into the pores of your line you’re fighting a losing battle so it’s easier to keep it clean though preventive maintenance than cleaning it once it’s filthy. Also, if you fish from a boat, be very aware of dropping line on the bottom of the boat where it may come into contact with oil or gas residue