monofilament line how long?

[Peter Waller]

Some of us lesser minions of this crumbling and degenerate empire live in the real world where lures don't need refrigeration. Infact condensation inside a fringe causes the hooks to rust .

[Peter Waller]

Elton:

If I keep my rods in a rod bag (i.e. away from sunlight), how long should they last?

Many years ago, when I first bought a glass fibre ABU rod, the manufacturers then suggested a 40 year life for their rods. Mine live on a rack rather than in a bag and have gone past that 40 year mark without apparent degredation.

 

The biggest problem facing synthetic rods is the humble polyestermite. This creature, closely related to the termite, can cause havoc especially to rods kept in bags. The darkness is a breeding ground of the little beasties. Ask yourself why you never hear of Tupperware parties nowadays. It is down to the humble polyestermite, plain and simple.

[rickster]

on my float reel i change the line when i think it needs it maybe every 3 months or so. 1 trick to prolong the life other than keeping it in the fridge (think my wife is like peters) is to slide the narrow silicon tube on your line in little lengths and crimp your shot around that rather than the line. On my ledger reels depending on venue it may get changed after 1 trip if its a rocky or stoned bottomed place or every 4 trips if its got a good layer of silt

[Mister Toad]

This is something that I've often wondered about. Everyone tells you that mono degrades in sunlight but I've never found any guidance on how long this takes. I realise that it is a very difficult thing to quantify as it must depend on whether the light is direct or indirect, filtered or not and, obviously, how bright the sunlight is in the first place. I only go fishing about once a month or so and the rest of the time the line stays on the reel, inside the reel case, inside my rucsack. Also, it depends on which style of fishing I do on any one occasion which reel and/or spool comes out of the bag. Bearing in mind that some of the days when I go fishing are not very bright, the exposure to sunlight that my line receives in one year is not very great. I therefor only re-spool my reels once a year although I do discard the last one or two yards each trip. What I don't know is how much exposure the line has been subject to before I buy it.

 

I have quite a lot of hooks to nylon but as these only come out of the packet just before I use them, I keep them for several years. This doen't apply to the ones I use, of course - I never save a hook from one trip to the next.

[rickster]

well another thing i always do is test the line before i go, by pulling about 20 foot of the spool and just trying to snap it (dont try with braid or 20lb mono) if you get my drift or you be going to the A+E not fishing if the line feels right, not rough or gritty in the fingers and you are happy with the strength then use it. Mono these days is quiet resiliant to sunlight and the like, the best i found is the berkley one, ill post the name of it when i go and have a look