Does Old Fishing Line Go Bad or Expire?

So, I’m one of those people that likes to buy things in bulk, and fishing line is no exception. Unfortunately, ever since I’ve become a father, I haven’t had quite as much time to use all that fishing line as I used to. Thus, I now have a large box filled to the brim with tons of spools of fishing line that’s just itching to see water. It does beg the question, does old fishing line go bad, or somehow “expire?”

After much research, I can report that braided fishing line can last nearly indefinitely, assuming it hasn’t been compromised. Fluorocarbon and especially monofilament, on the other hand, can break down or otherwise go bad meaning that you’re better off replacing spools every few years. Fishing line will degrade faster while on a reel, but line can even experience issues while in the box. Despite all this, many anglers (including myself) have been using “old” fishing line for years without any problems. Indeed, there is a stark difference between what various websites tell you and what the end users report on fishing forums.

Let’s discuss why fishing line goes bad, and what to do about it.

Index

• Methodology
• Why Does Fishing Line Go Bad?
• How Long Does Fishing Line Last?
• Does Fishing Line Go Bad in Storage?
• Does Fishing Line Go Bad on a Fishing Reel?
• How to Tell You Should Replace Your Fishing Line
• How to Get More Life Out of Your Fishing Line
• Uses for Old Fishing Line
• Disposing of Old Fishing Line Ethically

Methodology

Where possible, I’ve tried to go right to the source. I found a few manufacturers who had information right on their website, which I’ve cited throughout this article. I also reached out to a few, but am waiting to hear back (I’ll update this article as I hear from them)!

While searching for manufacturer comments, I also found some blog posts on the topic which have helped inform this topic, especially when written by professional anglers or scientists.

I’ve also searched the forums. Fishing forums are some of the best places to get information when you have a question. While there are some posters who are sponsored, the majority of anglers are normal guys and gals like you and me who just know what works.

Finally, I’ve put in my own two cents. I’ve been fishing for over thirty years (and have some spools that aren’t much younger lying around, I’m sure)! What’s the point of writing this if I’m not going to stand on a soap (or is it old fishing line) box for a bit?

Why Does Fishing Line Go Bad?

Northern pike aren’t the only enemies of fishing line. It is also damaged by repeated use, heat, stress, tackle interference, knicks and abrasions, rod issues, the wind, backlashes, UV light, and tying knots. These issues can affect fishing line and make it go bad regardless of if its on your fishing reel, or still in the box.

General Stretching and Use

I had an old friend who once told me, “There’s only so many times you can bend a spring before it won’t spring back.” Fishing line is the same way. Monofilament line naturally stretches. It’s part of its appeal (or downside, depending on what you’re looking for). Berkley mentions that monofilament will stretch as much as 25% on a heavy hook set (source). However, just like that spring, it can only be stretched so much before it finally breaks. If you don’t believe me, just take a plastic band or anything else and keep pulling on it.

Some fluorocarbons are designed to have minimal stretch, while others are a bit more forgiving. The same concept that applies to monofilament will apply here. Repeatedly stretching anything will eventually wear it out.

Braid barely stretches, if at all. If you’re stretching your braid, something catastrophic is happening or your drag is set way too tight. While it won’t stretch, braid has another issue from use – it just gets worn out by friction slowly over time. You’ll see that it starts to fade as it is used more often, indicating that it has been put through the ringer.

Heat

The internet is full of different advice about this one. On the one hand you have many people arguing that heat is not good for fishing line. On the other, you have people trying to boil fishing line to reduce memory. If I’m putting my nickel down, it’s on the “don’t let fishing line get too hot” side of this argument. For one, while researching this article, I came across many reports of many people using fishing line that is decades old. Not one of them reported that they kept this line in a hot and humid place. All of them reported that it was kept somewhere dry and cool.

Stress

While fishing line is meant to fight fish effectively, it’s still quite the battle. The stress large fish put on line while jumping, diving, and making long runs will eventually take its toll. While this is normally fine for the line (it wouldn’t be sold for long if it wasn’t), if you use the wrong size of line for your drag or rod, you can overstress it and cause it to break. This is why weaker lines need to be matched with “whippy” rods like ultralights that will flex enough to compliment the line’s rating. If you put 2lb test monofilament on your frog rod, you’d have issues.

Tackle Interference

Do you use slip shot sinkers? Do you really think that crimping them onto your line is going to be good for it in the long run? These, and other types of tackle (such as the bobbers I so detest) that attach directly to fishing line are bad for it. If you’re using beads, bobbers, or any type of sinker that connects to the line, you need to consider the damage it is slowly doing over time and retie often.

_{These sinkers are handy, but crimp line by design.}

Abrasions

Toothy critters, rocks, pilings, zebra muscles, wood, and random junk people toss in the lake can all scratch up your fishing line with tiny little imperfections. Sometimes these are obvious and visible to the naked eye from a few feet away. Other times they are small enough that you need to look very close or even run your finger down the line to inspect for damage.

Every little abrasion is a tiny little cut where a piece of your line you were counting on is removed. This is a bad situation. The line becomes weaker with every little kink and you can bet that’ll be the point of failure. If you notice abrasions you should retie immediately lest you lose the big fish of the day (and your favorite lure).

Rod Issues

Abrasions don’t always come from toothy critters. Sometimes, the culprit is your own fishing rod. Are you one of those “old school” anglers like my dad who insists on storing your fishing lures by hooking them to a line guide? Did you know that doing this can damage them and give them little scratches that can knick up your fishing line? Most rods have a hook keeper near the handle – use this instead.

Likewise, have you been fishing with kids or other amateurs (or are perhaps learning yourself)? Ever notice how they just love to reel their hooks all the way to the rod tip? Yeah – that isn’t doing any favor for your line guide there, either! Make sure you stop the hook before it gets that high or you could turn your rod tip into a line-cutting whipping stick.

Wind Knots & Backlashes

The simple act of casting poorly is going to cause issues to fishing line and make it go bad. It should be no surprise to anyone who has spent an hour picking through a birds nest or backlash that this isn’t great for the line. Wind knots are the same way. Both of these situations are basically contorting and pinching your line and reducing its strength and effectiveness.

UV Light

Monofilament line can be badly damaged by ultraviolet light over time. How badly you ask? Consider what Berkley (the manufacturer of what I consider to be the best monofilament line you can buy) has to say:

“Under normal circumstances, monofilament loses about 20% of its tensile strength for every 100 hours of exposure to sunlight.”

THE SCIENCE OF LINE & WHY RESPOOLING MATTERS

20% tensile strength is a scary figure. While it does seem pretty unusual that you’d have a situation where line was exposed to this much sunlight, this is a great reason for keeping your tackle in a dark room or rod box as opposed to outdoors.

In the same article, Berkley goes on to say that Fluorocarbon doesn’t have this same issues as monofilament. That’s not surprising considering fluorocarbon’s reputation of being much tougher than monofilament overall.

While there’s no reason to suspect that UV Light is going to damage braid, I do suppose it could be a contributing factor in why it fades over time. I’m a big fan of Power Pro braided fishing line, but I will say that it’s dark green color turns to light grey after using it for some time.

Tying Knots

An improperly tied knot can do considerable damage to fishing line. Unfortunately, this damage is often imperceptible to the naked eye. Have you ever seen a fisherman lick his knot before he cinches it down? This is done in an attempt to lubricate the line and prevent heat and friction from damaging it while the knot is tightened.

Even if you tie a knot perfectly well, it is still going to degrade the line’s strength. Think about it. Tying a fishing knot basically means smushing that line even smaller than it already is, and putting great force on it. Another consideration is that not all knots are the same, as the “Knot Wars” on YouTube have demonstrated time and again. Here’s a look at one of their videos. You can find others through their channel.

Want to know why your fishing line snaps when you cast? Read this article to find out!

How Long Does Fishing Line Last?

Trying to answer this question has been very challenging in that there is not a ton of “primary source” information out there. I took what I could find in the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and then supplemented it by experience gleaned from various fishing forums (specifically, posts in walleyecentral.com, thehulltruth.com and bassresource.com). These are, after all, filled with anglers like you and me. They also are more or less “peer reviewed,” or as much as any internet post can be, given that everyone has their chance to weigh in and call out baloney.

What Did the Manufacturers Have to Say?

I checked the websites of several manufacturers to try and find some information on this. Emailed inquiries have been sent, but haven’t been responded to as of posting. As for their websites, few had much to go by. I checked out the websites for Berkley, Stren, Seguar, P-Line, spiderwire, Sufix, Sunline, Strike King, and Yo-Zuri. Of these, only Berkley and Seaguar offered any information.

• Berkley‘s The Science of Line & Why Respooling Matters blog post cited earlier, had information helpful to this article, but it mostly touched on line that’s already on a reel. In their article, Berkley recommended that tournament anglers respool before every tournament, while enthusiasts could respool every season.
• Seaguar had a very helpful FAQ that touched upon many of the issues in this article. However, they were vague regarding how long fluorocarbon lasts before it goes bad. They simply said it lasts longer than mono.

What Did the Fishing Forums Opine?

While I won’t claim to have exhaustively searched through every post on earth, I did read through plenty of them. Here’s some general themes that quickly emerged:

• People overwhelmingly support that monofilament fishing line goes bad the quickest. However, there were multiple anglers (and you can chalk me up in this) reporting using the same spools of monofilament for years (sometimes decades) without issues.
• Of those people who were using the same line for decades, most reported keeping it in a dark place. One guy had spools of fishing line in an Igloo cooler for 30 years that he still uses. The line that I still use likewise was kept in a closet or basement its entire life.
• Many folks report braid lasting indefinitely unless you really beat it up catching fish. I agree with this. The only time I change braided line is when the spool is running low. Since I tie directly to lures most of the time, I’ve never had the chance to see braided line to go bad.
• As for fluorocarbon? Most agreed that this line creates manageability problems due to taking a set (or succumbs to a bad backlash) long before it has a chance to go “bad.” So, fluorocarbon fishing line can go bad in the sense that it becomes even harder to manage (it has such high memory that it isn’t easy to begin with).

Does Unused Fishing Line Go Bad In Storage, or Expire?

I note there’s no expiration date on any of the spools in my basement. The cynic in me believes that if fishing line manufacturers were able to get away with it, it would be in their best interest to slap one of those expiration labels on every spool they sold. What better way, after all, to get line hoarders like me to pony up for a new spool?

The fact that there’s no expiration date lead me to believe that unused fishing line does not go bad or expire. All the same, we all know what assuming something does. So I set off on an adventure into the merry internet to see if I could find the answer to my hypothesis.

What is the Shelf Life of Monofilament Fishing Line?

I tried reaching out to Berkley to ask them how long monofilament fishing line will last. They’ve yet to reply (and I’m a little anxious to get this post out) but I did find a 2007 post from walleye central where a member confirmed that he had asked Berkley this same information and was told that nylon monofilament has a shelf life of 2-3 years.

How to Tell How Old Fishing Line Is

The rep further advised that one can tell how old their fishing line is by the code on the front of the spool. If you take a spool of Berkley Trilene and look at the white circle on the spool, you’ll see three numbers. The middle number is the age of the line.

I Did a Little Science Experiment

So, as we can see from the photo above, this line was manufactured in 2014. It is now 2021, 7 years later. We saw earlier that Berkley states that their monofilament line has a shelf life of 2-3 years (or at least they did in the 2007 email described earlier). Thus, there should be significant problems with this line, right? Perhaps I should revisit how I’ve just added this line to all of my kids fishing reels in preparation for this season?

Well, I did a little test. I don’t have a fancy scale to do this with. No way to measure the force or even be precise. Indeed, I don’t even have a set of weights that adds up to 6lb. The best I could do was 5lb. What I will say, however, is that this line held up just fine with a small 5lb dumbbell dangling below it. There was no issue. So at the very least, over 80% of its strength has been retained after all these years. Perhaps a few ounces more would have been fine. Perhaps the full pound. All I know is that the line I’ve spooled onto my kids reels a few days ago is staying on them, and I’m not losing a wink of sleep.

What is the Shelf Life of Fluorocarbon Fishing Line?

I have to say, I agree with the folks on the forums on this one. Fluorocarbon is going to develop setting issues, like memory, long before it “goes bad” by sitting on the shelf. Then again, I find fluorocarbon to be a pain to deal with in general. Anything that is going to exacerbate this is going to be magnified in my eyes.

There’s really no reason to suspect that the line itself would suddenly deteriorate if stored in a cool dark place. However, given the memory issues, I do find myself replacing my drop shot and crankbait rods (which I spool with fluorocarbon) each years.

What is the Shelf Life of Braided Fishing Line?

Unless you’re infested by mice or other rodents that are going to chew through it, braided fishing line can last forever. It has no memory to worry about, meaning it doesn’t matter if it spends most of its life on the spool. It also isn’t affected by UV light (not that it’ll get much on a shelf). There’s really no reason to suspect that this line would ever go back and after repeated scouring on the internet, I’m perfectly confident buying the big spools in bulk, knowing it’ll take me years to go through them.

Tips for How to Store Your Fishing Line

Given that we’ve discussed the ways that fishing line is damaged, the best way to store it so your fishing line won’t “expire” is to avoid as many problems as possible! Let’s walk through it:

• Since we know that UV light can damage monofilament fishing line, let’s keep it somewhere dark.
• Given we’re aware that heat is bad for fishing line, let’s store it somewhere cool.
• As we know line doesn’t like abrasions from teeth, let’s keep it away from the family hamster.

If you follow these three steps, your fishing line should last much longer.

Ideal Places to Store Fishing Line Include

• A cool, dry boat locker (remove it on hot sunny days).
• A basement.
• A closet.

While researching this article, I noted that Field & Stream featured a short post about tossing old spools of fishing line in the freezer! My wife is already mad enough about all the worms in the fridge, so I don’t think I’ll go there, but leave me a comment if you try it out and find it works!

Does Fishing Line Go Bad on a Fishing Reel?

Yes, unused fishing line can go bad on a fishing reel. Indeed, it goes bad considerably quicker than it would sitting on shelf. All of the issues that could make fishing line go bad on a spool are going to be amplified when its on your fishing reel. Here are some of the more common reasons why fishing line will go bad on a reel.

How to Minimize Line Memory

One reason your line is even more likely to have problems on your reel is because it is wound that much tighter. Go grab any spool of line you have lying around. Note how much larger of a circumference that spool is than most (freshwater at least) fishing reels. There’s a good reason for that: it’s to minimize the negative effects of line memory.

Memory is the way that some fishing line will coil, or retain the shape of the spool. Fluorocarbon is notorious for this. The more tightly the line is wound, and the smaller its circumference, the worse memory becomes. Thus, lines left on fishing reels for extended periods are going to have the best chance of forming the worst memory.

Another Reason Line Goes Bad on Fishing Reels: Stretch

I would guess that very few of us leave our fishing lures dangling free form our rods when we store them. most of us probably make good use of the hook keeper to keep our lure in place. This only works if the line is tight. Tight lines place pressure on them. It stands to reason that any kind of extended pressure on a fishing line can’t be good for it in the long run, which is another reason fishing line doesn’t last as long once you put it on a spool.

Exposure to the Elements

Unless your new rig is a display piece only, chances are that any line that is tied on the reel is going to have significantly more exposure to the elements than some sitting at home in a box. Any salt that accumulates on the line, either from fishing in salt water or just tossing your rods in the back of a pickup truck on a northern, salted road, is going to have a chance to sit there and work its black magic. Additionally, it’s far more likely that your line will be exposed to UV lights while it is on a reel than in a box.

How to Tell If You Should Replace Your Fishing Line

There are several ways to tell if your fishing line has gone bad and should be replaced but most of them boil down to a simple inspection. Elite Series professional angler Scott Martin wrote a great article describing when to replace your fishing line while it is on the reel. He has a ton of money on the line, literally, so he changes it much more frequently than I do. All the same, it’s at least refreshing for him to say he’ll leave it on some rods that he doesn’t use as much.

I imagine those of you out fishing routinely like me are already following his advice. Every time I catch a fish or have a bad snag I take a close look at my fishing line and inspect it for abrasions or knicks. I do this by running my fingers down across it – any roughness whatsoever tells me that there’s an issue.

Also, when you’re casting and you feel some sort of resistance where there shouldn’t be, it’s usually a sign that you have a knot somewhere in your line. As even the best of intentional knots reduce line strength, it should come as no surprise that I lack confidence in my line when I find one of these. I’ll pull it out past the knot and retie.

How to Know to Replace Old Fishing Line Unused on the Spool?

This is a little trickier. First, you need to subscribe to the theory that something might be wrong with it in the first place. As we’ve seen, the jury is very much out on that as many fishermen (myself included) feel that most lines will last indefinitely in storage. However, if you don’t want to chance it, you’ll need to inspect it somehow.

The best way to do this is simply to take a length of it, tie to to a solid object, and then give it a good pull from the other end. Does it seem to act as you would expect it to, or did it break too early? This is very much a “gut check” but one worth doing, I suppose. My little science experiment earlier in the article also works well. Just get a weight that matches or comes close to the line test and see how it does. This should give you the confidence to keep that old spool of unused fishing line for years to come, or terrify you and chuck it.

One last little experiment I’d suggest is purposefully taking a length of line and putting a small bend in it. Just fold it in half once and put in a little crease. Now try the same tests and see how easily it snaps. Remember, by putting the crease in, it SHOULD snap easier, but the question is – was it TOO easy? Don’t let this freak you out too much, but if the line has gotten so brittle that the slightest imperfection weakens it to catastrophic failure, imagine what any imperfect knot will do.

How to Get More Life Out of Your Fishing Line

Fishing line is expensive so anything you can do to make it last longer is going to be a major plus. Here are some tips for how to get more life out of your fishing line.

1. Protect it from the sun. Store it in a dark place away from UV light when not in use.
2. Use a line conditioner to keep it nice and supple while it is on the fishing reel.
3. If you’re fishing in saltwater, make sure you thoroughly rinse the line on your reel before putting it away.
4. Remember that you don’t need to replace the entire spool. Use a Double Uni Knot to attach some fresh line on, while leaving the old for backing. Note: don’t do this if you fish for species that might spool you.
5. If your faded braid is bothering you, remember that a permanent marker can be used to touch it up and make it look like new. Just make sure its only discolored and not frayed.
6. Tie directly to the lure rather than using snap swivels. The mere act of retying will ensure you go through line at a moderate pace. This will allow you to cycle to fresh line without having to entirely respool by using step #4.
7. Remember that braid has no memory. This means that you can take the fresh, unused underlayer from one reel and use it as the top layer on another.
8. Consider using a leader with braided line. This will prevent your main line from getting as many abrasions. If you need help tying one, I wrote an article about how to make a fishing leader that can help you.

Any Advice from the Pros?

I was able to find this article on fishing line care from Elite Series pro Aaron Martins where he mentions that he will “regularly fish with line that is three or four years old.” This is refreshing to hear from a pro when many of them state they exchange line routinely. Then again, he clearly goes to great lengths to take care of his fishing line and keep it in top condition.

Uses for Old Fishing Line

I’ve found old fishing line to be quite useful for a number of tasks around the house. Even if you think some of your unused fishing line has gone bad and don’t trust it for fishing, you can put it to one of these many great uses.

1. Fishing line is very useful for scale modeling. Some instructions specifically call for its use for the radio wire on various aircraft. Further, it can be used for detailed work on any vehicle that has various cables.
2. It is outstanding for hanging Christmas ornaments. If you have an old ornament that lost its string, or want to make new ones with your kids as a fun craft, fishing line of all types comes in handy.
3. Likewise, old fishing line can be used for hanging pictures. Granted, if you’re worried that its tensile strength has been reduced by age, you’ll want to take it easy with which pictures you choose to hang.
4. You can use old fishing line for making jewelry such as bracelets with beads. Just use a heavier pound test to make sure it will hold up to being taken on and off for years.
5. It can be very nifty for repairing eyeglasses (source).
6. While I’m not so certain that I’d want to use old line that has been in the water for this, fishing line can be used as a cake cutter. It seems that there is some benefit to this as the lines are cleaner and this avoids transferring one type of frosting onto another and making a mess.

Disposing of Old Fishing Line Ethically

If you’ve decided that you just can’t trust your old fishing line any longer and need to replace it (and don’t want to make use of it elsewhere), you need to throw the old stuff out sensibly and ethically. Discarded fishing line is horrible for wildlife. At this point we’ve all seen the YouTube videos of good Samaritans rescuing various wildlife entangled by it. It is absolutely your responsibility to ensure that you will not kill or injure a creature by discarding your line. Here are some tips to help.

Recycle Old Monofilament Line

Monofilament line can be recycled, but not just by anyone. You can’t toss it into the recycling bin at your home, unfortunately, but the good news is there are several entities that offer free recycling programs for old fishing line.

Bassmaster has an absolutely phenomenal post where they list the different fishing line recycling resources available. There are listings for programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. I’d like to highlight two of these resources in particular.

Boatus.org has partnered with Berkley in a recycling program for monofilament fishing line. They have a post where they provide videos and other information for how you can build your own line recycling station at your favorite waterway. All you need to do is commit to stopping by once in awhile to empty the container and to mail it to:

Berkley Recycling
1900 18th Street
Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360

Likewise, the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program is a Florida-based program which offers opportunities to get involved by building your own recycling bins as well as joining relief and clean up efforts. If you live in the Sunshine State, consider getting involved.

Other Places to Recycle Fishing Line

If you don’t have a fishing recycling bin near you (and haven’t gotten around to volunteering to collect one yourself yet), several tackle shops are willing to recycle old line for you. You’ll often see bins in the entryway of major retailers who sell fishing tackle. Just call around and you should be able to find a shop near you. Of course, you also could just mail your old fishing line directly to Berkley Recycling and they’ll take care of it.

Cut Your Old Fishing Line Before You Toss It

I haven’t seen any recycling programs for braid (please email me if you know of one). This means that for now at least, you’ll need to throw it out. It’s very important that you cut it into small pieces before you do so. If you leave it as a long string it is very likely that a bird or other animal will be caught in it and die. Just wrap the line around your hand to form a loop and then cut that loop on both ends. The 3-4″ length that is left will be much safer for all involved.

It should go without saying that this should be done with any fishing line, not just braid. I’d even cut it before you put it in the recycling station. For one, it’ll save space and allow other anglers to utilize it. Secondly, if something goes wrong (maybe a bird starts pulling it out for a nest or something), you won’t endanger wildlife. Considering it takes fishing line 600 years to decompose, don’t take a chance of some getting loose in a long enough strand to do damage. A length of fishing line can kill a number of turtles in 600 years.

Conclusions

You’d think after a 5,000+ word article I’ve spent days researching I’d be more decisive, but I just can’t be. All that I can say for certain is that fishing line on a reel, exposed to the elements, and used regularly will go bad quicker than unused fishing line stored on the spool in a cool, dark place. I’m not at all certain that you have much of anything to worry about with using that old fishing line stored in your basement, aside perhaps from excessive line memory. Braid, certainly, could be trusted for years and years.

My best advice would be to test out your line a bit before you rely on it to land your next lunker. If it is supple enough and manageable, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over continuing to use it. Then again, that might be easier said than done with a tournament on the line!

Thanks for reading,

John Paxton