Sometimes when I put on my little cape and scour the internet looking for pressing fishing questions to answer, I find weird things. I’m going to chalk this article up as one of them. I’ve seen some people ask, “Will fishing line melt or burn?” Well, yes. Emphatically yes. Fishing line can melt and burn. But, if your fishing line is about to melt or burn under anything approaching normal use, you probably have waaaaay worse problems to deal with.
I’m reminded of an old The Far Side comic where two fishermen are marveling at the arrival of a nuclear holocaust and deduce that they no longer need worry about fishing regulations. If you are doing anything sensible with your fishing line, such as putting it on reels and casting them, you don’t need to worry about your fishing line melting or burning. You’re even fine leaving them in the rod locker for extended periods. No melting should occur. You only run into trouble when you try to get creative with finding solutions to problems, such as trying to boil fishing line to reduce its memory.
Let’s dive into this a little bit more.
Why Is This Even a Question?
I ask myself this a lot sometimes when I search for article topics, but here at least it makes sense. People usually want to know if fishing line will melt or burn because they’re trying to think of ways to reduce fishing line’s memory. Memory refers to the way fishing line will retain its shape when coiled around a fishing spool. When a line with high memory leaves the spool, it comes off with a spiral. This leads to line twist, monster tangles, and eventually reduces the strength of the line. It’s no wonder people are looking for a way out of this situation. Even so, the solutions leave me scratching my head…
The Three Main Types of Line
Just to level set – there are three main types of fishing line: Monofilament, Fluorocarbon, and Braid. The latter is basically a fabric so I’ll cut to the chase: it’s not melting and it will burn like any other thread. This article is going to focus on monofilament and fluorocarbon which are both made of types of plastic.
Of the two, fluorocarbon is going to have much worse memory than monofilament. If you’re using monofilament and it’s giving you trouble with memory, it’s likely time for a new spool. I prefer Berkley Trilene XL – it has very little memory and is great for using on kid’s fishing rods (where, believe me, you don’t need any other reasons for a tangle).
If you need to use flurocarbon, I’d search for the most pliant you can find. I pay a bit of a premium for high-quality Seaguar products like Invizx as it is one of the softer ones out there. Even with this, I still use a line conditioner as I’ll discuss further below.
Can You Boil Fishing Line to Reduce Memory?
The internet is rife with forum posts asking if you can boil fishing line to reduce memory. I can’t imagine why this would be a good idea. There may be some merit to warming it with hot water under the faucet, or letting it soak for a bit. This can warm it up a bit and help reduce memory without damaging your line or spool (source). Boiling however is just a bad idea. There’s a few things to consider:
Your Fishing Line Could Become Weaker If You Boil It
There’s not a ton of science out there on this topic, but the folks at Berkley (the fishing company, not the university) did write an interesting article talking about why it’s so important to respool. Though they spent far more time talking about the effects of sunlight on fishing line, their article did make mention of heat caused by friction a few times, and how this too damages line (source). Given that the folks at Berkley mentioned that heat damages line, I don’t know why you’d take a risk by exposing it to the considerable heat of boiling water.
Even if your fishing line didn’t melt or burn if you boiled it, I wouldn’t try this. I can’t stop you from trying it, I suppose, but I’d chalk up boiling fishing line as one more way to make it snap. If you don’t want fish to keep breaking your line, try something else!
You Could Damage Your Spool
If you’re planning on boiling your fishing line, you’re probably planning on doing so while it’s on some sort of spool. Most likely, you aren’t trying this when you first put the line on, as it is still supple at that stage. This leads me to infer that you’ve found this post while staring at that spool from your fishing reel with the coiled line on it. If you’re wondering if you can just dunk the whole thing in boiling water and be OK, eh… I wouldn’t recommend it.
Again, with the caveat that I’m not a scientist, and there are limited resources out there to draw on, let’s apply some common sense. Even if the fishing line itself wasn’t damaged, some spools may have components that don’t react well to being boiled. Consider tiny, precise little elements of the drag system. How will they hold up? Does your reel have one of those “braid ready” spools with the little rubber lines? I wonder how well they’d resist melting. It’s not the kind of thing I want to find out!
Can You Put Fishing Line in the Oven or Will It Melt?
This is a bit of a secondary question. I did a little research to see if people were curious if you could put fishing line in an oven or if that would burn it. By and large, this question comes up more on cooking forums than fishing forums. It seems some folks are asking if you can use fishing line to tie up various concoctions in your oven (think pinwheeled steaks). NO. Do not do this. Fishing line is made of various plastic compounds. These can melt if exposed to heat. They can then be absorbed into your food. Do not use fishing line to tie up your food for cooking!
Save the Science Experiments and Buy Line Conditioner Instead
Look, I’m never going to fault someone who tries to save a few bucks and make fishing less of an expensive hobby. All the same, I have to tell you, spare your line the science experiments. Seriously, think this through. Your fishing line is the critical connection between you and the fish, right? I imagine you probably check it for nicks and frays routinely? You might even strip a few feet now and then to prevent breakoffs, right? Ok. So then why on earth would you take the entire spool and plunge it into boiling water? Why even risk that your fishing line might melt? Why not just buy a dedicated product that will keep it nice and supple? Do you really want to take the chance that something could go terribly wrong?
There are multiple fishing line conditioning products out there that you can choose from that are an infinitely better idea than boiling your fishing line to try and prevent memory. While you’ll have to check Amazon for the best price at any given moment, they cost less most spools of fluorocarbon. They also can be used on multiple setups and spools and will last quite some time. They are, by far, a better option. Here are some of my favorites and links to where you can find them on Amazon.
- Kevin VanDam’s Line and Lure Conditioner
- Reel Snot Line and Reel Lube
- Ardent Line Butter Conditioner
- Slick Line Fishing Line Conditioner
- Blakemore TTI Fishing Co Reel/Line Magic Aerosol
My Recommended Fishing Line Conditioner
Of these, I’ve used Kevin VanDam’ offering and found it did a good job of keeping my fluorocarbon line supple (I’ve never felt the need to use it on monofilament). With that said, I’ve heard great things about Ardent Line Butter too. That’s not to say the other products aren’t good – I just don’t have experience with them nor have I heard others rave about them. But, it might be worth checking out the reviews and seeing what works for you. At some point I’ll pick up the others and review them for you, but for now, I leave you to brave that challenge yourself.
Conclusions
Fishing line will not melt or burn unless you’re really trying. That doesn’t mean it can’t be microscopically damaged and cause you to lose the next big fish. While I’m no scientist, and might be completely off base, I’m not willing to risk it. Why, after all, invest so much time and energy into this hobby and then do something (such as boiling your fishing line) that just seems like a bad idea?
Go to the links above and buy a can of line conditioner. Save the science experiments for science class. You never know, your personal best trophy bass could be on the line.
Thanks for reading,
John Paxton