When To Replace a Flyline

[Tying2Fly]

I am wondering when should I replace my fly-lines on my reels. I always try to have 3 reels loaded with a floating line, a intermediate line, and a sinking line. I have several different rod and reel setups this way and one reel setup with changeable line tips. All are over five years old or more. I don't plan on changing all out but my go-to rod I use most often. I haven't gotten out to do much fly-fishing this past year, but when I did it seamed my floating line (most often used) does not perform like it used to.
So my question is: How often would it make real sense to change out my fly-line?

[aztightlines]

5 years seems like a pretty good rule-of-thumb, depending on hard you fished the lines.

You can try a line treatment product, which may rejuvenate a line for another season or two.

New lines are like new strings on a guitar.....feels really good and you get performance right away.

[dp820]

Kind of depends I guess. I would first try to clean the lines and maybe do a line dressing if you want. I don’t use a lot of dressings on my lines. Just clean them with soapy water and dry them before winding them back on the reel.

I seem to be mostly concerned about my floating lines and their performance. My sinking lines I’m not as worried about when I’m just throwing streamers. I’ve had some lines that last 4 or 5 years fishing 20-30 times a year. I had one particular line that didn’t last even one year before it cracked and the front 8 feet of the floating line started sinking like an intermediate line.

So it’s really up to you. If you clean the lines and they just aren’t performing like you’d want, go ahead and replace them. It’s always fun to fish a new one.

[MeLikeFlyFish-FlyFishGood]

Originally Posted by dp820

Kind of depends I guess. I would first try to clean the lines and maybe do a line dressing if you want. I don’t use a lot of dressings on my lines. Just clean them with soapy water and dry them before winding them back on the reel.

Agreed. A good cleaning alone can make a big difference. I don't clean with soapy water every time but use a little cleaning cloth and strip out in to the water 10 feet past what I believe I've cast that day and clean through the cloth once or twice. Don't have a cloth? Just use the corner of your shirt.

A few times per year I'll clean in a mild dish detergent solution (soak in warm, LIGHTLY soapy water, then rinse, soak in clean water and rinse again). But, considering the age of your line I would clean AND dress the line... should make a big difference.

[david vaughn]

Glad the topic was brought up at this time of year. I've totally forgotten to clean my line which I usually do in Jan-Feb.