Fly line life expectancy

[Steve Vaughn]

How long do you expect your $100 - $130 fly line to last/perform? Or better yet, how many uses would you expect? I never gave that question much thought, usually waiting until I saw excessive wear, or the line just stopped performing as I expected it to. Considering I don't fly fish that many times a year, I'm talking years. No problem.

I was watching a podcast on YouTube yesterday presented by a popular fly fishing purveyor and YouTube channel where they stated the life expectancy for one of today's fly lines is 40 days of use. My initial reaction was this doesn't seem adequate for the current price of quality fly lines. After thinking about it a bit more, I've tried to put into perspective.

In my prime in Upstate NY, I would say on average I was fishing twice a week for 6 months with the same dry fly line or 50+ uses. This may be a little high because during the week it was a few hours after work, but there were also a couple of multi-day trips (full days) to the Catskills. I don't recall ever thinking my fly lines ever needed to be replaced more than every two years or so. Twice that back in my double taper days. I regularly cleaned my lines twice a year.

What are your expectations for your fly lines?

Steve

 

[Buzzy]

Steve -
I was fishing a seep lake two days ago when I noticed my full sinking line was missing a piece of coating and the core was exposed. I was trying to remember when I bought this line (Airflo Sixth Sense). I think I bought it the year I retired when I bought the rod I was using this line with (eight years). I have used the heck out of this line. Way more than 40 days use but I can't begin to put a number up. I brought the line home and examined it carefully and couldn't find any other damage or wear so I wrapped tying thread over the gap and extended the thread beyond the wear then coated it with a flexible UV resin.

I bought a reel this past winter, it came with a new Rio Grand. The line literally broke in half the third time I used it. Rio graciously replaced the line with one of their new top tier lines.

I guess these two examples are at the far end of line use/wear spectrum? I'd like to believe a modern fly line should last at least 100 outings. (No, I don't do drugs.)

Patrick

 

[Divad]

One thing I’ve done to prolong lines is develop a strict cleaning regime. I wipe my line down every other trip with homemade cleaning packs (bits of shop towel soaked in line cleaner and sealed in little packets using the sealer function on my vac sealer).

As I reel in the last cast, wipe the line as it comes in on freshwater or strip the line off in the shower for salt and pinch a solution soaked shop towel to the line on the reel in. The line dressing/solution I think greatly helps prolong life of a line.

Also always, always clean your guides and rod. Quick wipe with your shirt as you put it away is all that’s needed.

 

[Tom Butler]

What are your expectations for your fly lines?

I expect them to last forever. That has been my experience with Cortland lines, I have many 25 to almost 50 years old. Granted I change setups often over the day/week/year but they all get work, and cleaned and dried after every use. Anything less I guess I'd be disappointed.

 

[Zak]

Years. But I don't go fishing as often as I'd like.

 

[Chucker]

I also have lines that are 20+ years old, with hundreds of days of use on them. But none of those lines were made by Rio.

 

[clarkman]

Are you sure that the Podcast stating 40 uses wasn't sponsored by Rio? Even so, theirs would fall far short. (honestly, not really kidding here)

Like Tom, my Cortland lines seem to last a very long time. I finally had to replace my Compact intermediate (with another one just like it) after well over 100 days on the water fishing it VERY hard for muskies. My trout lines (SA, Cortland, Airflo) all last years and years (I probably have well over 200 days worth on my primary trout line and it barely shows sign of use). My shooting heads of any manufacturer do tend to wear out faster but that's due to the aggressive nature of that type of fishing along with the exact same spot just behind the head wearing out from the exact same cast.

 

[krusty]

I think the bad habit of how many flyfishers (including myself) improperly strip line off the reel in preparation for casting significantly contributes to premature line coating damage/failures; pulling the line off the reel towards yourself (or even directly downwards) causes much greater stress (and heat generated from the point of friction as the line is bent sharply backward over the reel frame). It's certainly easy to detect such habitual abuse by examining the reel frame at that location...it will often display polishing and loss of anodized reel coating. It's better to pull line off the reel by pulling it forward, which completely avoids creating such excessive contact with the reel frame.

Changing that habit takes a bit of concentration, but I've worked at it for a few years now, and believe I'm seeing a distinct improvement (particularly with Rio Grand lines) in flyline longevity and coating integrity, despite greater line use now that I'm retired.

 

[jaredoconnor]

Unless you’re looking for something very niche, I don’t think there is any need to buy expensive fly lines. 20 years ago, you did need to spend good money on lines. These days, you do not; there just isn’t many bad lines left on the market.

I buy cheaper lines, don’t bother cleaning them and replace them whenever I feel like it. I would expect the average line to last at least two or three times longer than what that person said.

Fishing frequency is a factor, though; if you only fish 5 times a year, 40 days of fishing would take 8 years and the plasticizers would have deteriorated significantly by then. Salt water, tropical climates and so on would also have an effect.

 

[Zak]

I think the bad habit of how many flyfishers improperly strip line off the reel in preparation for casting significantly contributes to premature line coating damage/failures; pulling the line off the reel towards yourself causes much greater stress (and heat generated from the point of friction as the line is bent sharply backward over the reel frame). It's certainly easy to detect such habitual abuse by examining the reel frame at that location...it will often display polishing and loss of anodized reel coating. It's better to pull line off the reel by pulling it forward, which completely avoids creating such excessive contact with the reel frame.

Changing that habit takes a bit of concentration, but I've worked at it for a few years now, and believe I'm seeing a distinct improvement in flyline longevity and coating integrity, despite greater line use now that I'm retired.

I have that bad habit.

 

[G_Smolt]

Fly line life depends on many variables (UV/salt/heat/abrasion exposure are the biggies) and IMO can't be looked at through a "one maxim fits all" lens. I've had lines that were rendered unfishable after 5 days of "normal" tropical fishing, and I've also had lines on my salmonid guiding setups that have lasted 300+ days of fresh/salt fishing, with minimal care/upkeep on my part.

 

[Northern]

The only lines I've ever had wear out or break (in 20+ years) are beach lines - presumably from oyster/barnacle nicks.

Not sure I could quantify days of use, since I have probably 15 lines that get regular usage between beach, kayak, rivers, bass, trout, salmon, etc. Some have surely seen 100+ days, tho.

 

[Steve Vaughn]

Are you sure that the Podcast stating 40 uses wasn't sponsored by Rio? Even so, theirs would fall far short. (honestly, not really kidding here)

Like Tom, my Cortland lines seem to last a very long time. I finally had to replace my Compact intermediate (with another one just like it) after well over 100 days on the water fishing it VERY hard for muskies. My trout lines (SA, Cortland, Airflo) all last years and years (I probably have well over 200 days worth on my primary trout line and it barely shows sign of use). My shooting heads of any manufacturer do tend to wear out faster but that's due to the aggressive nature of that type of fishing along with the exact same spot just behind the head wearing out from the exact same cast.

I'm too lazy to watch this thing again right now, but here it is => I don't believe they specified brands. I used Cortland lines for years back in NY and some SA. Several years ago, Orvis was having a huge sale on lines because I think they were rebranding their lines. Anyway, I bought a bunch and sadly they weren't worth shit; spool memory was horrible. As I start to replace them, I will probably be trying a return to Cortland.

 

[RCF]

Luv Cortland lines. Been mainstay of mine for years. Plus they match my IM6 rods much better than the new lines available.

 

[krusty]

The only lines I've ever had wear out or break (in 20+ years) are beach lines - presumably from oyster/barnacle nicks.

Not sure I could quantify days of use, since I have probably 15 lines that get regular usage between beach, kayak, rivers, bass, trout, salmon, etc. Some have surely seen 100+ days, tho.

In my 60 years of flyfishing (some far more frequent than others) I too have never had a flyline break, but I've had my share of coating failures...which transform a once high floating line into a slow sinker.

I also think fishing waters during large diatom blooms and not cleaning the line afterwards contributes to coating failure...those little critters possess very abrasive hard silica shells.

 

[troutstalker]

I never use a fly line more than 40 days...

 

[Salmo_g]

I don't think about how long I expect a fly line to last. Mine seem to last a long time. I have some trout fishing lines (Cortland) that are decades old, but they see only a few days use each year. The forward ends of floating lines eventually become slow sinkers, so I figure that's when they are worn out. But they are years old when that finally happens, so I have no complaints. RIO integrated Spey lines wear through the coating in the zone where the running line joins the Skagit head or thicker diameter long belly. But since they are RIO, I've come to think that just comes with the territory.

 

[Pescaphile]

I am another who likes Cortland lines. I just bought two more this past week, a 444 DT4F for my trout rod and a long belly spey for my old 9140. The long belly was only $56, which seems like a bargain compared to the prices lines command these days. The DT was to replace one I gave away which was several years old and still going strong.

I'm no doubt dating myself, but I still like to coat the nail knot on my floating lines with pliobond. I think it helps to seal the end of the line and keep it from wicking water into the core through capillary action. I sometimes get a few tiny bubbles in the coating which don't pop and remain after the pliobond has cured. These might be somewhat unsightly but I'm sure they help to keep the tip floating.

 

[DerekWhipple]

Spending 130 frickin' dollars for a fly line that won't last a year of once a week fishing is ridiculous, but 40 days is probably enough for manufacturers. You've either got most people who fish way way less than 40 days a year, and you've got guides/industry people who do fish more than 40 days a year, but they get a pro discount.

 

[Tim L]

Everything pretty much said already. I can be another example for comparison. I have one floater and one sinker for lakes. The floater lasts several years, I use it 5% of the time. The full sink goes one season, barely. Frequency and the way I use it are the causes. It works the way I want it to for $80 bucks or so.