Line Age and When to Throw it Away

[Panama]

I am talking about new unused line still on a spool. It has been kept in air conditioning and in the dark. I have some mono and braid and was just wondering the opinions out there. The braid is Power Pro and the mono is P-Line CXX.
I got the Power Pro at a very very good deal.....

I know that some line at some stores probably does not turn over very fast and the line sitting on the shelf could easily be a year or two old......depending upon brand and popularity and such...

I am just looking for some opinions..... New line, never used, never in heat or sunlight ----- when would you toss it??

[Transom]

I have used line that was ten years old. It is all about how it is stored. In a closet in the house? It will last a long time. I remember my dad storing line in the refrigerator in the garage but that was probably overkill.

[wentbroketryingtogopro]

Use it.I have some Bass Pro Line and Stren I purchased on large spools back in the early 90's.Never had a problem.I hear they can put you in jail(Florida & Arkansas)if you throw this line away so if you decide to,let me know and I will pm my address and you can send it to me.I will pay shipping.I am only kidding about putting you in jail.Thanks,good luck and good fishing

[cubswin]

The braid will last for a really long time. The mono should be fine stored in ac and darkness.

[Jeff Hahn]

The braid should last just about forever. The survivors of the zombie apocalypse will be able to use your braid. The mono is another story. When mono goes bad it gets chalky. Copolymers tend to last a whole lot longer than mono. I have some Izorline Platinum that is 6 years old. I used some 6 pound test in Canada this year and landed a 14 pound like on it. I keep my line in a box the basement on my tackle shelves.

[BMCD]

I always test my line. I tie a half hitch with a loop, then tug on it pretty good. If it breaks i strip the line a little and try again. If breaks again time to replace.

[BoatBuggy]

I've got a three reels with line from a bulk spool of 12 lb CXX that I bought 3 years ago. There's still a couple more reels worth left on the spool and it's still fine. I test my line like BMCD does a couple times a year and I keep my lines stored in the basement.

[billnorman1]

If it starts to break it's too late you should have changed it. That said, I have some Berkley TriMax 20 pound on a 1500 yard spool that must be 10 years old and it's great. All line weakens when you repeatedly cast it, near the lure, so you have to retie, even if you don't catch anything with it, especially light lines like 4 or 6 pound test.