Problem With Mono

I have several spools of Big Game mono that I bought last year. I stored them in the basement in the dark in the same box. I have tested new fishing line I have found the break strength to always be above the test rating. In checking my line recently, I found all my line breaks well below the rating, like 33lbs for 40lb line and 17lbs for 20lb line. How could this stuff go bad in one year? Last year the 40lb line broke at close to 50lbs. I checked with another scale and it’s accurate. Did I make a mistake in storing it? Will humidity ruin line? The basement does get humid but never wet. I must have $100 in fishing line that I think is bad.

Thats frustrating. It could be that the lines had less than ideal storage before the sales shelf or that the line is old on the sales shelf. I like to buy line where I think there is good turnover and wary of lines on sale/clearance. Keep your receipts in case you need an exchange/refund. Good luck.

I know water-logged line has a weaker break strength, and I believe cold line has a lower break strength. I have a hard time believing humidity would weaken the line, and I dont think your basement is that cold.

Do you have a warm dry place to let these spools dry out so you can retest them in a couple days?

I am sure it wont make any difference in strength.. but if it does, we all learned something new.

It sounds to me the line had a long shelf life before you bought it. To be honest, I dont think I would notice the difference if it was breaking at 40 pounds vs 50 in a fishing application!

On the other hand, I have ONE 2-year-old spool of 20lb Big Game Clear. It breaks at 30 lbs. It was stored along with the other stuff.

All my solar green line has been weakened but the clear line is still tough. I wonder if the dye in the line has something to do with it.

I’m no scientist, thats for certain. I think I figured it out though. It’s definitely NOT my line. This is what I learned:

#1 When testing line strength you have to load it up gradually in small increments otherwise it will fail before its rating.
I know this will never happen in the real world but I guess it’s good to know anyways.

#2 My swivels work great with 20lb test but I believe the eyelets are too thin for 40lb mono. It seems they put too much bend in the thicker line and the knot fails prematurely on the swivel end. The eyelets on the hooks I’m using are about twice as thick as the swivel and protect the knot much better.

Problem Solved!