Used fishing line, what do we do with it? I’ve personally picked up several miles of fishing line from streams, lakes and especially boat launches, as I’m sure we all do as good stewards. Some of it was accidentally dropped and some was intentionally left behind. A lot of our public access areas have PVC tubes installed to use to discard used line, in hopes of it not becoming a hazard. I’ve been emptying these containers out for the past several years and it occurred to me, now what? There is an opportunity for our chapter to be the local collection point.
I’m asking our members and the fishing community to gather up as much fishing line as possible and bring it to our monthly meetings where I will take it and add it to the line I’ve collected. From there it will be sent to Berkley Fishing Line Company for their recycling program.
The evolution of fishing line is quite interesting. The first documented fishing line was plant fibers spun with horsehair. Eventually through trial and error we started using cotton. I remember my father-in-law talking about fishing for shad on the Hudson with his father. After every fishing trip they had to take all the line off the spools and let it air dry! He said it was quite a sight in his neighborhood with miles of wet cotton fishing line strung out on every available tree! How archaic! It had its advantagesthough, as it was biodegradable.
The stuff we use today is far superior to what our grandfathers used. Monofilament, fluorocarbon, and super braids are all we use now.
Monofilament line was the brainchild of a guy named Andrew de Miguel. He was inspired by the new nylon bristled tooth brushes of the 1940’s. He went to Dupont with his idea of a single “mono” strand “filament” fishing line. The stuff is wonderful! The only problem is that it takes 500 years to break down. From there it becomes tiny pieces of plastic resulting in microplastics. Discarded line also creates a hazard for wildlife and boat propellers.
In 1971 a Japanese company named Kureha came out with the first fluorocarbon line. It’s simply a different molecular structure than monofilament, using fluorine instead of oxygen and nitrogen. The result is a fishing line with great tensile strength, stronger knots, faster sinking rate, less stretch, and it’s virtually invisible under water. The company now makes Seaguar fluorocarbon line. It’s great stuff! But again, it has its drawbacks.
Fluorocarbon line takes 4000 years to break down into microplastics.
It’s not all doom and gloom if we pick the stuff up and more importantly,educate our fellow fishermen and fisherwomen, as I’m sure our chapter members already do.
Super braids are another animal all together. It’s not recyclable. The recommendation is simply to cut it in smaller pieces and put it in the trash.
So yes, our chapter is a collection point for used fishing line. Be sure to spread the word.
For comments or information please contact sefranklinmtn@yahoo.com
Steve Eichler is co-president, The Dave Brandt Chapter of Trout Unlimited
