How Many Yards of Fishing Line You Need – Yes!

Fishing is a wonderful way to spend time outdoors and as long as you have the right equipment, you’ll have a great outdoor experience.

But if this is your first time heading on to the waters it might be confusing to think about how much line you need.

In this article, I’ll let you know the exact amount you need for any fishing scenario and the factors that might affect your decision.

How Many Yards of Fishing Line Do You Need?

For beginning anglers, 150 feet of fishing line is sufficient to start with, especially if you are fishing for smaller ponds and lakes. For deep water fishing, you should use 300 feet of fishing line to account for extra drag when catching a fish.

Factors That Effect Fishing Line Length

Not every reel and fishing experience is going to be the exact same, so you will need to adjust the amount of line on your reel with these differences in mind.

The most common factors that will affect how much line you need are the type of reel you have, the size of that reel, the type of line you use, and what kind of fish you are trying to catch.

The Type of Reel You’re Using

There are many different types of reels you can use to go fishing like baitcasting reels, spinning reels, fly fishing reels, and so on.

All of these reels are going to have a recommended amount of line that you should put on when fishing. The exact amount will differ depending on the reel you’re using.

For example, a baitcasting reel requires you to put on anywhere from 200-230 yards of fishing line.

This is going to be a stark contrast to a fly fishing reel that only recommends 80-140 yards of fishing line.

A spinning reel requires about 100-200 yards of fishing line. So as you can see, the type of reel you buy will affect the amount of line you put on.

The reason for the differences is based on practicality when you’re out on the water.

Fly fishing isn’t going to need a ton of line because the fish will probably be around 20-50 feet from where you’re standing. Baitcasting, on the other hand, could require long casts across a pond or to the middle of the water.

The Size of Your Reel

This point is pretty common sense but if you have a bigger-sized reel, then you will have more room for extra fishing line.

The different reels I mentioned in the above section all have different sizes you can buy.

Take your spinning reel for example. You can get one that is only 1,000 in size or you can get a 10,000-speed reel.

The 10,000-sized reel can hold more than 300 feet of line whereas the 1,000 size reel probably only holds 120-150 yards of line.

Always check the size of your reel and the recommended amount of fishing line before making a purchase.

Different Types of Line

Just like there are different types of reels available, there are also different types of line too.

You have a braided line, monofilament line, and fluorocarbon line. Each one has a different thickness which will affect how much line can even fit on your reel.

Monofilament line is the thickest you can buy so you won’t be able to even fit as much monofilament line as you would one of the thinner lines.

Braided line, on the other hand, is the thinnest so it will take even more of this type of fishing line to fill up your reel the same amount as it would have taken monofilament.

You could have a reel that asks for 150 yards of fishing line and your monofilament might fit exactly right, but you will have to add around 200 yards of braided line to get the same result.

Type of Fish You’re Trying to Catch

The last consideration you need to make to decide how much fishing line to use is what type of fish you’re looking to catch.

If you plan on going to a local stream to catch some trout, you won’t need a ton of line because the fish will never be more than 100 yards away.

But if you are heading out into deep water and looking to catch a marlin, you may need 300 yards of line or more because the marlin is going to try and swim away as far as it can, and unless you have the line for it, the fish will end up getting away.

It will also take a good amount of line to get really deep in the waters where the fish actually are.

Make sure to keep in mind how much line it will take to cast out into the water and how much line the fish will take while you’re fighting to get it in the net.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fishing Line

Can you put too much fishing line on a reel?

You can definitely put too much fishing line on a reel, which can cause a number of issues. You run the risk of your line unwinding from the reel or getting a lot of backlash every time you try and cast.

What happens when you don’t put enough line on the reel?

The biggest issue with not having enough line on your fishing reel is that the line will snap because it is too tight and you will lose your fish. This can be especially frustrating if you have been fighting the fish for a while and lose it.

Getting Enough Fishing Line

How many yards of fishing line you use will depend on the type of reel you have, the size of it, the type of line you buy, and what kind of fish you are trying to catch.

As long as you consult your manufacturer’s recommendations and keep the above in mind, you should always have the right amount of line every time.