How to mark fishing line so you know amount of line out?

[bcripps]

Anyone have a method for marking fishing line so as to know how much line you have out? I troll from a small boat with two lines out. It would seem to be beneficial to have both lures working within a few feet of each other, but without a line counter is there someway to mark both lines at say, sixty-five feet? I

[cadman]

I used to troll in-line planer boards with this method, before I bought line counter reels. Take a plastic bead, and run the tag end of your line through the hole, then run it through again. I've never had this slip on me. The only problem is that you have to make sure the bead goes through your line guides. You can also get smaller beads, and open up the hole. The stop knot they use for slip bobbers is still probably your best bet.

[Swede]

buy this one instead http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0002054013743a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&No=20&noImage=0&Ntt=linecounter&Ntk=Products&QueryText=linecounter&Ntx=matchall&N=4887&Nty=1

[Mac10]

In the backyard, run out 65 feet of line on both rods and mark a foot of line with a Sharpie permanent marker, say....black for now. Mark it well by rubbing the point on the top and another swipe on the bottom of the line. Then, after drying, reel in ten feet and mark another foot of line, this time red. In the boat the red will give you a visual warning you are getting close to the black.

Another method is to tie a piece of yarn tightly on the line...a simple, but tightly pulled overhand knot will work...then trim the ends making a little ball on the line.

Personally, I think the Sharpies would be the best....you could even mark the black for 65, and going a bit further, say 75, the 75 could be marked with a black red black red alternating pattern......... I've not tried this, but if you let them try thoroughly after marking, I don't see how it could fail.

[Hoodaddy]

I don't do a lot of trolling but I have seen line counters in BPS catalog that attaches to your rod and you insert your line in it and UHHH it counts your line out for you.....Can't get much simpler than that

[bcripps]

Thanks guys... some good ideas here! Really appreciate it.

[jigmeister]

If you're using baitcasting reels like Ambassadeur 5500/6500 series one cycle of the line guide across the reel frame = 7.5 feet . Mark your line with tape at the rod tip and pull line off reel in freespool . when line guide has made one cycle across reel engage reel and mark line again at rod tip. Now measure length between the tape marks .

[Brad S]

I've been wrestling with that problem for several years now and didn't like the clip on type of counter like mentioned as they only will fit certain size rod blanks.

What worked pretty well for me was to fill my reels with white Power Pro (I like to fish with braid) and mark it every 30 feet or so with black permanent marker (sharpie etc). The white/black contrast makes it easier to see the markings and I believe that the white line is less visible to fish than other colors of braid.

Sure it's more visible from our perspective (looking down on the line), but notice that fish have evolved to avoid being eaten and almost all fish have a white belly so that when a predator is looking up (most predators I'm familiar with in salt water feed looking up) the white belly blends with the lighter colored surface of the water.

I tried the add-on line counter for my ABU 6500 and it was a piece of junk.

I now use some factory color coded braided line (on some spinning reels) which I like better than my self marked line but I believe it's more visible to fish and it costs quite a bit more than most braided lines which, IMO are already pretty espensive. It's easier to keep track of amt of line out than my self marked line.

Best of all I've found to solve the problem with my casting/conventional reels was to buy a couple of Daiwa Sealine line counter reels. They're smooth, have excellent drags and from what I've seen and read they're excellent quality. With these reels you can use any type of line and glance down and see exactly how much line you have out at any time.

Brad