Lines get filthy from fishing and the fishing itself puts a tremendous amount of strain on line. Things work better if two things are kept clean to reduce friction: the guides on your rods and the line.
Your rods should get periodic baths with soapy water thru the season, focusing on the cork and the guides. I use a small bristle pain brush to do my guides but q-tips work great too. Removing that scum from the guides that collects and is scraped off by the guides during fishing really reduces the drag on the line flowing thru them and casting is much easier....and you'll get more distance.
To clean the line, find an old piece of suede leather about 3" square. On the rough side, place a couple drops of line conditioner and allow it to soak in, then put the leather in a zip-lock, then your pocket when you hit the water. If when using floats aggressively or jigging a lot and your line wants to knot or loop, clip off the jig and take all the hardware off the line and slowly let the line out on the water as you troll away with the electric. Keep taking line off until you are well below the line that has been in use. Fold the leather in half with the treated side in and pinch the line inside as you reel the line back in. You can do this with just the un-treated leather too. With the line straight out behind a moving boat and free of any tackle, it will spin any twists or looping out of the line while cleaning any crud off the line as you re-spool it. Put the leather back in the zip-lock and re-tool the rod and get back at it with a "new" line.
Line goes thru utter hell while you are fishing. If you take care of the line, it will serve you well. None the less, line will get nicks and scratches in it and when that happens you get weak spots. If I start to notice break offs I cut the rigging off the line and let out 60 to 70 feet, which is about as much as a decent cast. I pinch the line between my lips and slowly pull the line to the end. The second I feel a burr or anything that isn't smooth, I cut the line at that point. Your lips are the most sensitive part of your anatomy when you are in the boat and will feel things your eyes cannot see. If I have flipped the line on the spool or have to get way down into the line on the spool to get good line, the reel gets new line when I get home.
I cheat a little too when I spool new line. I have a creek running right behind the house and I have a couple of natural markers along it. I run line off the spool of new line right into the creek's current until it passes the mark furthest downstream. I cut the line from the spool at that point and tie it on the spool and re-wind with the tag end in the running water. Absolutely zero twist in the line this way and absolutely the best way to start new line. This can be done in the boat if new line goes with you to the water by letting out new line behind a moving boat after having removed any old line. Of course you want to roll up the old line to dispose of properly. Or you can simply cut the rigging off, let the line out until you are satisfied that its past a problem area and rewind it while you are trolling to keep the line taut. The creek saves me a lot of farting around in the boat but the boat is a good option and if I am going to use the boat option I try to take the old line off at home beforehand.
My reels don't see direct sun unless they are in the boat. Strong, direct continual sunlight is a mono's worst nightmare. If the reels can be covered, cover them.
If you take care of the line, it will take good care of your needs. Like anything in life, there is a certain amount of maintenance that has to be done to keep things working well and your tackle is not an exception.
I'll mention this here too....jigging does strange things to line when its warm but winter fishing is when things really get ugly with line twist and mono. One way to twart some of the problems associated with mono and jigging is to get into the habit of closing the bail of the reel by hand instead of using the reel handle to click it shut. When you use the reel's handle to close the bail you are adding 1/2 of a loop of a twist to your line. Jigging will clause lure spin which further adds to the headache. Try closing the bail by hand each time and you'll notice in the long run that many of your problems go away. Ice fishing is good for something and this little tid-bit came from the ice-fishing department.
