The reason I ask is because David and I were fishing this past weekend and had this discussion.  We both fish quite a bit and don't have any recent memories of any fish breaking us off.  When I read about so many people having fish break them off I have to wonder if some folks don't understand what ages a fishing line.  The two biggest variables to most of the lines we use are heat and light.  If you use monofilament line (resin mono, fluorocarbon, or combinations) you should consider changing your line every year.  Twenty pound line is more forgiving then twelve pound line and so forth.  Braided line lasts a very long time so it's hard to find any hard data on when it becomes damaged.  I have some 65 pound braid that's been on the spool for over five years and still straighten a heavy flipping hook when I get hung up.  Yes it costs more but but has no equal when it comes to fishing timber, lily pads, grass, docks, etc.  Many of us are guilty of keeping our equipment in our garage which hastens the process even more due to high Texas heat.  I replace my line every spring so that I know it's fresh but I don't fish with less than 20 pound line.  The worst thing to me is putting yourself in the perfect situation to catch that double digit fish and then not being prepared when your hard work and time pays off and a big girl takes the bait.  Then there's the fish that is now condemned with a crank bait or whatever it it's mouth that will begin a life of starvation because despite what Grandpa told us, hooks don't "rust out" of a fish.  Good line is relatively inexpensive so I challenge everyone to ask yourself what line you are fishing with and why.  Deep, clear lakes in California have fish that spook easily and catching one requires eight pound line and live crawdads.  Luckily our fish aren't as "line shy" so catching a fish with multiple treble hooks hanging off of the bait is the norm.  I encourage everyone to consider getting your line stored out of the direct sunlight or high heat areas, upsizing what you're using or changing your line more frequently if you seem to be plagued with break offs.  Another great habit is to check your line for abrasions after you catch a fish and don't hesitate to retie if you feel you need to.  An occasional break off is expected for anyone who fishes enough but with a little bit of time and attention they can be minimized which also helps to preserve these little green swimmers that we love to catch.

Tight lines gents.

Jackson, you make some very valid points.

I do have to admit to having several bass break me off during the past year - but by saying that, I also include the ones that I just couldn't turn before they wrapped me up on something down below from which I was unable to get my lure back. The only ones I'm sure broke me off were because I didn't replace a worn leader or failed to re-tie. Yes, I do keep my rods and reels in a garage without AC, but I always replace my line at least twice every year. My spinning reels get new line about every 4 months, and I use 20# braid on those. My casting reels have either 50# or 65# braid or mono - which might be 20#, 17#, or 14#. Fortunately, I've only lost one lure with treble hooks while it was attached to a bass.

I agree with almost all of what you say here. The only area where I beg to differ is that of bass mortality after breaking one off. I'm certain that most break-offs with treble hooked-lures would end up with a dead bass unless the fish can get the lure onto a stump, etc, and then tear it out of its mouth - which would also most likely kill the fish. With soft plastics, starvation might well be the end result - but not always. I have personally caught two largemouth bass of over three pounds - not thin ones, either - that had rusty hooks partially protruding from their vents when I caught them. Both of the hooks were coming out "eye first," but both of the hooks had rusted in two at the shank. After being so good at getting rid of hooks, I couldn't force myself to harvest either one of them after I carefully and gently pulled out the rest of the rusty hook shanks, only to discover that there wasn't even a bend or barb showing. Now I don't know if either of those fish survived after I released them, but they both seemed otherwise healthy and fought really hard. I understand that those might well have been the exceptions to the rule, and that most bass might well die under similar circumstances - but now I have to wonder about that.

Anyway, I join you in preferring to release my catch, and also agree that most anything we can do within reason to help hooked bass to survive is only doing what they deserve.

Jackson,

All great advice. I can not stress enough how important it is to check for frays and retie when you find one. Don't just check right around the knot either, check several feet up the line and cut off about the highest fray you find. Respooling your reels with fresh line as needed is also very important. Once a year minimum, or more depending on how much you fish. I personally respool fluoro/mono about every 4 months.

Jackson,

Great thread.

I like Seth, change my line every 3 or 4 months. I find if I break off when I go much longer than 6 months on everything but braid. For the most part I use 17 or 20 lb Seaguar Invisix flourocarbon. I buy 1000 yard spools for under a $100 and can spool 6 to 10 reels with it.

I, like you, I'm always shocked by the number of reports of members breaking off. Not sure how many are frayed line vs old line. But, please change your line more often. I want to see pictures of these big fish!

Another thing I didn't realize was that making a cast to clear a backlash or a deep loop in the spool can get you in trouble.  If I had a loop down in my line and didn't want to take the time to carefully dig it out, I'd just make a cast and voila, the loop is gone.  Mysteriously later in the day I would cast and my lure would go flying.  What in the heck?  I finally realized that the loop hitting the frame of the reel even a few times at high speeds was enough to put a nick in the line and cause it to break.  I also learned that a line pick is a great tool for getting a backlash out of braid, but ONLY braid.  Other lines are just too fragile to handle the abrasion it causes.

Tom....  What I was referring to was the old saying that hooks rust out in two weeks.  It was propagated on another fishing forum a few years ago and I think it was originally based in fact when referring to a certain hook (copper or brass, I can't recall) when used in salt water.  I put a Trokar 5/0 (my flipping hook) and a Gamakatsu 4/0 (my worm hook) in water in a jar and after 18 months I did have a little rust at that time but far from "rusting out" of a fish.  Like you alluded to....  as long as it is in the corner of the mouth the fish will surely survive but just about anywhere else could result in failure to thrive. 

Great discussion.

Clearing a Backlash.  In days of old when Knights where bold and the only reel was a baitcaster.  If I brought my father's reel home with a backlash it was whooping time.  We were limited to 10 foot cane poles. Of course I secretly used his baitcaster.  I would spent half the day getting a backlash out of it.  I found this tip on youtube but have yet to try it as I use open face spinning reel.

Baitcaster How To: Trick For Clearing Backlashes

Someone try this and let me know if it works.

Jackson. Thanks for the post.  The last time I remember being broken off not due to sunken timber, was about 18 months ago at San Saba. Since I will be headed there in October, this was a good reminder to change line. 

Bill Fetech 

Excellent points, Jackson.

Robert,

I've done that for years. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I have great results doing it with mono. I'll usually try it before I reach for my pick when using braid. Another thing that sometimes works with mono is rubbing your thumb with slight pressure on the spooled line back and forth from side to side and then gently pulling from the front.

I rarely get broken off. Pull offs are a bit more common.

Saturday, I got sawed off at Yates. Can't say how big it might have been, never saw it, but she didn't give much.

I don't recall breaking off at a club lake until I started using fluoro (Sunline Super FC Sniper 14 lb.) on some of my reels, even though I try to be very careful with it.  Supposedly fluoro's knot strength is a weakness, relative to other lines.  Mono and braid have been quite reliable.