Did you ever wonder why your fishing line suddenly snapped and broke with little or no effort?

Did you ever attempt to make a long hard cast and suddenly see your 8$ lure flyoff to the left or right and watch the tag end of your line slowly flutter down from the sky with nothing attached to it?

Did you ever suddenly set the hook on what may have been the biggest bass you've ever hooked into only to have your line immediately snap?

These mishaps could have easily been advoided if you had taken a few extra precautionary steps after your last fishing outting. There are a few causes of line breakdown; poor quality fishing line is the most apparent one of all, neglect is another and most likely the #1 reason for line breakdown.

Excessive exposure to heat, sunlight, and extreme coldness are the main causes of breakdown, followed by cuts, nicks, and splices in the line itself that will cause breakdown of monofilament fishing lines.

Fishing lines go through a world of abuse during a single day of fishing, even if you're not hauling in bass after bass throughout the day. The line is constantly exsposed to water, underwater obstacles, wind, temperatures, even oils and other substances. And dont forget the teeth of the fish you're catching.

A good habit to get into would be for you to check the first 1-2 feet of line every few hours for nicks, cuts, scratches, and even strength. If you're catching fish regulary, checking your line every 15 minutes would be a good idea.

The most damaging effect to lines however, is what takes place after the fishing day is over. Many of us leave our rods in car trunks, truck beds, on the back porch, in very hot or cold garages, in boat lockers, and other places that just wreak havoc on the lines that are spooled on the reels.

Over exposure to the elements is not a good idea for fishing lines, especially monofilament as they become greatly weakend by temperature changes. After your fishing day is over you can spray your line with WD40 or one of the many line saver sprays out on the market today, then simply place the rod and reel in a cool dry place until the next fishing trip. If the rods and reels won't be used for long periods, make sure to move them often to warmer/cooler locations periodically depending upon the temperature where they have been stored.

There's no real guidelines as to the longevity of life for fishing lines, but as a general rule it's a safe bet to change the lines at least after every 3-5 fishing adventures especially if the lines go through alot of pressure while in use.

So to advoid having a major line breakdown in the future make sure you give it a little "TLC" after each use and it may just perform up to the task it was designed for.

Mike Panek