Please check your line...

[setterguy]

Please learn from my mistake last night and check your line for nicks and frays. I try to be good about it but obviously missed something last night.

A buddy is throwing a creeper bait around 7pm last night, I hear the swirl and then he says "FISH ON!" He's hooked up and hooked up good, the fish starts to take some drag then POP. "It broke" he says, "What do you mean it broke, the leader broke?" Nope it was the line, maybe 18 inches above the knot. I'm sick about it for a couple reasons.

1.) Almost totally preventable with a little inspection.

2.) It would have been the guys first muskie and it was a real nice fish.

3.) 35 dollar lure go bye bye.

4.) What are the chances for that fish? We went back and didn't see the lure floating, it may have gotten stuck in the weeds, but we didn't see that fish thrash to throw the bait either. I don't know what the fish can or will do but I sure hope it makes it.

I'm going through all my set ups today and making sure the line looks good. Hopefully my bad experience can help someone else not lose the fish of their season.

[RuKiddingMe]

WOW what a huge bummer, for you, your buddy and the fish. It is amazing how even the smallest imperfection in the line can mean so much.

Another to be careful about is the snaps on leaders, the stress of opening and closing tends to wear down the integrity and they can become an issue. I've had them just fall apart before, thank god I learned the lesson in my hand and not on a fish.

Great tips on equipment inspection, I try to stay on top of it as much as possible too, but I will be sure to check before my next outing.

RU

[JRedig]

That sucks, sorry to hear! I hope the fish makes it.

I retie my line every two weeks and check it after every catch or snag. I've gotten to changing snaps very often too, I don't want to go through this. It's bound to happen though...

Again, sorry to hear that.

-Jeff

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

Sorry to hear that but now hopefully your friend has learned a lesson and it will never happen again. As for you number 4, the fish will probably wont eat for a while (obviously) and wont hit anything resembling a topwater ever again! The good news is if the fish cant shake the hooks out they will rust off the lure in roughly 7-10 days depending on how thick they were.

Theres always next time!

I was also disappointed last weekend when I hooked up with my first ever musky in WI on a DCG. I got in near the boat and she shook her head and was gone. It was a mid to upper 40" fish, I was really disappointed I lost that fish but hey, thats Musky Fishing!

Ryan

[cjac]

Justin,

Sorry to hear that, but "you know what" happens.

I retie every line/leader knot every time after a trip out and every fish, usually cutting off only a foot or so, so it doesn't impact my spool capacity. It's just a habitual thing for me. The amount of stress on a knot, the wear of cutting weeds, etc. justifies my doing so.

I also back all my drags off too, again, just part of the routine for me.

[JRedig]

The good news is if the fish cant shake the hooks out they will rust off the lure in roughly 7-10 days depending on how thick they were.

Everything i've ever seen disproves that immensely. Even in saltwater they last longer than that. They don't get dissolved by stomach acid either.

[Nick Kuhn]

Mine was frayed in a spot about 30 feet into the spool, and it would catch and backlash there about once every 20 casts. The first few times I thought it was me being rusty, but after cutting it off I went the rest of the evening backlash free.

[JRedig]

Yesterday I found a low 40's fish floating dead, it had a Boga grip firmly attached to it's lower lip. Doesn't make me real happy to find one like that....