Fish keep breaking my line. Advice needed

[fishfordollars]

Sounds to me that you have an equipment problem. Check the bail for imperfections as well as your rod guides. I think you will find the problem in that area.

[roadwarrior]

Well, "better line" isn't the answer. I suppose it's possible that you have a defective spool, but that is highly unlikely. I too suspect the problem is with the equipment. However, buying 300 yards of another brand of line will address the issue. Try something else.

8-)

[Davis]

Same thing happened to me man when I was fishing for smallies a week ago. Not a big fan of the 6lb Yozuri Ultrasoft. Before people start questioning my knot tying, it's not. Been tying Palomar for the past year this is the first time I have had trouble. My drag is set correctly but have lost two nice smallies in the past two weeks.

Now I know RW that you say its rated for a breaking point of almost 12 lbs but when I'm breaking off snags this line snaps pretty easily. Maybe I picked up a bad batch of line. I like it as far as managing on the spool nicely. May just go back to Trilene XL for my smallie fishing. Had zero breakoffs last year with that line in 8 lb.

[roadwarrior]

I think everyone should experiment with a number of lines to find one or two that they like. Although I always recommend #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft to everyone for it's added strength, I actually fish #4 on my smallmouth rig. I have never been broken off by a fish using any Hybrid or Hybrid Ultra Soft line.

In addition to the smallmouth in my avatar, the line (#4) has held up against multi-species of 20+ lb fish. On the Tennessee River, smallmouth fishing often results in catfish, drum, buffalo and stripers. The heaviest fish I have seen landed was a 43 lb blue cat that my partner caught. He fishes original Hybrid #6.

8-)

[Davis]

I think everyone should experiment with a number of lines to find one or two that they like. Although I always recommend #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft to everyone for it's added strength, I actually fish #4 on my smallmouth rig. I have never been broken off by a fish using any Hybrid or Hybrid Ultra Soft line.

In addition to the smallmouth in my avatar, the line (#4) has held up against multi-species of 20+ lb fish. On the Tennessee River, smallmouth fishing often results in catfish, drum, buffalo and stripers. The heaviest fish I have seen landed was a 43 lb blue cat that my partner caught. He fishes original Hybrid #6.

8-)

That's why I'm starting to think that I have a bad batch or something.

It sure does come off the spool nice though and after spraying it with KVD there is almost zero memory. That's a plus!

[tyrius.]

Before people start questioning my knot tying, it's not. Been tying Palomar for the past year this is the first time I have had trouble.

I'm going to question the knot anyways.  When tightening the knot do you wet it?  Since Yo Zuri is a copolymer isn't it more susceptible to being affected by friction when tightening?

[tyrius.]

I'm thinking that you should do some experimentation with the line to see where the failures are occurring.

You should tie the line to your scale and then to something else and pull until it breaks somewhere.  Note the reading when it breaks and then note where it broke (knot or the line).  Do this a couple of times to get an average.  Then you can see if the line is breaking at the knot or if it is just breaking and you can see when the failure is occurring.

[A.Do?]

tyrius, i plan on doing something along those lines soon.  I just realized that right before the break i got rid of alot of line because my GF made a huge birds nest that couldn't be saved, so the line should have been pretty fresh.  I keep leaning more and more towards the line being at fault but i'll do some more test before more next outting.

[tyrius.]

tyrius, i plan on doing something along those lines soon. I just realized that right before the break i got rid of alot of line because my GF made a huge birds nest that couldn't be saved, so the line should have been pretty fresh. I keep leaning more and more towards the line being at fault but i'll do some more test before more next outting.

I'd lean more torwards the line being damaged by the bird's nest.  Respool it and see if you still have issues.

[A.Do?]

I'd lean more torwards the line being damaged by the bird's nest.  Respool it and see if you still have issues.

I removed all the line that was in the birds nest when it happened, so it shouldn't have affected the line.

[Davis]

Before people start questioning my knot tying, it's not. Been tying Palomar for the past year this is the first time I have had trouble.

I'm going to question the knot anyways. When tightening the knot do you wet it? Since Yo Zuri is a copolymer isn't it more susceptible to being affected by friction when tightening?

Yes I always lubricate the knot before cinching it down.

Anywhooo....going to fish some BPS 8 lb fluoro on this same setup with my spare spool. Also going to respool the Yozuri to see what happens.

[joe_ohlandt]

Here is a tip I learned a while back about the Palomar knot. When making the knot make sure you are not twisting the loop before looping it around your tie on. A twist in the loop acts like a knife in the knot, concentrates all the energy on one spot of the loop and reduces the capacity of the knot by about 40%.

[NBR]

Breaking off close is a normal failure. I am not sure about stretch in Yozuri Ultra Soft but if there is any as you get the fish closer there is less line to stretch so the line is less forgiving. Also you mention taking off some line because of a birds nest. As the line diameter on the spool reduces the drag force increases. Also you are pulling at a greater distance over the spool lip.