Mistakes Anglers Make Setting Up Their Rigs

[Big Sky]

Common mistakes I see a lot are knots tied incorrectly. Forgetting to wet your line before tying your knots which results in line burn when you cinch it down. That usually results in line breakage shortly after. Aside from knots the most common thing I see is the wrong size line for the size of fish that are targeted. Most of the time the line is way too heavy. Nobody needs 15 to 25 pound line to catch bluegills and 12" trout, but you see it all the time. I think it's because they use whatever line the reel came with when they bought it. The inverse is true as well. Using 2- 4 pound line when fishing for large fish over 4 pounds or in heavy cover is a short trip to heart break. Lastly, there is a large percentage of fishermen that don't understand that it's not entirely about line weight so much as it is about line diameter. Smaller diameter with a high break weight is usually more desirable than a large diameter line with a high break weight. Small diameter will cast further and generally be less visible to the fish. Just something to think about.