Why does my mainline keep breaking

There are a multitude of factors that play into the strength of your line. However, the problem we see most often is poorly tied knots and deteriorated line, the good news is that these issues are easily fixed will small adjustments. In this article, we’ll be covering the most common causes of mainline snapping and how to solve them.

Number 1 – poorly tied knots

Knots are key to the strength of your rig and line, a stronger knot can mean the difference between getting a fish in and losing it, so it is crucial that you get them right. There are five basic knots that we recommend every carp angler learn and perfect to the finest detail.

These knots are:

• The knotless knot
• The surgeons’ loop
• The half-blood knot
• Grinner knot
• Perfection loop

There’s no point in knowing a bunch of fancy knots if you can’t tie them correctly, we recommend that if you think your knots are a weak point, go watch the tutorials above and practice them at home until you feel you’ve solidly got the hang of them. Knowing a few good knots very well puts you in a very favorable position and will increase the strength in your rig by miles.

Also, the failure in your mainlines line may be due to your knot using the strongest knots to connect your mainline to your leader. Jeremy Wade gives an excellent explanation on this and gives a tutorial on how to strengthen your knots.

Number 2 – Deteriorated mainline

Over time your line weakens due to many factors like temperature and light. This can be prevented by storing your line in dark cool places, like a garage or a shed for example. We recommend that you change your line a couple of times a year to keep it in tip-top shape.

Also, it’s a good idea to some basic checks before every session, a great way to check for any weaknesses is to simply run your finger along the line and feel for any irregularities or signs of damage. If you find any, discard of that part of the line and throw it away, damage to the line can be caused by abrasion from previous sessions.

Number 3 – Playing the fish

A lot of new anglers get nervous when they get a fish on and try to bully the fish in with brute force into the net, however, this is the worst technique you can use when carp fishing.

You need to adjust your drag when fighting depending on the fish and situation, you need to apply side strain, keep the pressure on the fish, learn to tire it out and more.​

The best way to learn to do this is through real practice, the more fish you fight the more you get a feel for fighting fish. It should feel natural when you’re fighting a fish and not like your trying to pull a plug from the bottom of the lake.

Getting a fish on is intense and exciting but in order to prevent your line from snapping and getting the best chance of getting the fish in, you should try to remain calm and focus on the fight, this is a common mistake amongst many new anglers.

Number 4 – Weak line

This is the least likely of the lot but it can happen. Maybe the reason for your line snapping could be because your taking on big fish with light gear, this is the easiest to solve as you change just switch to stronger gear.

If the lake your fishing does have larger, more powerful fish that your current tackle is struggling to deal with, it is worth upgrading to some beefier gear that can take more force.

If you are going to be hunting down real monster’s we’d recommend Korda’s Touchdown Mainline, It’s an amazing product with some serious strength. Even after a couple months of using this line, it is yet to let us down.

Conclusion

Your mainline snapping can be caused by many reasons but these are the most common, most can be easily fixed and its not really a problem you should stress about. If your still very unsure on the cause of the breakages, we’d recommend that you visit your local angling shop as they tend to be full of helpful advice and can usually point you in the right direction and tell you the best plan of action.

​