Let's say I'm catching fish, but not getting snagged or abraiding my line, how often should I retie? I normally use the Trilene knot, but sometimes the palomar, does it matter? Should I retie after a 4 pounder? Should I retie after a dozen smaller ones?

You should retie right now!  If you’re asking yourself if you should retie,  then the answer is yes.  😆
 

Too many variables to come up with a simple rule to guide you.   The size line you’re using and the cover you’re casting around are probably the biggest factors.   What do you have your drag set to?   If you don’t know then it’s even more important to retie often.

After every fish I inspect my line the last foot down to the knot.  Anything odd and its retied.  

17 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

After every fish I inspect my line the last foot down to the knot.  Anything odd and its retied.  

I do this too, as well as inspecting anytime I've been into sticks or whatever.

32 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

You should retie right now!  If you’re asking yourself if you should retie,  then the answer is yes.

👆This.

I always check my line a few feet above my knot. I always retie after a big fish (not often enough occurence) & after numerous fish caught. I always retie  after every day of fishing. 

The type of line you're using would also be a variable.

Braid when it starts to fray.

 

FG knots every trip. If something happens to compromise it on the water, I'll likely just put that setup down.

 

Fluorocarbon constantly. 

I retie after any big fish (let's call it 4-5lber+). I check my line after every pickerel, and after every snag. Otherwise I might retie mid day just for peace of mind.

I re-tie quite often.

Many times it's for the applicable deals already mentioned here.

Sometime I re-tie just because.

Just because I'm good at it and it's fun.

Ever lose a really big bass and then say

"I should have never re-tied that knot" ?

Me either.

Fish Hard but be smart.

A-Jay

https://youtu.be/W2jqCf7BVAE?feature=shared&t=236

 

I retie after every snag on hard cover, and every esox hooked. 
 

A personal anecdote, I’ve had the same leader tied on my jig rod this whole season. 40lb braid to 25lb fluorocarbon seems to get stronger over time….

This is actually something I'm trying to get better about this year. I try to retie every 4 fish or so. Yes, that is an arbitrary number... but I used to never retie and had to start somewhere. 

 

I noticed that I was breaking off more than I wanted to on days when I was catching lots of fish. So I picked 4 as the magic number and am trying that out. So far, no break offs. 

Interesting replies. I've not broken off hardly any on fish, but I have broken off when trying to get unsnagged when I think it should have held.

I retie every time I remember to bring a pair of reading glasses.

I was on a school of fish one morning hitting smallies cast after cast, hooked a big carp in the middle of it thought about re-tying but didn't want to lose the time. Next fish broke off right in front of me, at the lure. I stopped then and there tied on a whole new leader and promptly caught this on the next cast. My rule of thumb ever since is re-tie every time I think about retying!

I run my fingers down the line a few inches after every fish, if I feel a burr it gets retired, at least I try to do this. I still get bit off now and then but not nearly as much as I used to.

On 6/17/2025 at 1:16 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

You should retie right now!  If you’re asking yourself if you should retie,  then the answer is yes.  😆
 

Too many variables to come up with a simple rule to guide you.   The size line you’re using and the cover you’re casting around are probably the biggest factors.   What do you have your drag set to?   If you don’t know then it’s even more important to retie often.

 

Yep, my thought exactly. Not often enough!

I check the line after each snag, or fish.  I will cut off the line above any rough spot and retie.

Assuming no line damage I'll go all day on mono but retie every few fish with fluoro or I'll get breakoffs.  

I retire before every outing and during a long day on the water at some point. 
I don’t make a distinction between braid or fluorocarbon. 
 

Contrary to a lot of the replies, never felt the need or had a reason to retie my flouro rigged combos, which I use the vast majority of, more than those with braid. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Greetings All,

It depends... A reasonably safe answer for many serious complicated questions. 

If your objective is to successfully catch fish then it is important to have as many advantages as possible in your favor. Especially those aspects that you are in direct control of. The mechanics of tying good knots is helpful to crafting secure reliable connections. Then there is time and resources dedicated to this angling effort and in the overall scheme of things, you want them all to work well for you.

 

Making the time to craft a good knot is worth that time along with the small amount of fishing line consumed to assure a solid connection. Take the time and make good knots any time the line has been "stressed". If you snagged a weed and had to tug, if you had a struggle with fish. If you managed to get sunblock or fuel on your fishing line. Also time is a factor too. The tight bends of a knot just sitting there over time will take a toll on line strength too. Each of those factors and others not mentioned contribute to line stress / weakness. Good reason to re-tie for optimum performance. 
 

Generally, the smaller diameter fishing lines support less stress tolerance. Simply put, not much forgiveness.

 

Being a recreational ultra lite angler, I frequently inspect and generally re-tie almost as frequently. Being that recreational angler, I need to make the most of my precious recreational opportunity. I am willing to invest that time to assure a higher probability of successfully socializing with any fish that happens to be on-line! 

 

Just this past extended holiday weekend while goofing off at a regional urban water I managed to connect with a 3 pound channel catfish on my 4 pound mono UL gear. Plenty of fun for a few minutes. It was great the system (rod, reel, line, knot, etc) worked as it should for a successful conclusion. If any part of that system was not able to support that load, then I would probably not be so cheerful in typing about it. The take away point is to be able to make the most of any fishing opportunity and control the bits that you can to make sure they are ready when that fish strikes. 

I hope some of this was helpful to you and others. Even though it is just $ 0.02 tossed in for consideration. Be well, Cheers!