While I've been using baitcasters for a long time, I had something happen recently that was new to me. I will admit that a smarter, more observant man would have resolved the problem sooner, but I am what I am. : This is simply a cautionary tale.

I haven't made my spring pilgrimage to BPS yet, so Thursday I spooled a few rigs with 14# XL I have had for a couple of years, that's been stored properly. I have an old Berkley Titanium Guide System rod and a BPS Extreme reel, that I use for C-rigs. It is not the lightest, most sensitive rig, but it works well. I took the rig out in the yard and made a few casts. I was getting a little overrun, but wrote it off to being a little rusty not having fished for a couple of months. I considered the line might be showing signs of age, but the other reels worked fine with it.

I went fishing Friday and every time I picked it up, it just drove me crazy. I finally it put it back in the box. > I didn't have time to mess with it before going again Sat. Same thing; back in the box. :-/

When I got home, I re-spooled with a newer 12# mono. Went fishing yesterday afternoon; same thing. By this time I am ready to throw rod, reel, and C-rig into the stained, turbulent waters of Baldwin lake. Having made every adjustment possible to the reel it occured to me to check the rod. :-[ The third guide from the tip was bent enough that it was impeding the flow of line. It would work fine with a gentle pitch, but a full cast with a 1 oz C-rig... I straightened the guide, and all was right with the world. I'm not sure how I put line through this guide TWICE without seeing this. All I can say is don't let this happen to you.

We all have stupid mistakes that, reguardless of time on the water keep jumping up to bite us. Bet you will know the answer the next time it happens.

It's called experience.

good luck

I did something similar during one my club tournaments. 

If it's any consolation, I make rookie mistakes after 40 years of fishing.

I won't even talk about some of the Dumb things I've done...yours is mild by comparision...

One of the items on your spring checklist is to look at all rods, check the guides to make sure they are set properly and then run a Q-Tip around the inside of each guide.

If any cotton sticks to the guide it means the guide has a chip and is to be replaced.

Just a suggestion.