Could have been some triploid monsters. I caught the biggest trout of my life in that lake and he almost spooled me.

2 year old line is just fine unless it has been left out in the sun everyday for the past two years. Always check your drag and adjust it if necessary, the fish should be able to run, take line and wear itself out. You should never break your main line unless it gets wrapped around some junk in the water. Good luck out there and thanks for the report.

I agree w/ G-Man. A lightly set drag will protect your line & leader. A soft tip rod helps too.

The rule of thumb is to set your drag to:
* 1/2 the strength of mono/florocarbon
* 1/3 the strength of braid (it is lower to prevent the line from digging in on the spool)

I commonly use 10# powerpro mainline & 4# florocarbon leader for trout. So for the braid for the drag should be set to 3#, and for the leader 2#. You take the lowest, since your setup is only as strong as the weakest part - and so I set the drag around 2#.

Some people use a scale to be exact, but after a while you get a feel for how tight to put it.

Also remember to loosen the drag all the way when done fishing for the day. Storing your reel w/ the drag tightened down is a great way to ruin the spring that makes it work.

Poorly set drag, bad knots, bad netting, lifting the fish out of the water by the line are the most common ways I've seen fish lost - and they are so preventable.

Also check your leader every time you catch a fish - especially if using a setup where the line ties directly to a hook. Replace the leader if there are any nicks or abrasions - which can significantly decrease the strength of the line.

Personally I start each trip w/ new leader - partially to make sure there are no nicks, and partially to avoid any unwanted scent.

Enjoy

As I fish at least once every week, sometimes more, my line had some weared out spots... I actually saw a bad spot and told my wife that I needed to cut off because it was bad, but that I would do it that night... should have done when I saw it, because I bet there was where it broke. Same thing for the leader, I saw a week place and did not replace it... Anyway, I went to Beaver again today with all new setup and aced it out... a trout limit being one a November Brood stock, about 14 yellow perch and one brown bullhead (catfish)... not bad, except that it took me 4 hours to get it, it was slow...

Ohh welll - at least you went back and showed those fish who is the boss. :)

As I fish at least once every week, sometimes more, my line had some weared out spots... I actually saw a bad spot and told my wife that I needed to cut off because it was bad, but that I would do it that night... should have done when I saw it, because I bet there was where it broke. Same thing for the leader, I saw a week place and did not replace it... Anyway, I went to Beaver again today with all new setup and aced it out... a trout limit being one a November Brood stock, about 14 yellow perch and one brown bullhead (catfish)... not bad, except that it took me 4 hours to get it, it was slow...

As I fish at least once every week, sometimes more, my line had some weared out spots... I actually saw a bad spot and told my wife that I needed to cut off because it was bad, but that I would do it that night... should have done when I saw it, because I bet there was where it broke. Same thing for the leader, I saw a week place and did not replace it... Anyway, I went to Beaver again today with all new setup and aced it out... a trout limit being one a November Brood stock, about 14 yellow perch and one brown bullhead (catfish)... not bad, except that it took me 4 hours to get it, it was slow...