I’m new to fishing and am finding some of the terminology very confusing. Can you tell me what the term “pound test” means?

    Pound test is the amount of pressure that can be put on a line before it breaks.  The larger the pound test, the stonger the line.

     The most popular pound test strengths are the 8 to 16 pound test lines. If the line is too heavy, the fish can see it, and will probably avoid it. Monofiliment line is the most popular.

     For a beginner or a child I recommend using a 8 pound test to start. Be careful how you tie the knot holding your tackle! An improperly tied knot can reduce the pound strength of your line by as much as fifty percent!  The worst kind of knot you can use on fishing line is the overhand knot, once you cinch this knot down, it will begin cutting into your fishing line, eventually rendering your line useless. So remember, never use an overhand knot in fishing line!

     You also want a line that has very little memory, otherwise you end up with a line that won’t stay taut while your are fishing, it ends up curling all the way up. You want to keep your line taut so do a little research and see which line claims the least memory.  I use Tuff Stuff monofiliment and it works well for me.

     Your choice of pound test also will depend on what kind of fishing you do, when I fish for the big cats I don’t use a 6 pound test, I use a 12 pound test.

     There are a lot of pound test choices out there, but I would recommend that you, as a beginner, start with a 8 pound test line and go from there as your experience level increases.