Spinning line / Heavy cover

[Genofish]

What line would be recomended for a spinning reel when using

plastics around cover?

[BSG]

Power pro or Stren Superbraid for docks/wood stuff like that.

Otherwise a fluorocarbon if you are fishing in clearer water.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I would stay away from Florocarbon as higher lb tests do not play nice.. I would go with 30 lb power pro.

[CrappiesNeyes]

Hey Dietz what do you mean by "don't play nice"? Do they have too much twist on a spinning reel. I was planning to use 10lb berkley pure flouro on a spinning rod I use for plastics and 17 lb on a couple casting rods for cranks. Thanks in advance. CNE

[Genofish]

Would recomend a mono leader or tie direct to lure

[Aaron Carrell]

I would go with 30 lb power pro.

I'll 2nd this. I've used 20 or 30lb powerpro in heavy weeds and lilys for 3 years now and its does the job well. Just make sure you loosen your drag if you do this, cause you sure can beat up a spinning reel with powerpro since theres no stretch. Just keep an eye on the bail arm and make sure things don't seem to be getting loose.

If you decide you don't want braid, I really like 10lb copoly line on spinning reels. Stuff is strong and has similar sensitivity to flouro IMO. Personally I've used Pline for years, but I'm also trying out Gamma a little bit more now and I like its limpness compared to other copoly lines.

[Wayne Ek]

For a tournament dock rod I use a spinning rod (6'MH) with Power Pro. I tie direct most of the time. If the water is extremely clear I use a back-to-back uni-knot and add a fluoro. leader. With any mono,copoly or fluoro. over 10#on a spinning reel I think you are just setting yourself up for line management problem.

[Bigguyone]

I would go with a 20-30# braid as well (spiderwire stealth). I am not a fan of anythign but braid for cover and as wayne mentioned above...if it is clear do a fluoro, copoly or mono leader...I go 10-20# depending on how heavy the cover is (weeds 10# wood and pilings/deep crevice rocks 15#).

[Deitz Dittrich]

Hey Dietz what do you mean by "don't play nice"? Do they have too much twist on a spinning reel. I was planning to use 10lb berkley pure flouro on a spinning rod I use for plastics and 17 lb on a couple casting rods for cranks. Thanks in advance. CNE

What I mean by "Play nice" is pretty easy.. Floro is stiffer than a normal mono, and on spinning gear likes to jump off and create loop knots.. when one loop will jump off before the loop above it is supposed to. On casting gear its fine as this can not happen. Yet on spinning gear its fine. I have done fine with 6 and 8 lb,

[Nick Kuhn]

Just loaded up a 7ft MH spinning rod with 30lb Sonic Braid for this purpose. A week from now I should be able to tell you how it performs, as I've been a Super Braid guy for the past few years.

[grab the net]

8 or 10 pound Fire line. Casts well, tough and if you get hung up on something just wrap it on a boat cleat and pull it free. If you feel the need, back to back unit knots with a flouro leader for a little more stealth.

[Bullwinkled]

I use nothing but 14 or 15 # test Fireline or Spider wire and do not worry about anything, found that the new Spider wire is less prone to loop knottings. A glance at the spool when manually closing bail will usually catch loops and they can be taken care of. Another tip is too run with less line on spool.I let my line run down until there is only enough for my longest cast before replacing.

[Mr. Pike1]

I have used all kinds of lines over the years and of course tried gazillions of different presentations. I do a lot of small mouth fishing on the river and on lake Vermillion. When in the metro area I am a dock junkie and top water fanatic. I have found one line that casts great and works for me under all conditions. I use fireline cyrstal 6 lb test on all my spinning reels. Baits of choice are a senko and for topwater I have tons but heddon products are my favorite and its hard to beat a torpedo or tiny torpedo, devils horse, or a zara spook for bass and in the metro the tiger musky love these as well....

[Katman]

I'm also a fan of PP or Suffix braid. I tried a spool of the Seaguar AbrazX but it was too stiff for my liking. I could not get it to roll off my shimano core. I went back to suffix and have not had a problem since. GL on your choice.

[TonkaBass]

I really like the regular Carbon Pro by Seaguar. I don't care for the invisX though

[CaptZ21]

I have fished every major brand of flouro for the past 4 yrs on spinning gear and used chem line softener besides. While I truly like 10# flouro for dock fishing weighless lures I have finally given up for the reasons Deitz mentioned. I went to a 4000 size spool a couple years ago hoping that would alleviate the line jump/tangle problems on spinning gear but it only helped a little bit. I got tired of spraying the spool every 10 minutes to keep the line limp. So, I am going to Fireline with small brads in the plastic to help the lure fall, and I will use flouro as a leader with a double uni knot. In tournaments I actually had no less than 6 back up spools ready to be pressed into service knowing that no matter what if I was fishing 10# flouro hard I was going to lose some spools. If someone knows a cure I would love to hear it, but for now I am using Fireline.

[EBass]

20-30# Braid - Sufix brand, but PP is good to. I remember when I skipped docks with 6lb test. After two broke off fish I changed and never looked back. Tie direct and if the water is clear the uni knot to a floro leader like everyone is saying or color the braid with a black perm marker. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Hula_Grub]

This situation is what finally convinced me to learn how to use a baitcaster several years ago...

Save the spinning reel for skipping docks only.

[Katman]

I still use spin for drop shots!

[Hula_Grub]

Well, that too.

Drop shotting is something I need to try.

[Katman]

early season is awesome for drop shotting! Find a deep drop with shallow water near by and drop away! I questioned the whole rig setup till..... it worked! A few trial and error trips and you'll be loving it in no time! I'm going to try dropping lizard type plastics this year. Try it Hula.... it's just a different way to suspend a lure.

[Hula_Grub]

We're neighbors- I'm on Phalen and Gervais a bunch. I've been branching out techniques more and more. Drop shotting is on the list of skills to learn for me.

[Katman]

haha... I use to fish phalen a lot more when I lived like steps away from there. I have seen some pretty big fishes out of phalen. Cats, bass, northerns...... that place has it all! I'm on Gervais more now. Keller has some nice fishes too! Drop shotting is probably going to be a key technique for me this year. I like it better then burning spinners or cranks. I'm pretty limited in my fishing technique... so this one will come in handy! If you ever see me... come by and say hi. Can't miss my raised up black toyota 4runner with a yakima basket on top.