casting reel and line to use

[hunter991]

I am not new to fishing but new to bass bait casting reels. I won a nice one in a raffle and plan to use it this season. I am a spinning rod user mostly with all my bait casting reels in the muskie veriety. I am trying to get a recommendation on the right line to use. Looking for 10-20lb or so. I spooled with some trilene xl and wound up with so many knots from back lashes. Yes, inadjusted the brake, but mono seems so dam curly. What are you guys using? Braid? Or a specific type of mono or flouro?

again, not new to baitcasters, just the small ones for bass rods etc...

[JP Z]

95% of my Bass rods are mono. Generally for bass it is 12lb on the light end up to 20lb for heavy pitching. Usually there is a break in period after you spool up a reel for the line to figure out what it wants to do on the reel so this leads to the majority of backlashes. After a bit usually you will have the line on the reel properly from use so that it casts fine. And depending on the reel the tension adjustment knob and then the centrifugal brakes need to be working together.

As for braid I am using Ugly braid 14lb Dia. and that is fishing fine for me. For my mono, it is Sufix Elite or Siege 12lb on the majority of my regular non specific rods.

[NickMcD63]

I am the opposite of jpz. I use flouro 95% of the time due to the sensitivity and low amount of stretch. is this going to be a multi-purpose rod? Or technique specific? if you are looking for a good all around line, I would suggest 12# Seaguar Invisx.

[slopmaster]

hunter991, what techniques do you plan on doing with your baitcaster set up? This will help people make the right recommendations on what to spool up with. From my experience Trilene xl is about as limp and non curly as they come.

I personally use 30-65lb braid for flipping/pitching/frogging/swim jigs and sometimes regular jigs, so pretty much in situations that involve heavier cover.

12-15lb Mono or Co-poly for topwaters/cranks.

15-20lb Fluoro or Co-poly for football jigs/regular jigs/t-rigs and also pitching into sparse grass, wood, and docks. So there is some overlap of using the same lures with different types of line, it all depends on what cover you plan on fishing.

[hunter991]

Plan to use it for a general rod. Spinner baits, plastics, some cranks etc. I spooled with some 12 lb today and will try that. Mainly just want something for general use. Trying trilene mono. I had the 8 lb on it and it seemed to backlash a lot no matter how the reel was set up

[wbliceman]

For general purpose I would go with 14 lb mono.. 12 will do though.

[slopmaster]

General purpose for me would be 30-40 braid (8-10lb mono equivalent) unless your throwing a lot of reaction baits than i'd go with 14 or 15lb mono/co-poly. You could also use 15lb fluoro as long as your not using top water lures. Also with braid you always have the option on tying on a mono or fluoro leader.

[Bigguyone]

12# is really the minimum test for most baitcasters as the thicker lines are easier to work with in the 12-20# range (mono/co/fluro).

I agree very similar to slopmaster on technique specific lines.

As far as overall 12-14# copoly or mono will be your best bet or 30# braid. Fluro is usually less manageable than mono or copoly so wait a little bit to use it til backlashes are minimized.