Line for different types of fishing

[musky999]

I would like to know what line you use for crankbaits, spinnerbaits, texas rig, c-rig, drop-shot, openwater topwater, topwater slop, docks, and flippen/pitchen. I have ideas for mostly all of them. I have used fluoro in the past and plan on using it this year as well. For mono I like 10lb XT, and for braid I'm using 40-65lb powerpro.

Thanks

[YUM]

crankbaits: 10-12lb fluoro

spinnerbaits: 40lb braid/ 14lb copolymer (use the braid when fishing shallow water with heavy cover)

c-rig: 14lb copolymer

drop-shot: 6-8lb fluoro

openwater topwater: 14lb mono

slop topwater: 40-50lb braid

docks: 10lb fluoro/ 20lb braid (i generally use spinning gear on docks)

flippen/pitchen: 40-50lb braid (however i might get a another flippen stick this year and spool it with 17-20lb fluoro)

buzzbait: 40lb braid

jigworm: 8-10lb fluoro

Im also interested in what other people use for these applications

[river rat316]

Cranks 10 pound floro

Spinnerbaits 14-17 pound Suffix Seige

BuzzBaits SAA

DropShot 6 pound floro

TopWater 14lb Suffix Seige (slop 65 pound braid)

Docks 30 pound braid

Flippin 17 lb Floro or 65 lb Braid (Im trying a new pline product this year I think its called Halo that seems real good right now, its a copoly Mono product with 40% less stretch and might be spooled on both flipping sticks soon!)

Jig Worm 8 lb floro

[Bobb-o]

Crankbaits: silver thread AN-40

Spinnerbaits: Trilene XL

Texas Rig: XL

C-rig: XL

Drop-shot: Fluoro (cabelas or vanish)

all topwater: XL

Docks: used to be XL but will now be Maxx (the abrasion resistance is amazing!!)

Flipping: XL

If you like the XT, you will absolutely love the Maxx. havent tried the Power Pro for bass, all i have used for the super line is Spiderwire stealth and tufline, the tufline is ok but the stealth seems to flatten out after awhile (this was a couple years ago so it may have changed by now)

[RK]

Hiya -

Crankbaits: depends... 10# Fluoro for most of the season, but often #20 braid (I like Cortland Master Braid) for late summer/fall when I'm ripping big cranks through deep coontail. For jerkbaits, 14# Fireline on a spinning rod...

Spinnerbaits: 14# XT - will be using Maxx this year

C-rig: 16# Fluoro

Drop-shot: 8# Fluoro

OW topwater: 12 XT

Slop topwater: 50# Braid

Docks: 14# or 20# Fireline on spinning gear

Flipping: 20# Berkley Big Game or #50 braid

Pitching: 16# Fluoro

Jigworm: 8# Berkley Sensation for jigworms & tubes, 6# Sensation for swimming grubs for smallies, 12# Fluoro for weedline jig & pig.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Central Bassman]

Crankbaits: 10-12 lb Fluoro

Spinnerbaits: 10 to 14 lbs Flouro

C-rig: 14lb Flouro

Drop-Shot: 6-8lb fluoro (dont use this tech much)

Openwater Topwater: 14lb mono Suffix

Slop Topwater: 50-65 Stren Super Braid

Docks: 10lb Pline CXX or 10 Flouro

Flippen/Pitchen: 50-65 lb Stren Super Braid

Buzzbait: 65lb braid

Jigworm/Shaky Head: 8-10lb fluoro

I'm not sure what florocarbon im going to use this year, Im going to try gamma forsure but also try others.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Cranks- 10 lb mono or floro

Spinnerbaits- 14 lb mono

Utility rod (t-rig, c-rig, jigs)- 14 lb mono

dropshot and jigworm- 6-8 lb floro

Heavy cover- 65 lb power pro

spinning dock rod- 14 lb fireline

baitcaster dock/pitching rod- 17 lb mono.

[Slyster]

You guys are all too complicated.

* 6Lb Braid for everything * ... with fluorocarbon leaders on some.

But I should say I don't fish any heavy cover situations.. and for panfish I have one few setups with just 2Lb fluoro)

[Deitz Dittrich]

Crankbaits-10 lb Floro or 10 lb co-poly

Spinnerbaits 14 lb co-poly

Texas Rigs-Depnds on the cover.. as little as 10lb, or as much as 17lb Co-poly or 30 to 50 lb braid..

C-rig 14 or 16 lb main line.. 16 lb floro leader.

Drop Shot- 6 Lb floro.. But whe I bubba shot the sky is the limit..

Topwater- 10 lb co-poly

Slop- 50 lb braid

Docks- 30 lb Braid

Flip/Pitch- 17lb Copoly or 20 lb floro... or 65 lb braid.

All my co-poly is Gamma.. all my floro is Gamma Edge.. All my braid is Power Pro.

[st.crioxfishin]

Whats co-poly? I'm assuming copolymer, but what exactly is it. How does it differ from mono?

[Bobb-o]

Copolymer is stronger than mono, so the same weight line has a much smaller diameter, allowing crankbaits to dive much deeper.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Co-poly is just short for coplymer. Most people call Copolymer lines mono, but it is slightly different. Many companies make a coploymer, and all it is, is a combination of a few different monofiliaments. The line companies are trying to make a recipee to make the best line, so often times they will mix a little floro or some other kind of monofilament. Some line companies do it to try and make a line that is more abrasion resistant. Some make them to try and stretch less. Some do it to try and make them more limp... There are a ton of different copolymers out there. Just a matter of finding the one that works best for you and your style fishing.

[st.crioxfishin]

Makes sense. Thanks Guys!

[musky999]

Thanks for all of the comments.

[sicheneder]

straight mono for everything except slop fishing. i just don't like the no stretch except the toughness of braid in the junk. the positives of flouro for me are less than the negatives.

[Slyster]

Interesting on how opinions differ. I can't fish mono.. ever... I've tried and after getting used to braid it feels like I'm fishing with a rubber band! Can't set the hook.. can't feel a thing under the water etc.

[st.crioxfishin]

Slyster,

I think when most people use mono it is for applications that don't necesarily need a hook set. For example, they use it for topwater, spinnerbaits, crankbaits. Any type of bait where you don't want to, or at least don't necesarily need to set the hook are times when I use mono. This way when the fish bites, the line gives a little so the hooks don't get ripped out. Now, theres times when people will throw braided line with these types of lures to maybe rip them from weeds for a reaction bite, but to compensate for the braid they will use a rod with a softer tip. I would recomend giving mono a try for these applications. As you may know there is many diff rods for many diff aplications, the same thing goes for line.

just my thougths..

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bob- very well written.. I do have a slightly different take on it...At one point in my fishing, I was about 90% braid.. I lost a ton of fish...A ton!...Little by little I began to notice the fish I did catch had large holes where the hook was.. When I set the hook, because there was little stretch all that went back to the fish. And I was making larger holes int he fish than needed and the hook was able to free itself... I was also bending a lot of hooks.. For me, mono/copoly is sensitive. Ithink its something people should play with and find out what works best for themselves! For some.. braid is the ticket.. for others, mono.. some floro?

[Central Bassman]

Very good points guys... One thing that i would like to add in is that with braid being so sensitive... i think the fish can feel you just as fast as you fell them. I was fishing with a guy one time and we both were flipping the same jigs and he caught 3 fish to my 1. We even switch spots in the boat. I was using braid and he was using Floro. I changed over to 10 lb pline cxx and we caught the same amount of fish. I only use braid for flipping heavy cover know and buzzy…. just my .02

[st.crioxfishin]

Deitz,

I've noticed the same things while fishing with braid (big holes in the mouths, bent hooks, lost fish). I like it a lot for fishing the real nasty stuff, but this year I'm going to be using a heavy flouro or mono a little more in situations where a hook set is needed. I just have no confidence in fluoro after breaking off numerous times last year. I was using vanish, but this year will be trying gamma and vicious, hopefully they work out better.

[RK]

Hiya -

Ahah! Finally, the muskie guys get to teach the bass guys something

Muskie fishermen were pretty early adopters of no-stretch braided line. For us, one of the reasons we all used pool cue rods back in the day was to overcome the stretch in Dacron (it has a surprising amount of stretch - not that much less than mono frankly.) Those of us who tried it early on noticed pretty quickly that it was great in a lot of ways (sensitivity, could bomb casts as far as you wanted and still get a hookset, much, much tougher than dacron, thinner diameter), but we were losing a lot of fish. When we switched to longer, softer rods than we'd been using in the past, it solved a lot of the problems. Our rods were designed to account for the inherent give built into the system with Dacron. With no stretch braid though, there was no give, and we pulled hooks out all the time. Our rods used to be 5'6" pool cues. Now 7' or maybe even 7'6" is the norm, and 8-footers are pretty common. I use an 8'6" quite a bit. And they're much lighter in power, with a taper through the top of the blank so they're a fast action, rather than a stiff, even, butt to tip bend. It makes a huge difference in keeping fish hooked.

Same story with bass rods, at least for me. I use braid, but on longer, lighter power rods than I'd use with mono for the same technique. Two examples: I mentioned earlier in this thread that I use braid for cranks late in the summer. I use it on a 7'11" rod with a moderate-fast action and medium power, even though I'm throwing pretty big baits with it - stuff like DT-16s, Poe's 400s, DD-22s, etc. Using those baits with mono on that rod, I'd never get hooks on a long cast, because the rod doesn't have the power to overcome the stretch. But with braid, there;s more than enough power to set hooks, it's extremely sensitive for walking cranks through the coontail tops, but it's soft enough power and action-wise that I don't overpower fish and pull the hooks out, or tear a big hole so they throw it on a jump. For my dock spinning rod, which I also use for Senko-type baits or Flukes, I use #14 Fireline, and it's a great rod. But the action's sort of weird. Lots of power in the butt, but a fast, light tip section. With mono, the rod absolutely stinks. The tip's too soft to get a decent hookset, and you can't feel a thing with it. With braid though, it's a great rod. It's a blank designed to be fished with no-stretch superline...

Long story short, the type of line isn't the whole picture in the braid vs mono debate. Rod selection has a LOT to do with it, and rods that are good for mono may not be very good braid rods, and vice versa.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm