Favorite 6lb test fishing line

I’m looking for a decent 6lb test line for casting and jigging 1/16-1/8 oz jigs for walleyes. Was wondering what you walleye guys like to use.

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For six pound line I like the Maxima brand abd Berkley XT for jigging and have used Fireline on my jigging reels too and have recently picked up some Power Pro 10/2 pound line to try for jigging and casting plastics. I have been expermenting the past two years with differnt lines and am finding that the Fireline improves my feel over mono but there are times when I keep a jigging rod handy with mono too. This year I will use the 10/2 lb. Power Pro, 8/3 lb and 10/4 lb Fireline and 6 lb Berkley XT along with some Maxima 6 lb. line to see which ones I like best for different bottom contents [snaggy vs clean]. I have found the Fireline 10/4 and 8/3 lb are great for casting B-Fish-N Tackle plastics for both feel and I also hate retying due to snags.
Thanks, Bill

Berkley Trilene for mono but I also like to jig with Berkley Fireline, 10lb test 4lb diameter. You can feel everything with Fireline making it great for jigging.

Braided line does work great, but if your a die-hard mono guy like me, give P-Line a try. I’ve been using it for about three years for all my light line leaders, down to 4lb test. Tough as nails.

stren blue mono

All my spinning reels are spooled with 8lb Solar Berkly Sensation or 6lb Berkly XT. Both work very well for jig fishing. The XT is more durable and has better abrasion resistance but is hard to see since they do not make it in the solar color any more

8/12 Fusion with 6# Stren Magnathin Or P-Line for leader.

Dustin, don’t you loose a lot of jigs pitching wing damns and the shallows using mono? I’ve tried sensation and xt, but power pro and fire line get the nod on my rods.

Vanish

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Dustin, don’t you loose a lot of jigs pitching wing damns and the shallows using mono? I’ve tried sensation and xt, but power pro and fire line get the nod on my rods.

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Surprisingly no. I will use hard line if I am in a real snaggy area but otherwise I am a mono guy. I do use hard line when I need to get to some of those deeper current breaks and want more sensitivity and hook setting power. I like the extra bulk of the mono when drifting jigs on rip rap or sand. The current gives my jig a better sweep/sink rate than hard line I beleive. Just my opinion.

I know lots of guys that use hard line and live or die by it. Not a bad thing at all, just personal preference. Both lines will present a bait a bit differently and have had days were one line is more productive than the other.

I would suggest to use what ever line you feel comnfortable with and you will do just fine. The confidence factor is very important.

I like Dustin’s answer on swimming jigs with mono. I thought I had found the perfect line a few years ago in 10/2 Power Pro and found myself sadly outfished many times when the presentation needed to be a slower sink rate and longer swim time (aka mono needed). I now use both but have regained a lot of respect for mono in lots of situations.

I use Berkley XT Green on all of my rods. I am thinking about trying a non-stretch line for my rigging rods. I have heard people say that the feel is awesome, but I have also heard that fish can detect you faster also. What do you guys think? I gave Vanish a good test and I was not impressed. I was breaking 8 lb. line with my hands.

Bigfife-I think, IMHO, this is where rod choice really becomes important. You want something that’s limber at the tip that will give you the edge on who notices who first.Dustin & lundgEYE-Why don’t you use a fireline type line that has a 6lb mono diameter? Wouldn’t that give you the same effect? Maybe there’s more to it than just line thickness.

Hi Jim,

I have tried using the 6lb diameter hard lines.In my opinion the hard line in that diameter just isn’t as limp as mono. For me it just didn’t feel right. With the light jigs that I fish it just didn’t perform as well as mono does for me. It has more of a pig tail effect, from my experience, and I have a hard time feeling those light jigs.

Some guys might think I’m crazy……for other reasons unknown, but that what’s so great about having so many options out there these days

Ditto to Dustin’s post. I had guys recently with me that never got bit on fireline, and switched to my mono rods. Now cranks, that’s a different story!

I use 6lb Maxima Ultragreen or Maxima 8lb perfection. Mono is the reason certain jig presentaions work. You need the diameter to slow the fall and catch the current. I tried the fireline/spider wire and my catch rate fell for jigging. I only use super lines for crank bait casting and trolling or for bottom bouncers. I also find myself using leadcore more often for trolling on pool 4. But as with any technique there will be different line preferences that are successfull.

Mwal

Bigfife, I switched to Fusion a few years ago for rigging and have excellent results. I use a 7’6 ML St.Croix Avid and use mono snells. You can feel the bite before the fish has a chance to put any bend into the rod. Holding the line with the bail open, you can release the line as soon as you feel the vibration. I have felt an advantage with superlines when detecting bites v.s ticking bottom or when your weight thumps against rocks or debris. Depending on the bite, I may also not give any line. If I feel a solid thump and I see fish aggressively riding high on the electronics, I set the hook as soon as I feel the bite. I don’t think walleyes (anyway) chew their food, some people disagree but I have seen fish in aquariums and they swallow their food. They open and close their mouth to keep breathing while they are swallowing and it may look like they are chewing. So my conclusion has been, the hook is either in their mouth or its not. They don’t have hands to pick up the bait and take it to a location where they can cut it up and eat it. On a negative bite I will allow some time for the fish to swallow the bait to make sure the hook is inside the mouth. The one thing you have to be careful with when using superlines is reeling the fish in. It takes practice using your back-reel to avoid ripping the hook out.

Most guys don’t give super-lines enough time, and if you break down the structure of a fishes mouth, you can see its mainly made up of bone and cartilage. With that said, I don’t think fish can detect resistance or have feeling with their outer lip. I think during the swallowing phase if they feel discomfort trying to get a bait down, they instinctively open their mouth causing the bait to go free.

Have you guys noticed that the braids seem to float more than mono of the same diameter? I ran into a guy once bass fishing (pretty good stick from his record) who said he thought he could get the lures to behave more naturally in the current with mono and sink down to the level of deeper fish. I am still torn on whether the floating aspect of braids outweighs the smaller diameter and makes them both about the same???? Any input on this?

I’ve used Stren, Trilene XL, XT and Vanish…all seem to be OK. The best I’ve found though is P-line. It is tough!!!!! I also like the blue color for pitching twisters for crappies in the summer. The greens and the Vanish type lines are hard to see if you are a line watcher.

Since my eyes are not what they used to be I’ve really come to like the Stren Hi Vis Gold line for vertical jigging. It’s decent for casting plastics too.

Just curious , Does anyone else use the Stren Hi Vis ?

I also like P lines FC and Trilene XL.

i really like Tectan mono. seems to be very tough for its diameter, and its rated at actual breaking strength, not the american diameter/equivalent or whatever most companies use. 11.9lb tectan is same diameter as 6lb. trilene. i use 7.3lb tectan (smaller diameter than 4lb. trilene) for small stream wading, and ive never broke a fish off with it, even landed some nice carp and pike with it.

i like 20/6 spiderwire stealth for cranks/spinners/rigging.

Jigs and weightless plastics are mono baits for me.