Line preferences for bass

For years I just fished 12# Trilene XL or Stren…no matter what the technique…
Now I feel I need to keep up with technology and have been reading all I can on line types/applications from the Bass sites like Tackle Tour etc…
I am fishing extreme northern WI, the U.P., and Green Bay for large and smallmouth bass, for guiding, personal enjoyment and a few local tournaments. While there is wood and some weedlines, it is fishing a lot of rock, gravel points and deep water humps. There are some pretty big (5-7lb bass up here!)

My bass rods are;
a 733SF Dropshot spinning rod……..2500 Symetre…10# Flouro
b 703C Med Fast casting rod…………Quantum Energy Ti
for top water, cranks, finesse swim jigs….12# Mono
c 733C FH Med/Hvy Fast casting rod…..Quantum Energy Ti
for Senkos, Flukes, Spooks, Spinnerbaits…15# Crystal Braid
d 735 Med/Hvy XtraFast casting rod…..Quantum Energy Ti
for Frogs, Pitchin’ & Flippin’, Small Swimbaits, 20# Braid
e DX743C Med/Hvy Fast…all purpose (in the near future)just because I have to have one!……Curado 200 E7

Any line weight/types… opinions/recommendations for my distinguished bass collegues?

Tom –

I like 4 lb Gama Flo for deep drop shotting finicky bass – very exciting when the bass is 5 lbs.

Dog

Here is my .02 worth

A. Excellent choice
B. looks Ok to me. A little heavier than I’d fish but then again you run into monster smallmouth in your country
C. Here I’d take a look. I really don’t like braid for topwater or spinnerbaits – I tend to overreact and rip baits away from the fish using braid here. I fish 10-12 Mono for all my topwater and spinnerbait fishing. For the senko’s and flukes it all depends on how fast you want the baits to fall. In deeper water or for faster fall rate I like to use 10 Lb. Fluro ( Fluro sinks faster than Mono ) I also like the lower strech of the Flure over mono – some of the hooksets on Senko seem to come way out at the ends of the cast and the low strech of fluro really helps. Also most senko and fluke fishing is usually done in shallow and possibly really clear water and for that the Fluro really shines.
D. No problem here. I may go a little heavier
E. For a all around set up I’d go with 10lb Fluro – great for Texas rigging, Tube dragging, Ect.

Best of luck to you this season

Well it looks like I must be using Rope 50lb power pro for frogs,plunkin,swim jigs and skipping under stuff,30lb power pro on spinning rods with 10#fluro leader,17lb pline fluro for big jigs,15#vishious fluro,beavers,tubes ect.,12#vis fluro for smaller stuff or rarly 10# I,m a bass guy only maybe thats why Stan

thumper, very good info…

I too used to fish only mono (Trilene XL in 10, 12 and 14 lb tests)…started into the ‘super lines’ after I got tired of missing bass on the horny toad…which helped me switch to braid…

Last couple of years I’ve also tried out flouro…and now use it for a few applications…

Here’s my thought process (and this works for how I set the hook)…

Mono:
like it for topwater as the line is most buoyant and has some stretch…typically using 12# test on 6.5 foot medium action Shimano Crucials…

also use 14# mono for pitching/flipping on MH Shimano Cumaras…as the distance I’m from the bait is short enough that I don’t worry about line stretch…plus, as I fish at night under black lights, the flourescent XL is excellent.

When fishing frogs, I started using braid as it’s ‘no stretch’ character was awful important in terms of driving hooks home (big, heavy wire hooks) at long distances (typically get a lot more hits with longer casts)…important to pair with a Heavy action rod…I also started using these rods/set ups for Carolina rigging as I was struggling with too much line stretch…even when upping the mono test to 25#…plus, in C-rigging, the sensitivity allows me much more awareness of fish hits…

I will also flip heavy cover/weeds with these rigs/rods…sometimes tieing direct to the braid…other times to a flouro leader…

Flouro:
where I started using flouro was for weightless plastics like senkos, flukes and Palm Trees (Kinami)…it took a while for me to get used to it…as at first bites were harder to detect (for me) as I’d been used to watching the mono floating on the surface for twitches (when fish sucked the bait in)…then, I also learned to take serious advantage of the abrasion resistance of flouro and started flipping palm trees into the heart of brush piles and pulling fish out…

I use 10# or 12# Trilene 100% Flouro…and fish it primarily on medium action Crucial rod (6.5 foot)…

Last year I also started using flouro on my 7 foot medium action cranking rod…currently spooled with 8# test…and use it to toss anything from Bandit footloose cranks to Norman DD-22’s…had a great day last year running the DD-22’s over the top of brush piles…brush piles that were in 15 feet of water and topped out 1-2 feet below the surface…just working/worming the crank up/over/through the brush…got a lot of bites…only broke one fish off. (I don’t recommend this, by the way)…

so…for me, braid for applications where long casts, no-stretch and heavy weeds are the needs/norms

mono is still a GREAT all-around line..

Flouro where lower vis, abrasion resistance is a benefit…

Now, if you have a superhero hookset, or cat-like reflexes, you may need to play/consider where you want ‘give’ in your system…softer rods allow stronger hooksets without snatching baits away from fish…more stretchy lines act a bit as a shock absorber…

these are my rationalizations…and what I’ve learned work for me…you might need different combinations…

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Well it looks like I must be using Rope 50lb power pro for frogs,plunkin,swim jigs and skipping under stuff,30lb power pro on spinning rods with 10#fluro leader,17lb pline fluro for big jigs,15#vishious fluro,beavers,tubes ect.,12#vis fluro for smaller stuff or rarly 10# I,m a bass guy only maybe thats why Stan

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Not really…we are 100 miles north latitude of the metro and these lakes are wide open mostly canadian shield type…If I were dealing with slop and heavy cover my lines would be heavier too… I caught this big girl last June on 6# test flouro, 4″ Tube, and a 7′ MLF Extreme walleye rod…out of 30 fow…

Tom,
I have been trying out the Cajun lines by Zebco this year. So far, I’m very impressed with the general characteristics of the mono. The Red Cast and Clear Cast have great abrasion resistance, and less stretch than most monos. I have been finding myself frequently feeling more comfortable with lighter # test line and getting great hook sets. Naturally, you have to have confidence in your gear and only you know your preferred techniques. But I would consider the 6,8,10# lines for drop shotting, cranks, and tubes on those reefs!

Thanks Randy…
I have been following your reports on Cajun and will give some a try… thoe original old stuff broke pretty easy, but that was years ago.
Dunno how far you are rom Iron Mountain, but it would be fun to get together on the water some day!

Mono for Topwater

Braid for heavy weeds

Flouro for about everything else.

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Mono for Topwater

Braid for heavy weeds

Flouro for about everything else.

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Agree with these, except I use Mono for C-Rigging as well

Mono – Typically 10-15 lb Maxima
Braid – Power Pro 30-50lb
Flouro – Seagur Inviz-X 6-8lb on spinning gear and 12 or 15 lb on baitcasters.

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Mono for Topwater

Braid for heavy weeds

Flouro for about everything else.

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Agree with these, except I use Mono for C-Rigging as well

Mono – Typically 10-15 lb Maxima
Braid – Power Pro 30-50lb
Flouro – Seagur Inviz-X 6-8lb on spinning gear and 12 or 15 lb on baitcasters.

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Thanks guys…
I can really smplify my line requirements with spools of quality 10/12# Mono and Flouro with a reel filled with heavy braid for working the thick weeds with frogs and buzzbaits. The 735 Dobyns has a soft enough tip to accomodate the braid.
With the unusual long period of warm sunny weather we may have record weed growth this year!

Tom,
I fish primarily with baitcasters…if you’re predominantly using spinning tackle/reels…there’s a lot of things a guy can do just switching spools…

in my club (bass club) I’ve watched a lot of guys kick my butt fishing frogs on spinning rods with 10# braid…the key for them in the slog is less about the fact that it’s braid and more about it’s stretch or lack of stretch…and using scum frogs…

I’m completely hooked on Berkely Crystal… it’s super thin and extremely strong.

I have 10# (2# diameter) on my 7′ ultralight, which works really well because the line has no stretch but it’s a very whippy rod, so they work well together.

I have 20# (6# diameter I think?) on my general purpose rod. It’s a Fenwick Eagle GT, which isn’t all that whippy, but for topwaters, I find that the combo of the thin, non-stretchy line and the stiffer rod gives me longer casts and more control over the action of my topwaters. Hooksetting on topwater strikes really better with this combo because the fish hit hard and fast and stretchy line actually slows down the reaction time of the lure… it gives the fish more time to spit the lure out.

That’s just my experience… obviously ymmv.

Actually I only use spin rods currently for drop shot and finesse tubes…The rest are baitcasters…med-med/hvy and longer for leverage and casting distance.
I think the bigger difference may be the less fertile lakes up here without the moss, slop, thick weeds etc that you may have further south.

Tom, I cancelled my annual Boulder Junction trip for this year. Money is tight, and might be out of town for awhile. But, would enjoy getting together! One of these days

I hear ya Randy… one of these days we’ll stick some big Yooper Bass.

I like 2 pound line cause they can’t see it

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I like 2 pound line cause they can’t see it

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They can’t feel it either!

Was looking for an old post an couldn’t find it… so I’ll add to this one. I’m just trying fluorocarbon finally and bought a couple spools of seaguar invizx, because I read that it is really good. Tried 12lb. on my revo s with a 7ft. rod and had terrible issues right away with backlash. Basically wasted a whole spool of $17 line cause of the knots I got in the line from it twisting. Do most of you guys use the spray on line conditioner for fluorocarbon, or are you just using it straight off the spool?

red89,

I’ve have great luck with invizx and abrazx….trilene 100% would be my next line of choice. What I have been doing lately is spraying line conditioner on a rag and holding that on the line as you’re spooling it on your reel, then spray more on the spool of line when you’re done. The biggest thing thats helped me tho is making sure your puting a lot of pressure on the line as you spool it on….double the amount opposed to braid. Hope this helps

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red89,

I’ve have great luck with invizx and abrazx….trilene 100% would be my next line of choice. What I have been doing lately is spraying line conditioner on a rag and holding that on the line as you’re spooling it on your reel, then spray more on the spool of line when you’re done. The biggest thing thats helped me tho is making sure your puting a lot of pressure on the line as you spool it on….double the amount opposed to braid. Hope this helps

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x2!

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red89,

I’ve have great luck with invizx and abrazx….trilene 100% would be my next line of choice. What I have been doing lately is spraying line conditioner on a rag and holding that on the line as you’re spooling it on your reel, then spray more on the spool of line when you’re done. The biggest thing thats helped me tho is making sure your puting a lot of pressure on the line as you spool it on….double the amount opposed to braid. Hope this helps

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I’m not sure I would understand the concept for double the pressure for flouro over braid. I practically put my braid on at about 5-10 lbs of pressure as I spool up. If I go double that I would basically have to button down the drag. Even if I should apply a 5 lbs pressure to flouro lines, it would pull it enough to cause a stretch deformity on the spool. Something I would not want for the line.

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red89,

I’ve have great luck with invizx and abrazx….trilene 100% would be my next line of choice. What I have been doing lately is spraying line conditioner on a rag and holding that on the line as you’re spooling it on your reel, then spray more on the spool of line when you’re done. The biggest thing thats helped me tho is making sure your puting a lot of pressure on the line as you spool it on….double the amount opposed to braid. Hope this helps

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I’m not sure I would understand the concept for double the pressure for flouro over braid. I practically put my braid on at about 5-10 lbs of pressure as I spool up. If I go double that I would basically have to button down the drag. Even if I should apply a 5 lbs pressure to flouro lines, it would pull it enough to cause a stretch deformity on the spool. Something I would not want for the line.

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i dont spool on my braid with 5-10 lbs of pressure since your not dealing with the memory as you are flouorocarbon. You may be right on the doubling the amt of pressure but just as long as you apply more with flouro you’ll be ok. Helps take out all the twists, atleast for me

Hey Tom, as you know…no Mono for me. Power Pro or Fireline Crystal with floro leaders. Have not fished any situation this has not worked. When you get a hit on a rod/reel rigged with superline just swing your hips and the hook is set beautifully each time. Just my two cents. Can you get aw3ay this fall??

Chris Beeksma