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Please help me out. for catching fish between 8# and 20# and possibly a little higher, what strength of line would you use, so as to not lose fish?
What are you comfortable with for playing bass?
What are you comfortable with for playing Northern Pike?
If you had to pick a single line to work for all of these, what size would you pick?
My interest is this. I want to get the greatest casting distance
for a lure weighing more than half an ounce, and often weighing 1 oz.
Can ya help me?--Bruce
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Hi Bruce, and welcome to bigfishtackle.com message boards! That's a good question, I think i'll have a stab at it.
There are a few things you want to consider before you select a line. First, what type of reel do you have? The reason I say that is because you're going to want some line compacity if you're going to be targeting fish in the 20 pound range. If you're using a larger reel, Mono would be OK. I'd be looking to atleast be able to squeeze 150 yards of line on there just in case. With that said, you may want to consider using a superbraid like Power Pro or Stren Super Braid so you can get the strength as well as the line compacity from the smaller diameter. For me, 8 pound line or less would be more than enough to battle fish in the range of 20 pounds. However, you may not be comforatable with a lighter line. That's more of a skill based decision on your part. You need to decide what will better suit you as an individual. The lighter the line, the better chance of hooking fish. The heavier the line, your hook up rate goes down but landing percentage may go up because of less broke or cut off lines. The heaviest i'd go is 12 pound line either way. So, this is my final answer......................
10 pound Power Pro
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Tarpon 4 me:
Hi, and thanks for sharing your knowledge:
I got a Daiwa BG30 [black gold series] and it must hold over 200 yards of about 14 # test. I cast with an Ugly Stick.
When casting a Super Shad Rap or another 1 oz. Pike lure, I notice I have getting trouble getting distance with a 17# test.
There's a private water here with catch & release only, and barbless hooks required. It is full of pike. Most are only 6# or so, but there are some 44" beauties, (weight 20#?+)
Most bass are over 5# and often as not over 10#
Also, I go for pike in waters where you can keep them all, and 30# are not exactly rare, but they are not all that big.
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A BG30? Isn't that a saltwater series reel? I looked up the line compacity, it's suppose to hold 200 yards of 17 pound test. So, you shouldn't have any problems getting the yardage you want.
You use alot heavier line than I would have anticipated, however, the fishing conditions you'll be in may warrent a heavier line. I still stand by my reccomendation of power pro. You'll get WAY MORE than 200 yards on there though. You could get a spool of 20 lb test and still have room after putting 300 yards on it. I think 20 lb test Power Pro has the same diameter as 8 lb mono. The stuff it tiney. The price isn't though. You can expect to spend about 25 bucks for a 300 yard spool. [cool]
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i'll give a second vote for braided line. that stuff is strong and thin, just like tarpon4me said. the 20# power pro has the diameter of a 6lb mono. you can actually go all the way to a 30# braid and get the diameter of an 8lb mono. great stuff. i also like stren super braid, and p line spectrex IV braided line. all good stuff.
for visibility reasons i use a 5-10 foot leader of flourocarbon. i usually use 30# braid for jigging mackinaw and use a 12 lb flouro leader. i get great strength, low diameter, and if i break off i only lose the 5-10 foot piece of line.
good luck to ya!
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Tarpon4Me
Well, it isn't some much the conditions that justify 20# line so much as it is a case of overkill by the fisherman; but in Colorado, if you use 10# for trout, bass, etc, you can end up sometimes losing when some 10 pound fish takes bait, etc. So last year I went to overkill, especially because I fish for Pike so much, and dream of the 30 pounder hooking on.
So, per your excellent recommendation, I am going to look at 20# Power Pro. Thanks for helping me. You pretty nice fella.
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Oh, and the other question you asked, about the Daiwa BG30 being a saltwater reel: yes, I think it is; but, when it comes to a nice spinning reel with a DRAG ADJUSTMENT that can be "fine tuned" I've never found a better reel. I also use this reel for catfishing, and for the same reason. The fine tuning of the drag. This way, I do not lose fish.
Other reels I've tried haven't been so good on the drag. Maybe you could mention some reels for 10# to 20# fish that you like?
I like the way you cover "all the bases" in your answers. There's no question about you knowing your stuff.
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Thanks BKidder. The other nice feature with a heavier line is that if you get your $10.00 lure hung up, you can sometimes just pull it free.
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i third tarpon4me,braid is the only way to go,unlike bkidder,i use a 3ft peice of florocarbon
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im sure 3 feet would be plenty for me too, but i just always use a little more... call me paranoid!
and it would be nice to be able to pull your pricey lures free, but i believe that braid is too visible and decreases my strike rate... now, if im extremely deep, or in dirty dark water, then i wouldnt worry as much about it! again, im probably just over paranoid about this too!
great topic of converstation here!
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lol,it just what your comforable with.i just started useing a leader,last year,and have been useing braid for 6 years.i havent noticed any difference with my catch rate.i rather go through a piece of mono,than cutting the braided line every time i tie on
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per your requirements, 12 pound silver thread...
I ususaly have a couple extra spools with different sizes.... and different rods to go with line weight.
4 pound, for gills, perch, trout, ect
6 pound for bass cisco (light carp fishing up to 15 pounds) suckers ect
Rod change here
then I jump all the way up to 17 pound for salmon, walleye, pike, (big carp fishing 15lbs+), sturgeon ect....
just for bass, you dont need anything more than 8 pount test line... as a matter of fact, it is for bass that most rod and reel combos come pre lined with 8lb mono.....
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Lighter line is better. The drag setting will make all the difference for bigger fish. I personally prefer lighter line.
There is a nice reel that you may want to get. It is made by Okuma. It is the Coronado. Check out the CD40 or the CD50. It should be just the right size too.
Does your rod have the Alconite guides? If your rod has Alconite or black steel, you would be better using the Power Pro or equivelant braid. You can easily fit the 300yd spool on any of the Okuma Coronado reels.
If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. We are all here to help those whom need it and at the same time, help each other.[cool]
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TubeN2 made a good suggestion with the Okuma. However, I think you'll find them to be a bit bulky for a duel purpose reel. Bass fishing with the big Corronado would prove to be a pain. TubeN2 just recently talked me into the CD50, which I spooled with 30 lb power pro. It didn't hold the entire spool, much to my dismay. However, it got a pretty decent chunk on there. If I were you, and if I decided to go with the Okuma, i'd get the smaller of the Corronado series, which I think is a CD30, and pack it with the 20 lb.
I'm going to use my Okuma primarily for fishing offshore in the ocean. It'll be my go to reel for chunking and also for casting light to medium duty lures. I already told steve (tubeN2) when I first bought the reel that I intend on testing it out proper, that is with it's first fish being a large shark. [cool] I'll let you know how it goes.
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Depends on structure and many other aspects. If you were in open water in the ocean targeting 20 lb fish 20 lb linewould be good. If you are targeting calico bass in kelp and rocks 20 lb line.And so on. I never over power fish as the fight is everything you want.
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well fellas i over killed it on all bases..... medium 7ft rod with 17lb test...... BUT i fish dirty murky nast downed tree lilly pad infested areas
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LOL, I would expect no less. [  ] Na, 17 lb wouldn't be bad if it was braided line. I couldn't imagine you're using 17 pound mono for bass fishing. I wouldn't think it would be very good for casting a light weight lure. [  ]
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so 17lb braided line? would be good cause i also hook into gar... big nasty heavy 15-25 lb gar or would 20 be better?
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I would say either way you can't go wrong. With the 17 pound, you'll get a little more line on the reel. Something you may want to consider. [cool]
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well i can get enough line on it for what i need even with the 17 lb mono i get it out far enough lol i will be taken my girlfriend out to the holey lands for the first time tommrow so im thinkin of going to walmart tonight and getting some of that line
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