Lay it on the LINE!

     If you want to become a better fisherman you will have to learn the advantages and disadvantages of Fluorocarbon, Monofilament and Braid.  Spending time with each line type in different tests and from different brands with different applications also will be crucial in moving forward.  I fell into the trap of making bad line decisions based on a small number of outings with one brand of line.  I was extremely skeptical about the benefits of fluorocarbon and thought it was just another way the proverbial “they” got us to spend more money.  This was based on a few times I broke fish off on the hook set with an unnamed brands fluoro.  It wasn’t until I was fishing on lake Guntersville as a co-angler, when the light bulb went off.  My partner and I were both dragging 10 inch worms around isolated brush in 10 feet of water.  By chance I bought a spool of Seaguar Red Fluorocarbon and had spooled two reels.  He was using mono and I was out fishing him 3 to one out of the back of the boat.  He kept asking what I was doing different, and “I” wasn’t doing anything different, my line however was making all the difference.  I ended up an ounce or so out of first place and he was left with wondering how the guy in the back of the boat beat him.  He did introduce me to a scent called "Nitro Gravy"  that worked really well on Guntersville.  It stunk so bad my wife threw my clothes away- but back to the line conversation. 

     As someone who fishes a ton of soft plastics,  polyvinylidene fluoride or fluorocarbon has made an enormous improvement in my hook ups and the number of bites I get.  This is because it’s virtually invisible to bass, has less stretch than mono which improves sensitivity, doesn’t absorb water (which is what weakens mono), is abraision resistant, and is unaffected by UV rays ( which also weaken mono).  I have had a few issues with finding a knot that I like with it, but hopefully I will get that figured out soon.  A Palomar knot  crimps over on itself and will cause the line to weaken more than a cinch knot.  I like the Trilene knot but am still experimenting with this.

       I probably fish fluorocarbon 90% of the time and buy it bulk spools to make it affordable.  The only time I will not use it is with topwater baits and when fishing heavy  cover.  Monofilament is far superior with topwaters because fluorocarbon sinks and has little stretch.  That will  affect the action of most topwaters in a negative way and the lack of stretch will cause you to pull most visual baits away from the fish before they have a chance to get it.  When I’m fishing frogs or swim jigs in weeds or slop I opt for braid because it will cut through that stuff like a knife. 

Choosing a rod based on the line your using can also make a difference.  I don’t have very good luck using heavy action rods with fluoro for most soft plastic applications.  The heavy action seems to let the fish feel me before I feel him.  By using a medium heavy with a softer tip, I still have the backbone needed to drive the hook home and the fish will on to the bait longer because I will get a couple more seconds before they feel pressure.  With braid you may also want to scale down the action of your rod and really rely on your drag a little more.  Heavy action rods and drags that are tightened all the way down will cost you fish.  The drag should slip a little bit on the hookset with and I would loosen it even more once you get the fish  out of cover.  If the action is to stiff, you could rip a large hole in the fishes mouth or it could cause the knot to slip if your like me and have trouble lightening up you hook sets.  Neither of those things are good when your trying to get fish to the boat.

Softbaits- this needs it’s own category for me since it’s what I do most.

-Finesse/Shakey Head, Swim Jig Head- 8 pound Invizx

-Normal Bottom Draggin’- 15 Invizx

-Flipping Plastics in heavy cover- 25 pound test fluoro or 20-25 low stretch mono.  I like Trilene XT  if I use mono.  Fluoro is great but I cannot tone down my hook sets most of the time so the heavier mono has a little more shock absorption and I rarely flip more than 20 or 30 feet so I still get good hook sets.

-Carolina rig- 15 pound Invizx fluoro with a 10 pound fluoro leader

 Every Thing Else-

*Crabkbaits-  12 pound Yozuri Hybrid or 15 Invizx.  Yozuri Hybrid is a copolymer line which I really like and it’s tough as nails.  Copolymers are a blend of mono and fluorocarbon.  With shallow crankbaits I will use mono because it casts a little better and

*Spinnerbaits, Spoons- 15 fluoro

*Topwater- 12-17 mono depending on the size of the lure I’m using

*Jigs- swimming 50-65 braid, draggin 15 fluoro

*Frogs- slop-65 braid, Toads- 15 fluoro, braid in heavy cover

The number one tip for all lines is to go out and find out for yourself what you like with what you like doing.  

 Here's one of those I caught from the back of the boat.