Line Size For River Smallmouth

[Guest]

Seriously lame there Drew. If mono will stretch while cranking a rapala, it will surely stretch when a fish is tugging on the end of the line.

[Al Agnew]

You could float the streams Ron is fishing this time of year under these conditions, if they are the ones I think they are. I've floated them before. But by mid-summer they are very marginal. Which is just the kind of streams I love to float in the summer...it's work but the fish are there and the people usually aren't.

Six pound test line would be my absolute minimum, because of what I said before...sure, you can handle the biggest smallmouth you'll ever hook on an Ozark stream with 4 pound test...IF the fish doesn't dive for heavy cover, or IF your line doesn't have any little nicks in it, or IF you tied your knot perfectly, or IF your drag doesn't happen to stick just a bit...

My thing is, I have seen no reason that line lighter than 8 pound test is necessary to catch fish in clear water, and I want that little bit of extra margin for error. I broke off one big fish last year with the 8 pound line. I hooked the fish, which was probably 20 inches or better, in fast water with big boulders. Usually rocky cover isn't much of a problem like woody cover can be, but this fish immediately shot toward a big rock, and actually dove under the rock, completely out of sight. It didn't come out and I couldn't force it to come out. So my line broke, and I'm not even sure the fish was still hooked when the line broke, it may have scraped off the lure under there and the lure was still hung. Point is, not all big smallies are going to cooperate and fight out in the open.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Well, I'll tell ya Al, personally, what anybody feels comfortable with is the line size they should use. And you are spot on with the 4lb and all the if's....

For years, all through the 70's, I fished nothing but 4lb on my spinning rod and 10lb on my baitcaster. The 4lb was mainly because as a youngster growing up, we went crappie fishing at the lake most every weekend and I was just plunking around the creeks during the week. Same with the baitcaster. We would bass fish the lakes in late evening or do some cat and carp fishing and 10lb was the most versatile line to use that would also hold a big fish.

As I got older and fishing more by myself and having to purchase my own equipment, I made some changes. Instead of having one lite spinning rod, I had two. One with 4lb and on the other I strung with 6lb to use mainly for rivers and ponds. Then later on, I discovered Crystal Fireline and haven't looked back since. Sure it is expensive on the top end but, wow the savings on the bottom end are tremendous! I used to use a minimum of 3-4 spools (reel spools) of mono a year due to twist, fraying and just plain wearing out. Now I spool about a 75 yrds a year of Fireline with mono backing about once every other year.

On the baitcaster, I started buying the larger sized mono for two reasons. First, I am cheap, but I will only use a certain brand of line and for me that is Stren. I always keep an eye out at Wally's for the clearance sales. I bought a buttload of 14 lb and 17lb Stren for $1 a spool one year. Still have some of that stuff. I liked it for two reasons. One it was cheap. Two when floating by some snags, and I got snagged, it wouldn't snap my line and depending on just how swift it was, it would hold the canoe. But I am downsizing back to 10lb this year.

[MOPanfisher]

I may be the oddball in that I really like braid. Most of my spinning outfits are spooled with 6# braid usually either fireline or spiderwire. I also have a couple that are spooled with 8# for rougher cover. I generally target Goggle-eye with bass as a bonus or when I find a really "bassy" spot I will fish it hard also. There are some things you have to get used to with braid. It casts like a bullet, along a small creek its easy to over cast and hang up in a bush, log etc. if you don't pay attention or fall back into your old casting style. Drags, they need to be set looser than with mono due to the non-stretch of braid, my drags are all set to go "eeek" when I hook set, and I have yet to break off on a hook set. If a quick hard fight requires a little more drag, then I am just used to using my index finger to lay alongside the spool and add pressure. Rods, you can use a slower action rod tip which give you a little move "give" during the fight. Braid doesn't get the memory in it that I have fought so many times on a float. And for panfish you can really really feel the "tap" with braid. My single least favorite thing about braid is that it does not like to be dragged against the rocks, it has very little abraision resistance and if you catch a good fish and fight him out of the woolies then you better just plan on re-tying, not altogether a bad thing. I did have to learn a new knot for braid as my old standby knots just werent staying. I certainly agree with several that the heavier line weights don't generally affect your catch rate, but I like the lighter stuff and that it reallys lets a jig, rapala or rebel crawdad work.

[drew03cmc]

Yes, line will stretch, but to count on line stretch is a fool's bet. Use your tackle as intended and all will be fine. Drags are a wonderful thing.

[drew03cmc]

Yes, line will stretch, but to count on line stretch is a fool's bet. Use your tackle as intended and all will be fine. Drags are a wonderful thing.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Drags? My thumb is smarter and more responsive than any drag. And that is why I keep mine loose on my baitcasters until its time to land. I don't use them at all for the most part on my spinning rod. I keep the anti off until its time to land and backwind when I need to give line.

I'm not a fool and i've probably fished a few more years then you have, I just know when stretch will help me and when it will hurt.

[kkparks_3]

8 lb Seaguar Invisx for me lately has been good. I'm one of those fishermen that is prone to buy into new fads though.

I do like the lack of stretch and it has less memory than other fluoro I've used.

Spiderwire Mono 8 lb. in natural green is a good choice too if you like mono better.

[hoglaw]

I picked up some of that 8lb CX co-poly to try it out on my shakey head rod. I was fishing flick shake worms with a very light jighead this weekend at greers ferry way back up in newly flooded bushes. It's great stuff! I REALLY like how it glides through micro guides. Setting those up on a spinning rod is a very difficult process. Not so tough on baitcasters, but if you don't get them placed exactly right on a spinning rod, line just doesn't agree with them and you lose some casting distance. That CX casts like a dream and is a smaller diameter than similar test XT. I think I'll be using that on all of my spinning setups now.

[Scott25.stl]

The guy at Cabela's highly recommended the new seaguar senshi #8 mono; said it was the best line he's used. Could have been smoke but he was pretty convincing so I decided to give it try. One thing I'll give it though, it is super thin. My Pflueger Supreme 8030 is rated for 140 yards of #8 and 200 yards of the senshi fit on it. I'll give a report once I'm lucky enough to try it out.