fishing line

[Fish24/7]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 10:14 AM, jim m said:

went fishing last night and was spooled up with gamma flouresant line. DO NOT LIKE IT!   every time I went to retie it would curl so bad it made it very difficult. think I'm going back to tried and true trilene xt.  what line do some of you like.  and I don't like braid either

JIm just a few q's...

was this line put on a baitcaster or spinning reel?

what pound test is it?

were you night fishing after dark ?

 

[moguy1973]

7 hours ago, ollie said:

P-line Premium

This is my line of choice too.  I was disappointed last time I was at the BPS in Columbia they didn't carry it.  They only had the CXX stuff which I don't like.  I don't mind Yozuri hybrid either except that tends to curl more than the P-line does.   Both are really strong for their test strength.  

[Mitch f]

The one thing I'll say about different lines. They all play specsmanship with line pounds ratings vs diameters. The truth is a bigger diameter will make the line much more abrasion resistant. Trying to purchase a line with a thin diameter can get you in trouble fast.

[Ham]

So buy a line you like in a diameter you like and don't worry about listed break strength. I continue to be very satisfied with a nanofil main line with a P-Line CX Premium leader for spinning. 

I like Seaguar Abraz X for bait casting, but I also use Silver Thread CoPoly in 10-20 lb.

[Mitch f]

31 minutes ago, Ham said:

So buy a line you like in a diameter you like and don't worry about listed break strength. I continue to be very satisfied with a nanofil main line with a P-Line CX Premium leader for spinning. 

I like Seaguar Abraz X for bait casting, but I also use Silver Thread CoPoly in 10-20 lb.

Pretty much yes, I think the actual break strength is much higher than the listed strength...that's why they came out with "Trophy" lines years ago that were designed to break at the exact listed strength for people going for line records. Braid is a different animal all together.

[Ham]

Mitch makes a very good point about overall line diameter and abrasion resistance. I learned that first hand when I made a trip with Kelly Watson to fish Texas Hill Country rivers. The water was impossibly clear and Kelly preached 4 lb line and long casts. It was a multiday trip on the Llano. I had carried 3 rods. A light with 4 lb, a ML with 8 lb, and a medium baitcaster with 10 lb. 

So first day in and I'm throwing some small soft plastics on a jighead. I was using Tectan 4.4 lb. Very small diameter stuff. Fishing down and across bumping along the bottom when I get that wonderful thump. Typical sweep set and I break off when the fish comes tight. Hmmm, not a good start. Re-rig. Next bite. I broke off again. Third fish and I broke off again this time way up the line from the bait. The hard bed rock bottom with lots of exposed edges had weakened my line from the bait almost back to my reel. That skinny soft line was a no go on the Llano. I put that rod away and force fed them weighless 4 inch senkos on 8 lb and top water lures on the bait caster. Very frustrating way to learn that lesson, but so it goes.

[Al Agnew]

I know Kelly always preached light line on his rivers back then, but based upon my experience in the very clearest Ozark streams, like Black River and the upper Jacks Fork in low summer conditions, you don't need to go 4 lb. unless you're using the kind of very small lures that require a very light line to get their full action.  I wish I would have been able to fish with him down there (I did fish with him in Missouri) to see if I was right or not.  I'm pretty sure that the fish can see 4 lb. line in very clear water, about as good as they can see 8 pound line.  I know I can when I am snorkeling.  I sometimes think the whole clear water-light line thing is more in the angler's mindset than the fish.  Certainly you don't want to use 20 lb. line on upper Black River, but as Ham said, go too light in rocky conditions or in heavy cover and you'll likely get broken off.  At least, your margin for error is far slimmer with very light line.  If you do everything right and the fish cooperates, sure, you can land a huge fish on 4 pound line, but a bit of abrasion that would cut the strength of 4 pound line in half will only cut the strength of 8 pound line by a fourth.

As I said above, I use mostly McCoys Mean Green in 8 pound test, and Yozuri Hybrid in 8 pound test, pretty much exclusively (except for braids).  The Yozuri is clear, and I tend to use it in the winter when the water is usually very clear and I'm fishing slow, giving the fish time to examine everything about the lure and connection.  I use the McCoys in warm weather when I'm usually fishing fast--it's green, and seems to show up in the water more, but the fish aren't doing a lot of examining of the line then.  However, I also use the clear line (I'm using McCoys clear as much as Yozuri this year) when fishing topwaters, because I think the translucent, light colored line blends into the surface water background a little better.  I know I'm slightly going against what I said above that the visibility of the line doesn't affect the fish all that much, but MAYBE a big fish that has been caught several times in the past might learn to avoid a highly visible line, so the somewhat less visible (though certainly still visible) line might give me a slight edge.  But given that it's a trade-off of that  visibility edge against the edge of having stronger line, I'm still compromising, using line that's a strong as I think I need, while also using the line that's a bit less visible.

[Chief Grey Bear]

On July 17, 2016 at 8:25 PM, Al Agnew said:

Yozuri Hybrid, McCoys Mean Green are the two lines I use most often.  

I thought you preached Power Pro

[rps]

Google Tackle Tour line wars. Read their testing methodology and their results. Very enlightening.

BTW, Maxima 5 pound is the best light line I have ever fished. Yozuri 10 pound is my default on Table Rock. Except when I need braid; then I run Power Pro 10 pound metered.

[Ham]

Hey Al, I did just fine with 8 lb. I should have had 2 rods with 8 lb. I don't go below 6 lb. any more. I have not found it to be necessary to go below 6 lb, but you live and learn.