Monofilament vs. Fluorocarbon vs. Braided Lines... How does one choose?
My Blogging has been pretty focused on tournament news and hot baits, thought I go with something a little more practical.
Choosing the Right Fishing Line.
Times are changing and it seems like you are at a serious disadvantage if you still use one fishing line for everything you do. For years I would just switch from brand or weight of monofilament to another. Now there are 3 main stays when it comes to choosing fishing line and none of them are the answer for every situation or technique. I am going to breakdown why I choose Mono, Braid and Fluorocarbon and for what situations.
Braided Line (Super Lines) – This is a fairly broad category in itself. There are many types and brands of braided lines, and the all have there differences and advantages/disadvantages. For the most part, I am not a big fan of braided line, it just feels uncomfortable for me and its probably mostly a confidence thing. I think it stems form the fact that I like to feel a fish when I fish soft plastics, I do not set on the first tap. Thus when I lift to feel or weigh the fish with my rod tip, braid has no stretch, so the fish feels me faster and I feel more fish drop my bait. I mainly use braid for slop fishing (frogs& spoons etc.) and heavy flipping. So far I like Power Pro Braided Line and P-Line Spectrex IV Braided Line for my super line fishing. There are many anglers that use braid for just about everything, I am not one of them. One thing braid does, is increases sensitivity. It’s a great option for newer anglers; it helps them feel bites and contours. It also makes up for bad hook sets and less then average rods.
Monofilament & Copolymers – This was my mainstay when I first started fishing. I used Silver Thread AN40 for everything; it was a very good line. I still use mono for many things. I like a heavy mono for some flop and heavy cover situations. I like the feel and the way it loads up, almost like a bungee cord when you set into a big fish. For the most part, I use a ton of Cajun Red Line line, its red, tough as nails and very affordable. I have recently purchased some Gamma Copolymer Line & fluoro lines, I anxious to spool them up and test them out. Heavy mono is what I use for most of my dock fishing. I pair 20lb Cajun Line with a 7ft baitcasting rod. The heavy line and baitcasting rod give me a lot of power to horse fish out from under docks & piers. It also seems to help me skip, that stiffer heavier line almost pushed the bait back under the dock, lighter lines tend to sink into the water quicker and reduce distance on skipping for me. Mono is a must for topwaters as well, it floats so it helps the action. I also you some mono for jerkbaits, crankbaits and spinnerbaits based on how the depth I am fishing. If I shallow cranking, I will likely use mono because I feel it helps the bait rebound of cover and structure. If I am fishing these baits where more depth is desired, I probably will go with Fluorocarbon.
Fluorocarbon – I have only been using fluorocarbon based fishing lines for a little over a year and I find myself using them more and more. I started out with P-Line Floroclear Line, which is a copolymer line coated in fluorocarbon. I really liked this line in 10lb & 12lb, for crankbaits & jerkbaits. I feel like I get a little more depth to the sinking properties and I get a better feel from my baits. The low stretch also gives better action to my Husky Jerks & Pointers. It has been good for spinnerbaits, lipless cranks and other deep water applications. I tried using it in heavier sizes for fishing around cover and I started to break off on hook sets. I never have problems with Cajun line in the same situations. I think by going with a true quality fluorocarbon like Gamma Edge may solve these problems. I also really like fluorocarbon for finesse fishing with jig worms, Shakey Heads , Mojo Rigs and drop shotting.
I hope this helps you make better decisions when you are faced with ever expanding option of the fishing line wall at your local sporting goods stores.
Tight Lines,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com 
Categories: Tips and Techniques, Bass Basics
Tags: Fishing Line fishing tackle
I have used a spool of Cajun Red Line and I really hated it. I went with a 14 LB and found that it easily broke when pressure was applied. I also noticed that it nicked very easily. Maybe I just got a bad spool, but I am afraid to put any more money into it. I switched to Stren 12 LB High Impact and found it to feel a lot like Berkley Big Game or the same test #. I personally feel a lot more secure about line strength moving to a different brand.
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Hmmm... Not my experience at all. Maybe you tried a different forumala....
http://www.cajunline.com/PRODUCTS%20HOME.html
I mainly stick with the Red Lightinin', that is the high abrasion forumula. Maybe you were using the Cast product... But then again, there are a lot of good lines out there and different lines fit different anglers styles and needs better. Thanks for the comment!
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I was using the Red Cast line, maybe I will swtich over to the Red Lightnin' once my Stren spool is out. I really liked the uniqueness off the red line, but hated the easy breaks.
Thank you for the update.
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It’s that time of year to start mentally tweaking my Bass fishing technique’s setups. I would be interested in your thoughts and ideas on what setups you have all found to work the best for you.. Here is my current setups:
Crankbaiting – 7’ St. Croix crankbait rod – Medium action. Abu Garcia Revo Stx reel. Berkley Sensation 10Lb. test line – This setup works great for open water crankbaiting. However it is far too soft if any weed ripping is needed.
Jig and Pig – 7’ Kistler LTX rod – Heavy action. Shimano Curado reel. Power Pro 40Lb. test line. – This setup work excellent for most all my jig fishing needs.
Jig Worm – 7’ Kistler LTX rod – Medium extra fast action. Shimano Symetre 2500 reel. Berkley Vanish gold color 10 Lb. test line – Excellent Setup.
Texas rig worm –#1. 6’6 St. Croix Avid rod – Med. Heavy fast action. Shimano Curado reel. Berkley Fireline 10 lb. line #2. 7” Fenwick HMG – Med Heavy fast action rod. Shimano Symetre 2500 reel. Berkley Vanish gold color 10 Lb. test line – Fish setup #1 if water color allows it – Fish # 2 if water ultra clear.
Drop shotting – #1 Jig worm setup listed above. #2 G-Loomis 6’6 Medium fast action rod. Shimano Curado reel. Berkley Fireline Crystal 10 lb. line. Setup #2 if water color allows it. #1 if water ultra clear.
Dock Skipping - #1 6’ 3 St. Croix Legend Elite rod. Medium extra fast action. Shimano Symetre 2500 reel. Berkley XL 8lb. test line #2 6’6 Fenwick HMG medium fast action rod. . Shimano Symetre 2500 reel. Berkley Fireline 10 lb. line.
Frog – Same as Jig and pig listed above.
That about covers all of my current setups. I really look forward to your thoughts and idea’s. Thanks in advance for all of your response.
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Sorry for the delay, this entails more then just a brief response!
Over all you are set up pretty well. Looks like you have 7-8 rods, as a boater I usually have 15-20 rods in the boat, but usually not more then 8-10 on the deck.
My crankbait rods are all 6'10" to 7' G-Loomis rods with similar actions, paired with Shimano Curados & Citicas, I usually have them with 10-12lb mono or fluoro
My jig & TX rig rods are all G-Loomis 844's with Shimano Castaic SF's, spooled with 17-20lb Fluorocarbon
Jig worm rod is a Loomis 783 spinning rod with a Shimano Biomaster 2500, 8lb Fluorocarbon
Drop Shot is a 7'2" Crucial Drop shot rod with Shimano Stradic Mg, 8lb Fluoro
My dock rod is the same as my Jig/TX rig rods, Yes, I use a 7' baitcaster for docks!!!
Frogs - I have two inexpensive 7'10" flipping sticks that I spool up with 50lb braid.
Other setups......
I have a rod rigged for flipping mats all the time. G-Loomis 894 with a Shimano Castaic, 50lb braid. This is tied up (snell knot) with a Tru-Tungsten Flipping Weight & BMF Hook all the time
I also always have a finesse carolina rig (mojo or petey rig) on a Loomis 843 with Shimano Metanium spooled with 14lb Fluoro
Always have a spinnerbait on my Loomis Spinnerbait rod with Shimano Scorpion 1500, 15-17lb Fluro
Also have a rod just for buzzbait which is an older 6'10" All-Star with softer action and some other topwater rods that are usually spooled with 14lb mono or a lighter braid.
Hope this answers your question... tired of typing
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Rich I really enjoyed reading this blog. I see you have visited the Owatonna retail. I work in the fishing department at Cabelas in Wheeling, WY. I'm a huge huge fan of Pline. The flourocarbon coating technology is awesome. I get most of the advantages of the flourocarbon at half the price when I buy Pline flouroclear. The flourocarbon coating on top of the co-polymer fishing line was a great idea. I used gamma in the past and really liked the strength of the line. I thought it still had too much memory which caused me to tangle up when using my low profile casting reels. So cudo's to Pline, I really like the product, it has less stretch, less visibility and sinks just like a flourocarbon. I only use braids for pitching, however, I do tie atleast 2ft leader of regular Pline flourocarbon straight to the braid using the albrite knot. I also just like fishing mono for crankin. I like having a little bit of stretch so It gives the fish time to take the bait in and I get a better set. I typically use flouroclear for everything else.
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