How To Pick A Fishing Line

Bassin' Insider

Jul 7, 2011, 3:06 PM EDT

Leave a comment

At some point we all have been overcome by the giant wall of fishing line at our local sporting goods shop.

First of all, most experienced bass anglers will tell you that no single fishing line is perfect for every lure or presentation. Just like you have different rods for different presentations, you should select your line just as carefully. For quite some time, there have been 3 basic lines to choose from: Monofilament/Copolymers, Braided, or Fluorocarbon. Berkley is making some noise with a new line called Nanofil, interested to fish this line and see how it stacks up & if it spawns a new 4^th line category.

For me the biggest part of picking a fishing line is understanding the characteristics of each line:

Monofilament or Copolymer fishing lines have been around and stood the test of time. They are great all around lines, there are many different blends of copolymers from different companies, and some better suited for casting and others with higher abrasion resistance, as well as everything in between. Mono if often offered in a wide variety of colors that are promoted to either be invisible to fish or more visible to anglers for strike detection. These lines tend to have a lot of stretch and float, and they tend to absorb water and stretch even more when this happens. For these reasons, I mainly used copolymer fishing lines for some topwater, and shallow cranking or spinnerbaiting. Because of it cost effectiveness; I also use these lines for backing and filling on my reels. For many serious bass tournament anglers like myself, mono has a limited roll in my fishing today.

Braided or Super Lines have evolved quite a bit since they first came to market. The characteristic of these lines that make them shine are their small diameter and minimal stretch, plus these lines float as well. The other unique thing is the way these lines transmit feel on a tight line, because of the very fine braided fibers, you can often feel things that you would not feel otherwise, but on the flip side, these lines are so limp they have zero feel on a slack line which can make bite detection tricky under certain circumstances like slack lining a weightless stick bait. Also because of the limited stretch, fish can sometimes feel you faster, which can sometimes cause fish to spit your baits faster. These lines can often help compensate for lesser quality rods; they increase the feel and make up for rods that don’t have enough back bone, which makes it a good option for many anglers. Braided line is expensive, but lasts a long time, so actually is pretty cost effective. For me I primarily use braid for slop fishing, swim jigs, frog fishing, heavy flipping and most topwaters. Also, Sufix 832 & Spiderwire Fluorobraid have introduced new sinking braids, which may expand the use of these lines for serious angers. I have started using these sinking braids on my spinning rods with a 6-8ft fluoro leader for finesse fishing.

Fluorocarbon lines are somewhat relative newcomers to the bass fishing scene but have been serving as leader material for other flu fisherman & saltwater anglers for many years. Fluorocarbon’s main strengths are its invisibility under water, abrasion resistance and reduced stretch. Manufactures are constantly tweaking their fluorocarbon formulas to work around the inherent brittleness and line memory that is often associated with fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon is very dense which helps transmit feel on both tight and slack lines, plus it makes this line sink. A hefty price tag has kept some casual anglers away from fluoro lines, but most tournament anglers have gravitated to fluoro as their line of choice. I think fluorocarbon is a must for finesse techniques like shakey heads and drop shotting in clear water. I use fluorocarbon for about 80% of my fishing, including deeper cranking, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, as well as most of my jig and worm fishing.

In summary, I find that fluorocarbon fits most of my fishing needs, but select a line size and type based on how you fish and your needs. The important thing is to stop guessing and step through a logical thought process and select a line that works for you!