Thread: What size line?

Unless the water is unusally clear ,we use 8lb test verticle fishing condos. I have tried everything from 4 to 10 and 8 lb test works fine. I do lift all but the biggest slabs into the boat with out a net. High quaility line makes a big difference. I love the newer flourocarbon lines.

Read a article on how to tell how old certain brands of line are.Pure fishing lines which is all the Stren,Trilene ect,on the label under the bar code at the very bottom under the line diameter there is a letter and 3 numbers ei-E-11-10-2 the letter E-is the month of production-11-is the day 10-is the year-2-is the shift. I got a couple spools of Trilene Big Game that were on sale cheap for cat fishing and they were 4 years old,and I could break a piece of 30lb with little to no effort.

2 and 4 lb Vicious is all I use. I have had just as good success with many other brands as well. The nick in the eyes and on the spool is a great tip. I have run into this from time to time. Always good to check. Also check to make sure that your bale bar is fully tightened. If it is loose at all, the thin diameter lines can ocassionally slip into the little gap between the bale bar and where it attaches to the reel, which will pretty much cause an immediate break of the line. All some great tips. Nice to know about the age of line identification crappiejgr.

I'm with nimrod, use 8lb vicious hi vis, and have had no problems. Lifted a 3lb yellow cat in the boat this weekend with it. As muddy as the water is around these parts, them seeing the line is the least of my concern. In clearer water I will move down to six lb, just be a little more careful on the lifts

Nice fish in the pictures!

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

That may be the culprit. I keep my drag fairly loose. I was catching bluegill on Saturday, and some of the bigger ones were pulling a little drag.

I didn't think it was the drag, but I loosened it up this morning before we fished. I caught at least a dozen Bass, a couple were 3 lbs.+ and didn't have my line break once. I normally use #6. I just started fishing for Crappie's instead of Walleye, and went with #4 line. It's a little lighter than I'm used to. We got a few keeper Bluegills, but no Crappie. Water's about 48-50 degrees, shouldn't be too long now. Thanks..

I use to use 6 Ib. then I started using 4 and I rarely have a fish break my line. It seems I catch more fish using lighter line. Keep drag set loose and play the fish until getting it in the boat. Good luck.

Originally Posted by crappiejgr

Read a article on how to tell how old certain brands of line are.Pure fishing lines which is all the Stren,Trilene ect,on the label under the bar code at the very bottom under the line diameter there is a letter and 3 numbers ei-E-11-10-2 the letter E-is the month of production-11-is the day 10-is the year-2-is the shift. I got a couple spools of Trilene Big Game that were on sale cheap for cat fishing and they were 4 years old,and I could break a piece of 30lb with little to no effort.

Thanks for the dating tip. It really helps.