What fishing line for this?

[livemusic]

We don't have much clear water in the arklatex where I fish; most water is stained and sometimes, heavily stained. Lots of cover for the fish, trees and brushtops. What type of line do you recommend for crappie fishing?

- casting a jig on a slip bobber (spinning rig and also spincast rig)
- using a 'cane pole

Thanks for any help on which fishing line and pounds test.

[scrat]

I would just pick what ever color(whatever you see best) and cost(whatever is on sale) of line between 4# to 12# I don't think the fish care as long as there is something they want to eat is on the end of it.

[lowe175]

I like 4lb. An 6lb. For casting color is up to you. Also I like stren an Berkeley but again this is your decision.

[CrappiePappy]

I would go by what the reel is designed to hold, as long as it doesn't exceed what the rod is designed to handle ... and pick the pound test that is the next highest above the lowest test rating. So, like if your reel says it holds X yds of 4lb - Y yds of 6lb - Z yds of 8lb - or whatever spread it shows .... then I'd use the Y pound test.

I've used many different brands & types of mono, over the years, and have recently changed most of my casting outfits to Vicious Panfish Copolymer line. And I went from 4# mono to 6# copoly and can't tell any difference in castability or distance. ALL of my lines for "casting" are hi-vis lines ... even the PowerPro Braid that I use on one outfit that I primarily use for casting Roadrunners & Whirly Bees, or deep jigging purposes.

The only things I have that equate to a "cane pole" are my 10' & 12' collapsible poles ... and they both have Cortland 15# braid & mono leaders. I use braid, rather than mono, so that the line won't take on the tight memory coils when the poles are wrapped & stored for any length of time.

Since I use weedless jigheads for my casting purposes, I rarely use any kind of float ... but, on the collapsible poles, I do use a slip float, simply because I'm drop placing the bait into openings in the cover that I cannot easily reach with a casting outfit.

... cp

[Cmj]

6# Mr. Crappie Camo. Strongest mono on the market.

[shadboy]

My Grandpa used 17# test and light wire hooks on his cane poles. As far as I know, he never lost a hook because it was hung up, he'd just pull it lose and then bend the hook back into a "J".

[livemusic]

6# Mr. Crappie Camo. Strongest mono on the market.

I am curious why you use camo. Why do you prefer it?

[Cmj]

I am curious why you use camo. Why do you prefer it?

I like it because it has alternating sections of lo-vis colors. Clear, green, and a reddish color. I can tie my jig onto the section that best matches the water color that I am fishing.

[SpeckMaster]

We don't have much clear water in the arklatex where I fish; most water is stained and sometimes, heavily stained. Lots of cover for the fish, trees and brushtops. What type of line do you recommend for crappie fishing?

- casting a jig on a slip bobber (spinning rig and also spincast rig)
- using a 'cane pole

Thanks for any help on which fishing line and pounds test.

I use 2-4-6lb Trilene XL for slip-bobber fishing. I like to fish with ultralight tackle and underspin reels and the smallest stuff works best with 2lb. I think it's the best way to present the really small jigs like 1/64 without loading them up with extra weights or weighted bobbers and kind of defeating the original purpose. I use a lot of 4 and 6 with 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs. There are pluses and minuses to mono that I'm sure everyone has heard. I like it because it's cheap and I don't think twice about taking off a couple of feet to re-tie and re-spooling a couple of times a season. It's got some stretch, so if you get a bigger fish you've got a fighting chance if your drag is set right. It floats, so you can mend your line and use it to guide your rig. It will absorb some water and get closer to neutral buoyancy over time; on windy days the extra line weight and the fact it settles in the water a bit makes it easier to handle.

Cane poles have old-style black dacron line with 6 or 8 lb mono leader.

I fish a lot of stained water here and I don't think the color of the line affects the fish much, not at all if you've got 6" of clear or dark colored leader. Hi-vis line is really helpful when you're tight lining because you can sometimes see the line move before you feel anything.

Hope this helps.