Stan, I'm glad you brought up line age. What is the rule of thumb on how old is too old for mono and for braid?
This is interesting. I only lost three baits all year and it was when I was using 10# Vicious Hi-Vis that was several months old. I put on some fresh line and the problem went away except for when I lost a battle with a huge catfish.:D
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM TWEENER!
Member of Tri-State Crappie Anglers
Stan, I'm glad you brought up line age. What is the rule of thumb on how old is too old for mono and for braid?
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER
Maj, I am not sure what the right answer is here but I will tell you what I do. I change all my rods out at the end of Jan (end of deer season) and get ready for the new year.
I change line a couple of times a year. I did not pull cranks as much as you guys this year but I only got hung up once and then I got my crankbait back. Glad someone mentioned retying though as I had not thought about that.
I have spent most my life fishing........the rest I wasted.
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER
PICO Lures Field Rep
thanks for the opinions on 10# mono. i may go ahead and invest in the braid and save me some baits. as for as life of braid, when i fished for the green carp i have some braid that is several years old and still is being used. i just watch for it when it starts to fray then remove several feet of it. that was 65# braid so i dont know if the 30# will hold up the same. i do pull it off and reverse the line to get more life from it. that way the line that is normally on the reel is now in the water.
i read in the beginning of this thread where everyone is changing out the plain hooks for red hooks. i was wondering if you are changing both hooks on each bait or just one hook? if you are changing just one hook, is it better to change the belly hook or the tail hook? i am sure with so many baits in the water some of you guys have experimented with this and i am just looking for some input. thanks
So far I have just changed out the tail hook, but it couldn't hurt to change both. The Bandits that are specific to crappie fishing come with red hooks as do some other brands.
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER
Yeah I changed both on mine....
DoubleG
Do both of them! In the late 70's I fished BASS and Bagley was one of my sponsors. They put red hooks on MY baits 30 years ago. It DOES make a difference.
PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER
Always shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll still be among the stars.