There are a lot of different fishing lines available from a lot of different companies and they come in all sorts of sizes and colors. Having said that, the topic isn’t something that you see covered a lot on various fishing sites and as a result I decided to take a few minutes to go over the ones that I’m currently using and explain why I’m using them. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, but if you are just starting out or picking up a new type of lure and wondering which line to use then this post might help a bit. I’m going to group this post based on the setups themselves, so some sections might cover more than one line. Ok now that we’ve got all that out of the way let’s get into it…
Spinning Setup – Moving Lures
I personally like spinning rods and since I also like to catch a lot of fish that means I also like finesse lures. The spinning rods I use can be grouped into two categories – the ones that I use when I’m fishing a lure near the bottom of the pond / lake, and the ones that I use when I’m fishing lures that I move through the water column. I use 15lb braid for both, but for the ones that I move through the water column (eg. a senko or a small jerkbait) I like to use a 12lb Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon leader. This line technically isn’t leader material, but the knot strength is good and it has held up great. It’s also a very good value and so you can use it when you aren’t as worried about it breaking off. This can save you a decent amount of money, because the next line I’m about to mention is leader material and leader material is usually a little more expensive. I would argue there’s a good reason why, but you don’t always need the more expensive line and in my case if I’m throwing something like a small swimbait on spinning rod and retrieving it through the middle of the water column I usually am not dealing with things like grass, branches or zebra mussels as much and so I don’t need to worry about the line breaking as often. So when that’s what I’m doing I really like this line.
Spinning Setup – Bottom Contact Lures
On the other hand, if you are bouncing a lure on the bottom and there’s cover around then there’s a good chance the line might get chewed up a bit and break. In my opinion that’s when paying a little more starts to make sense and it’s worth considering a more expensive option. I didn’t use to think it was worth paying extra for a leader line, but after fishing for a while I began to see the difference. Once I decided it was worth it (at least for some applications) I tried a few different options out and eventually landed on Sunline FC Leader. This isn’t the most expensive option out there, but it’s not exactly cheap either and so it’s best to wait until it goes on sale and then buy a bunch of it. Before you do that you will want to decide on the line size. To figure that out you will want to consider how much cover is around you and what the water clarity usually looks like. In my case I’m in the southern part of the U.S. and there’s a lot of cover and the water usually has some amount of stain to it. Given that I’ve personally landed on 12lb test but you might decide on a different size depending on what the conditions are usually like where you’re at. For the main line I use the same 15lb Sufix 832 braid that I use on my other spinning rods.
Main Casting Setup
For almost all of my casting setups I like to use 15lb fluorocarbon. There are some people out there that like to jump around in line size here and you will usually see them go between 10lb through 20lb line test, but I’ve found that 15lb is a good ‘middle of the road’ option for most of my applications. In terms of brands there are also some people that are very brand loyal here, but in my case I’ve found that Sunline FC Sniper or Seaguar Invizx are both good options. There are plenty of other options out there (for example I also like Spro Gouken) and I’ll try others out from time to time, but I have found that the ones that are in this price range seem like the best ones for me in terms of the overall quality and value that you get. In terms of spool sizes you can usually get them in a smaller size (eg. 200 yards) or a larger size (eg. 600 yards) and I usually pick the spool size based on how many reels I’m going to put it on. In my case that means I usually go with a larger spool for 15lb line, but I also like to keep a smaller spool of 12lb fluorocarbon around for my jerkbait setup. I also might go up to 17 or 20lb fluorocarbon on the setup that I use for large swimbaits or throwing an umbrella rig, but the majority of my casting reels are spooled with 15lb fluorocarbon.
Frog Setup
I also have a reel that I use for throwing frogs, toads, and for pitching and flipping. For this setup I use 50lb braid. You might hear some people suggest 65lb braid for this type of thing, and line size should ultimately be based on what you are throwing and where you are throwing it, but in my case I’ve found 50lb braid works fine. I also like Sufix 832 here and in terms of color I usually just go with their low visibility green for all of the braided line that I buy. Some people would argue that it’s worth going with a high visibility color for lighter lures so it’s easier to watch the line, but I’ve tried it out and didn’t really notice much of a difference for those and I’m willing to bet it won’t make much of a difference when you are throwing a frog. On the other hand that high visibility line does stick out a lot, so I personally feel like it’s better to go with something that isn’t going to stand out as much and be as obvious to the bass. Braided line is relatively inexpensive compared to fluorocarbon, and I’ve been very happy with Sufix 832 in terms of quality and overall value.
Topwater Setup
Topwater is a bit tricky because fluorocarbon line sinks and you typically don’t want that if you are trying to fish a lure on top of the water. As a result most anglers will usually use braid and a leader or use monofilament or copolymer line. I’ve tried them all and personally like 12lb Sufix Advance Monofilament here. This line is branded as monofilament, but it’s really a copolymer and it floats on the surface. It’s also relatively inexpensive compared to fluorocarbon and probably will not last as long, but I’ve found that you can spool a reel of it up and it will usually last you an entire topwater season. Please keep in mind I usually fish two to four times a week and don’t always throw topwater, so if you are someone that’s on a bass boat seven days a week then it might not last as long but either way it should last you a while. I’ve also not had any issues with it in terms of quality and in terms of performance it’s felt similar to fluorocarbon for me. I actually used to use 30lb braid and then tie on a short leader for topwater, but found that the knot going through the guides bugged me and so I decided to try this line out and have not looked back. Yo-Zuri also makes a similar copolymer line that is very good and while I’ve personally been using Sufix lately I would recommend either of those choices for topwater if you don’t want to go with braid and a leader.
That sums up the lines that I’m currently using. There are certainly other options out there in terms of size, type, etc. (and I’ve tried several of them), but these are the ones that I seem to have landed on for the time being.
