Which Line For Crankait Rod?

[Kabar]

.....I have now 50lb braid...on me  Fenwick SM Moderate action casting rod.....should I change it?...didnt use much..but I hope will use crankbaits more this year.

[JeziHogg]

Do medium to deep divers id go with Seaguar Invisx 10lb test, with squarebills I use 15lb

[tbone1993]

Tie on a fluorocarbon leader if you do not want to take the braid off. In other words 50lb braid will suck for crankbaits.

[flyfisher]

I use 8lb diameter power pro super slick myself and am very pleased with the performance.

[BradH]

I've been using 20 to 30 pound braid (6 to 8 pound mono diameter) for bass and walleye cranks.  Gets deep fast and you can set the hook well on the end of a long cast.  I use a fluorocarbon leader.  Usually 8 to 17 pound depending on what I'm doing.

[Kabar]

Thank you

I'm a little scared of birdnests with smaller braid....maybe 15lb mono would be better? ....i'll be using this for topwater and shallow water cranks.

if leader...5-6 ' enough?

[kickerfish1]

For all cranks and topwater plugs I prefer straight mono, but I am old school!

[BobP]

You need to consider the whole system: rod, reel, line.  If you are fishing a medium action medium power graphite rod, you can stick with braid since the rod has some 'give' to keep fish from throwing treble hooks.  But in clear water, I don't like braid because of its visibility and you certainly don't need 50 lb braid for crankbaits.  I fish small swimbaits on 20 lb Suffix 832 braid with a 14 lb fluorocarbon leader and it works well.  But constantly tying leaders and hearing the knot pop through the guides is not ideal.  I like a graphite rod for crankbaits and mostly fish 10 or 12 lb copolymer line on it.  You want some stretch in the system somewhere.  I don't see the need to fish fluorocarbon on crankbaits.  Won't hurt, I just don't see the need.

[fadetoblack21]

I've been throwing straight braid at 40 lbs mostly because I'm cheep. I would rather straighten a hook than lose a $7-$10 lure due to a snag. With that said, I've been experimenting with using a 15lb floro leader at about 5' long and have had decent results.

 

Remember that the diameter of your line will effect how deep your bait dives, so your 22' deep diver may not get down to 22' if your throwing it on a thick rope of braid.  

[roadwarrior]

Braid/ fluorocarbon leader works just fine.

[Sam]

Kabar, you have stirred up a hornet's nest.

 

Every guy and gal have their favorite lines for baitcasters, spinning rigs and different baits and techniques.

 

The first rule of selecting a line is to turn off the pros and their hawking of their products. Their line may be the best in the world, for them, but you have to experiment to find the line you like best for your fishing techniques, baits and conditions. Read what the guys and gals have to report and suggest on this Forum and you can't go wrong.

 

The old rule was "mono for treble hook baits and flouro for everything else" has gone by the wayside for the pros. Or the pros are just feeding us a line of baloney and are using their favorite line even if it is different from their sponsors' products and is a mono when they say it is a flouro.

 

So what do you use? Good question with hundreds of answers.

 

Personal preference. The guys and gals can give you their input but it is up to you to use various lines to find the brand, type and test you like best for your presentations.

 

I wish I could say for you to use "X Brand" for this and "Y Brand" for that and "Z Brand" for everything inbetween but I don't know how you fish or what baits you like or your rod's paramaters for line test and bait weight.

 

What I will tell you is to run your line through your forefinger and thumbnail as you are fishing to find the nicks, cuts, scraps, abraisons, etc. and cut out the damaged line and retie your bait. You do this after every 10 casts or you will be sorry, like me on the Rappahannock River when I was just screwing around and a beautiful three-pounder broke off at the boat due to my pitching into a lot of wood and not taking the time to check the line.

 

Also retie your knot after two or three caught or missed fish.

 

Store your line in your house. Not in the garage, car or boat.

 

Purchase your line from tackle shops that have a high line turnover so you will get the freshest line they have.

 

Get a Berkley Spooling Station to help you spool and unspool your reels.

 

On your baitcaster line run it through a "wet spot" on a washcloth sprayed with Kevin VanDam's Lure and Line Conditioner as you spool it onto the reel. You can do the same with your spinning rig.

 

On your spinning rig, remove the spool with the new line (or old line from a day of fishing) and put it under hot running water in the bathroom sink for two or three minutes to take the twist out of it and be sure to spool your baitcaster in a counter clockwise manner.

 

If you fish a tournament use fresh line. And replace your line after two or three fishing adventures to be sure it is the strongest possible.

 

Now go out there and buy about 20 different lines and let us know how each performs!!!

 

The Bait Monkey will love you.

[Sam]

Oops!  Meant to say "spool your spinning reel in a counter clockwise manner."

 

Very important to figure this out.

[derekxec]

i would just fish the 50lb braid...i use from 30-65lb power pro without a leader(when im fishing for bass) and it all works fine for everything

[BrettD]

I use 40# braid for everything except frogging and flipping I use 65#. Sometimes I will use 65# braid for square bills if I want them to run shallower.

[BradH]

Thank you

I'm a little scared of birdnests with smaller braid....maybe 15lb mono would be better? ....i'll be using this for topwater and shallow water cranks.

if leader...5-6 ' enough?

 

In that case you could just use the 50 braid that's on there.  You might stick a mono leader on to help keep the hooks from fouling on the cast with topwaters.

[skeletor6]

Perhaps, you could use braid. I would never even consider it. Treble hooks + Braid = problems

 

Also, there is no stretch in braid, you WANT stretch while cranking. If you add a leader it does not give the amount of stretch you are looking for as all but a few feet of line does not stretch. Also, for topwater and crankbait use I feel it is a no-brainer to go with mono. It is relatively cheap compared to the other lines you are looking at and is great for what you are doing. Choose your diameter based on the depth you are looking to achieve.

[derekxec]

why do you want stretch when cranking? and why not braid with trebles? 

[flyfisher]

If you have a crankbait specific rod the braid having no stretch is not really a factor in my experience.  Now if you are not using a parabolic bending rod then mono or flouro would be a better choice.

 

I know that with the 8lb diameter braid and throwing a DT8 i can consistently scrape the bottom in 8-9 feet of water so my theory is the lower diameter is helping to cut through the water better than a larger diameter line.

[PABASS]

Personally I like mono for my treble hook applications 8-12#, I just land more fish with it.  I have tried fireline and nanofill and lost more fish when using it, I use a sweep type hook set and with braid I felt I would pull the bait from the fish too fast and not get a good hook set.  The mono I use is Berkley XT it seems to have less stretch then stren and defiantly has better abrasion resistance.  I dont have a "true" crankbait rod so with that your mileage could be different.

[Arv]

I use 12# Yo Zuri Hybrid.

[iabass8]

For shallow and some mid depth cranking I prefer mono and fluoro for the abrasion resistance it offers as well as the stretch. I use a 7'MHM and a 72MHM and rarely loose fish when they are hooked. The stretch has a forgiving factor that allows your not to rip the bait from the fishes mouth once he swipes/bites the bait. There was an article on Wired to Fish about why using a glass rod with mono helps a certain persons cranking. He described it as when using a "less sensitive" glass rod he won't feel the bite initially but will feel it at the right time to sweep set and the fish will stay buttoned. It's the same idea with braided line. If can be done and it does work great for some people but you do run the chance of ripping the bait away from the fish if you react to quick to a bite which is why mono/fluoro will have a more forgiving action. when initially setting the hook quick, the line will have that stretch needed so you won't pull the bait away. Once you have a decent sized bass at the boat you will know what I mean by having some stretch in your line helping. You can just as easily loosed your drag and play the fish out with braid too.  I fish around way too many zebra muscles and sharp rock that just eat braid up so it isn't an option. 

 

Just give both a try. You can make either work. Toy with all the combos of braid/leader or straight braid /straight mono/fluoro and just find what works for you in the waters you fish. 

 

I like 12-15lb mono/fluoro. 12lb for mid depths and 15lb for shallower for a more abrasion resistance line and to keep the bait up a little.

[gandergrinder]

I use a cranking specific rod with 50# braid and a 15# floro leader. I like the combination...

[Mike L]

 Depending on conditioins where I throw, either 12# Yo Zuri or most times 15# Invisix

 

 

Mike