Purpose Of Super Heavy Line

[Skog]

Why do some guys run super heavy line? I am talking 30 lb +. With 20 lbs of drag being on the extreme end of most bass tackle the drag will give long before the line. What difference does it make between 30 lb and 60 lb?

Thanks

[5dollarsplash]

Digging into itself is one of the main reasons I hear.  I like 50lb on my frogging gear as it tends to saw through weeds and such easier and won't break off if the fish takes the lure and wraps itself in lily pad stems.  I'm not a fan of a locked down drag, and find that in almost any inland instance I tend to use maybe half of the maximum drag on a reel.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The advantage of braid is more for the sensitivity due to zero stretch. I use a braided line weight with the same diameter as whatever mono I'd fish in the same setup. I agree that locked drags are unnecessary for boating bass and needlessly hard on equipment.

[Master Bait'r]

The only time you'd see me with a locked drag is froggin' but only because you need every last ounce of power to set both frog hooks into a big bony lip 40+yds away and through pads, not so much for getting them into the boat afterwards.  

 

 

Besides, "big braid" is no bigger than mono.  In most cases, 50lb braid is the same diameter as ~12-15lb mono.  I'd ask the question why mono is so big, not the other way around.  After you make a cast with something like 10lb SX1...  Let's just say going back to 10lb mono would feel akin to going back to horse drawn carriage.  There really is no reason aside from personal preference towards mono for whatever reason to not be using braid imo.        

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

I fish, almost without exception, braid with a fluro leader.  This is on everything from my ultralight spinning rod/reel to my heaviest baitcaster.

 

I can't tell you what test the stuff on the baitcaster is; it's the thickest they had.  I grew up on mono, and I like to try to stay with similar thickness.

 

The braid has almost zero memory or stretch.  I like that.  A fluro leader has just enough stretch to absorb impact so the hook isn't torn out of a bass's mouth when it hits hard.

 

The leader I use is the strongest stuff I can get, too, unless it's on the ultralight, in which case it's 8lbs.  If a bass hits hard, the difference in weight can be necessary to keep the fluro from breaking.  (I do tie on a lot lighter leader if it will effect the way the bait works.)

 

Why the heavy line, though?  Well, as others have said, to cut weeds, for starters.  As well, I don't like to play fish out.  I'll hook 'em and bring 'em in mad.  It saves their lives.

 

A heavy line, a strong rod, and a strong arm all help to turn 'em fast and bring 'em in.

 

I tend to reject a lot of this newer technology, but I'm sold on super braid and on fluro.  The old mono now seems to make about as much sense to me as Dacron braid on a baitcaster.  Sure, it has its place, but that place is limited.

 

Josh

[DTack]

Why do some guys run super heavy line? I am talking 30 lb +. With 20 lbs of drag being on the extreme end of most bass tackle the drag will give long before the line. What difference does it make between 30 lb and 60 lb?

Thanks

To give a simple answer, I run 30+ lb braid because I have broken everything below 70lb.  With brand new line around no cover you have nothing to worry about as far as breaking strength.  When you get into cover you can run into a couple problems.  That cover wears on the line slowly but surely and weakens the breaking strength.  When you combine the slow weakening, extra heavy cover, extra heavy rods used to combat that cover and a heavy fish with a strong mouth it can add up to breaking line. 

There will be people who disagree with this and that is fine.  Trust me, if I could use 7 lb test all the time without worry of breaking off I would definitely do it!

[Dwight Hottle]

Another reason for heavier braid in the 40-80 lb test range is to help protect the line from snapping when using heavier weight baits & backlashing. The zero lack of stretch or give with braid will send a 1-3 oz bait into orbit if you have a nasty backlash unless you are using heavy enough line. 

[Raul]

Why do some guys run super heavy line? I am talking 30 lb +. With 20 lbs of drag being on the extreme end of most bass tackle the drag will give long before the line. What difference does it make between 30 lb and 60 lb?

Thanks

Any day you want grab a plane to León, Gto, México and I'll take you to my everyday lake, there you'll discover what was super heavy line invented for.

[Dwight Hottle]

Any day you want grab a plane to León, Gto, México and I'll take you to my everyday lake, there you'll discover what was super heavy line invented for.

 

 

Let me check my schedule. 

[00 mod]

Any day you want grab a plane to León, Gto, México and I'll take you to my everyday lake, there you'll discover what was super heavy line invented for.

 

 

Let me check my schedule. 

 

 

I was thinking the EXACT same thing!

 

Jeff

[ColdSVT]

Because i want the lilypads, tree and brush too! Lol

The only rig i have without 12-20lb flouro is my froggin rig lol

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Thick line = abrasion resistance.... has nothing to do with fish size. And sharp teeth

[Kevin22]

I've heard that so often, and even had people try to call me ignorant for using 50-65# line. One guy told me that he has fished with 10# stren on his baitcasters for 50 years, and flat out told me I was unethical for using such thick line.

 

some people just do not understand! If you throw a frog back into the thick weeds with 10# line you are not getting that frog back. Even 30# is weak in the thick stuff. Around pads? forget about it with 30# unless they are very sparse pads. 50# is okay but I've still broken it in pads/reeds on fish that wrap me up. 65# is where its at for froggin. 

[(='_'=)]

i used to wonder the same, until i fished here:

 

 

we were catching the fish right in the middle of the trees, so anything under 50# braid was just useless. in fact the first day i had my worm rod spooled with 30# braid, which is what i normally use in our local lakes with a 12# leader. the first day i just removed the leader, but that night i removed the line and spoled with 50#.... when we got snagged we could pull hard and most of the times we would straighten the hook... with lower # we would be loosing a lot of line, hooks and sinkers, not to count the fish that got tangled in the branches...

[Tywithay]

I actually prefer 20-30# in thick pads. The thinner diameter line cuts the weeds down more easily when you're snagged. I fish too many rocky areas now to use braid, so I've tried frogging with 15lb Tatsu; I haven't broken off yet even in some nasty weeds.

[TorqueConverter]

Why do some guys run super heavy line? I am talking 30 lb +. With 20 lbs of drag being on the extreme end of most bass tackle the drag will give long before the line. What difference does it make between 30 lb and 60 lb?

Thanks

 

Lots of reasons.  4 carrier braid such as regular Power Pro that has been the gold standard of braid for a number of years has dig in problems below #50.  IMO a lot of guys out there tie knots with braid that are prone to becoming untied when the spool suddenly stops resulting in what is called "mysterious break offs".  The conclusion that the consensus have drawn is that braid breaks easily when spool stoppage occurs and increasing braid to higher pound test solves this problem.  IMO it's a bit more than a coincidence that these higher pound tests have greater knot strength.

 

An 8 carrier #30 is going to out preform #60 in every way except that it will fail sooner than #60 due to the smaller diameter and break strength being more adversely affected by abrasion, although you shouldn't be expecting the two lines to fail at the same criteria no more than I would expect a #10 and #20 mono to behave the same. 

 

IMO start with an 8 carrier #30 and go up from there if the stuff is becoming adversely affected by abrasion and wear more quickly than you like.  If you want to cut to the chase, then #40 is a nice compromise

[SirSnookalot]

Using spinning gear the dig in issue is no concern for me.  I don't use anything heavier than 15# braid for bass fishing, even when I'm throwing frogs.  I don't use heavy line for any species of fish, 20# braid is going to break at over 30#, how much stronger do I need it?

[Josh Smith]

Do any of you all tie directly to the braid, or do you always used leaders?

 

For those who tie directly to the braid, is there any time or lure for which you'll use a leader?

 

Josh

[Kevin22]

Using spinning gear the dig in issue is no concern for me.  I don't use anything heavier than 15# braid for bass fishing, even when I'm throwing frogs.  I don't use heavy line for any species of fish, 20# braid is going to break at over 30#, how much stronger do I need it?

 

A lot. 

 

I'll take you to a place where you'll give up on that 15# braid and spinning gear after 3 or 4 hits. After you lose $30 in frogs you'll see why we use 50-80. 

[Kevin22]

By the way, power pro slick 8 in 65# breaks at 102#. 

[SirSnookalot]

A lot. 

 

I'll take you to a place where you'll give up on that 15# braid and spinning gear after 3 or 4 hits. After you lose $30 in frogs you'll see why we use 50-80. 

Seen this said a 100 times and still not convinced.  I will never use anything to overpower any fish, to do so would remove the "sport" aspect for me.

 

By the way, power pro slick 8 in 65# breaks at 102#. 

102# line for a 5 pound fish, and I call myself a weenie for using line breaking at 20#.  I'm changing my screen name to " Sir Weenie".........lol.

[WRB]

With spinning release for finesse bass fishing the smaller diameter super braids perform very good with or without a leader. Baitcasting reels are a different story, 30 lb braid is about as small diameter (.010) as you want to go with. The problem besides the level wind speed not designed to fast wrap thin line like a spinning reel bail does, the line weight is too light and wind loops during the cast. Have ever had a bad backlash using braid? nothing like it!

To me there isn't a good reason to use braid on a baitcaster unless you are fishing in heavy cover, weed mates etc, than you should use it. The no stretch is true but that isn't a good thing. High strength is true and that causes problems trying to break off snags, so anglers add a leader that has extra knots to fail.

Braid has it's place and so does both mono and FC lines.

Tom

[PondHopper96]

I used to use braid on my bait cast and i switched to mono because I liked the stretch to it! I ran out of mono so I spooled up some 20# braid. first cast I back lashed, and I thought oh that's nothing ended up having to cut out the whole spool with a pair of scissors and a razor blade. Not fun! Stick with 65-50