How Light Of Line Will You Use In And Around Heavy Cover?

[Catch and Grease]

I've been thinking about getting a spinning set-up to drop shot and present light baits but the places I fish have pretty decent cover in most places. Do you ever feel your at a disadvantage in moderate/heavy cover when using light tackle, I've been reading a lot about how many people way more experienced than me fish light line techniques in heavy cover.

 

How do you present small baits in heavy cover? The way I look at it is losing a bass every now and then in heavy cover with light line and small baits is a lot better than using heavy line and bigger baits and never hooking the fish in the first place...  When I talk light line I mean like 20lb braid with a 6-8lb FC leader, or something along those lines.

 

Obviously different types of cover will call for different types of line and a lot of times 6-8lb FC just flat out wont cut it, But I fish around a lot of grass like fanwort and cypress trees and stumps and I feel like I could get away with light line after getting more experience with using light tackle.

 

What are your thoughts?

[J Francho]

15/20# braid, 8# fluoro leader.  Here's an article that details one technique for presenting baits with light gear.  Not your typical DS in 30+ FOW: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html

[roadwarrior]

#4 Yo-Zuri Hybrid, 8.5 lbs breaking strength.

 

 

 

[Inflatable Raft Bum]

I only fish cheap WMart house brand mono, 12# is as light as i go around cover.

Their house line has never really given me any trouble. (Shakespeare or whoever it is?..)

[bass raider]

I usually use 8-10 lb.mono or 20 lb braid for my "lighter" set ups.trilene xt is super strong using a palomar knot.using said knot 8lb xt broke right at 12lbs even.i used an electronic scale so I would think that was a fairly accurate measurement.

[Wayne P.]

What I call "heavy cover" IS heavy cover. I use no less than 40# superline and that is on spinning gear for light/small presentations.

 

All that wimpy line mentioned above would be useless.

[Fishes in trees]

Pick whatever line you think.  Should you lose a few fish, you might want to upgrade.   If you don't, either you made a correct choice or you can go lighter.

[Catch and Grease]

I guess everyone is gonna have a different opinion on what is heavy cover, but when I say heavy cover I'm not talking about like matted grass and thick pads...

[K_Mac]

I use 8# FC on my spinning gear. There are times when I will use it to pitch finesse baits to shallow cover or work wood/brush in deeper water. Using good technique, keeping maximum pressure on the fish is critical. Being able to accept that light line in cover will occasionally result in a lost fish is also important. For some this is a deal breaker...

[A-Jay]

I do not like tempting fate - not any more.

 

As a younger angler, I would do it often.  Losing a big fish here and there was OK with me as I had this ill-conceived notion that I'd always get another chance at a big fish some other time.

 

Well, time on the water (and life in general) has taught me that this is not the case and Any Missed opportunity is just that, missed.  It's hard enough to land a Super Beast when you think you've done everything right, but to start off the event under-gunned is like setting myself up for heart break - been there done that; but not any more.

 

At this point, I'd rather not get bit than to throw into a gnarly fish holding spot, hook a U-Boat and lose it - all because I was willing to jump out of the airplane with a parachute that I Knew wasn't going to open

20 % of the time.

 

But hey, that's just me.

 

A-Jay

[SirSnookalot]

20 more posts will yield 20 more opinions, bottom line is find your own niche.  As far as I'm concerned braid and spinning is the perfect marriage, braid on all my reels.  My heaviest bass set up is 7' med spinning rod with 15# braid, over the years I have found using a 20# leader works the best for me.  

I think one has to qualify their own objectives, if it's landing go heavier.  For me it's the strike, the fight and the fun, if I lose a fish I'm not bothered, I'm going to release it anyway.

[iceintheveins]

I use a minimum of 14 around heavy cover and on rare occasions 12.

[Raul]

Let me give you an example, I caught my PB at lake San Lorenzo, in between very thick patches of elodea, pulled an almost 14 pounder wrapped with what may have been another 15 lbs of elodea with 12 lb test nylon, elodea was thick but it's rippable, sliceable and in the extreme, uprootable. On the other hand at my everyday lake the thinnest line I would dare to use AROUND and let me say not very close mesquite trees and huizache/catnail brush is 8 lb copoly, if I'm going to fish IN the tree/brush branches then it's no less than 14lb for "lightly branched", woody cover of that nature is not even breakable. There are many ponds I fish, some are have heavy weeds ( san lorenzo style ) but in others there's tule and tule becomes in my mind as something similar to wood and it's fished with the same line test. BTW, Mr mesquite and Mrs Huizache say hi ! and tell that 30 lb braided line is what they use as dental floss.

[Jeff H]

"In" is a different situation for me than "around".  Depends on situation but, I have used as light as 6lb "around" heavy cover and I won't do that "in" heavy cover.  "In" gets much heavier line for sure!

[Tywithay]

I'll use my 8lb fluoro in the weeds if I have too. Strongest line I use is 15lb.

[Master Bait'r]

Sometimes it doesn't even matter.

[Raul]

Sometimes it doesn't even matter.

 

Pike or Pickerel ?

[Jeff H]

Pike or Pickerel ?

Or just a failed leader?  I have used some pretty thin wire for pike and never had one bite through it.  That looks like it just came apart.

[Darren.]

All my spinning gear is spooled with 10 lb braid. I tie a differing leader poundage depending on what I plan to fish in.

 

But I've fished in downed trees with limbs galore and both caught and lost big bass - 4 pounds and up.

 

I'll tie as heavy as 15 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid or P-Line Floroclear on now if I'm *planning* to specifically target these spots.

 

But even with heavy line, I've lost fish....so you win some, you lose some. With heavier line, I probably win more.

[BassinLou]

The heavy cover that I fish in can consist of pads, grass, sunken tree branches and rock. Sometimes all those variables are in just one location!  I throw 50lb braid for the most part depending on application.

[Mike L]

Simple choices...

15# floro on my plastics rod regardless of cover unless it looks like I can walk across the water. Then 65# braid.

Mike

[Master Bait'r]

Or just a failed leader? I have used some pretty thin wire for pike and never had one bite through it. That looks like it just came apart.

Fwiw you're both right. I had just lost a frog to a very large pickerel on heavy braid and tied that on... Frogged a bit more and she got slurped by what would likely have been my PB- when I set the hook it just blew up. If angry was a 10, I was easily 65,000 or so haha I could NOT win that day.