Line for soft plastics

[livemusic]

I wanted a high vis braid line for weightless soft plastic (fluke, etc.) and bought 40 lb Spiderwire Stealth Glow-vis (braid). I like it a lot. Easy to see and lays flat after a cast. Fishing with high winds, got all my backlashes out, lol.

Do you have a favorite line for soft plastics? Do you think you should use "at least" a certain pound test for fishing heavy cover?

I am also considering using a FC leader so the fluke will sink better. Any thoughts on that, as well?

[BrianinMD]

This is all personal preference but i prefer straight flouro. Not a big fan of braids lack of slack line sensitivity, the density of flouro provides better slack line bite detection. 

Fishing heavy cover i generally dont go below 17lb, mostly fish 20lb. 

Anytime i do fish braid, except frogging, I use a leader. Its debatable whether seeing braid makes the fish bite shy but for slower presentations i am not taking the chance. 

[Kevin22]

12-15 fluoro for open water to light/moderate weeds. When in the big weed patches or any kind of wood i use braid. 30 if i have it, if not then i will tie a plastic on a jig rod with 50-65.

[Mike L]

For soft plastic bottom contact presentation's in light to medium cover I use 16# Sniper..

After that it's straight braid. I don't use a leader at all for anything. Don't see the need. 

 

Mike 

[PennBass]

Maybe because of my limited budget, I've always used mono for plastics. Even though I can't feel strikes as well, I'm able to detect most of my strikes by watching my line. 

I've used braid before, but I found that because of its non-stretch characteristic, I often rip the hook out of the fish's mouth. Mono on the other hand gives a lot more room for error and my hookups have been fantastic. 

[ww2farmer]

15 hours ago, livemusic said:

?

I am also considering using a FC leader so the fluke will sink better. Any thoughts on that, as well?

It will help. I have fished fluke style baits with braid and a fluorocarbon leader for many years now and like a little weight on the hook instead of "asking" the sender fluoro. leader to help pull the bait down. A small split shot crimped on the shank of the hook works great...up near the nose if you want the fluke to fall in a nose slightly down position, or back near the bend for a more horizontal fall. 

Other options that I like include:

#1: just use a heavy wire hook, sometimes just the extra weight of the heavier hook is all that's needed for conditions

#2 : use a hook with the weight already pre-molded to the shaft. I really like the VMC "Drop dead" hooks, and they are about the only thing I use for fluke style baits anymore.

#3 : I am a big fan of the alberto knot for joining fluoro to braid, but sometimes with a fluke, I will NOT use this not, and substitute a small swivel. The swivel adds weight and helps keep the bait down. I shortern my leaders up when I do this, so I am not constantly reeling the swivel through the tip guide

#4: Buy a fluke style bait that has a denser salt content. I gave up on Zoom because they are TOO buoyant, I tried several other denser baits, and liked them a lot better. The GYCB D-shad was one, the SK Caffeine Shad was another, and my personal favorite bait of this style is from Havoc called "the jerk". It's denser than the Zoom baits, but not soo salt laden like the SK and GYCB....which IMHO made those two, very fragile.

[Mike L]

10 hours ago, ww2farmer said:

It will help. I have fished fluke style baits with braid and a fluorocarbon leader for many years now and like a little weight on the hook instead of "asking" the sender fluoro. leader to help pull the bait down. A small split shot crimped on the shank of the hook works great...up near the nose if you want the fluke to fall in a nose slightly down position, or back near the bend for a more horizontal fall. 

Other options that I like include:

#1: just use a heavy wire hook, sometimes just the extra weight of the heavier hook is all that's needed for conditions

#2 : use a hook with the weight already pre-molded to the shaft. I really like the VMC "Drop dead" hooks, and they are about the only thing I use for fluke style baits anymore.

#3 : I am a big fan of the alberto knot for joining fluoro to braid, but sometimes with a fluke, I will NOT use this not, and substitute a small swivel. The swivel adds weight and helps keep the bait down. I shortern my leaders up when I do this, so I am not constantly reeling the swivel through the tip guide

#4: Buy a fluke style bait that has a denser salt content. I gave up on Zoom because they are TOO buoyant, I tried several other denser baits, and liked them a lot better. The GYCB D-shad was one, the SK Caffeine Shad was another, and my personal favorite bait of this style is from Havoc called "the jerk". It's denser than the Zoom baits, but not soo salt laden like the SK and GYCB....which IMHO made those two, very fragile.

All excellent options!

Another good option is to use a nail weight in a Fluke to get it down.

 

Mike 

[Turkey sandwich]

On March 1, 2016 at 11:50 PM, ww2farmer said:

It will help. I have fished fluke style baits with braid and a fluorocarbon leader for many years now and like a little weight on the hook instead of "asking" the sender fluoro. leader to help pull the bait down. A small split shot crimped on the shank of the hook works great...up near the nose if you want the fluke to fall in a nose slightly down position, or back near the bend for a more horizontal fall. 

Other options that I like include:

#1: just use a heavy wire hook, sometimes just the extra weight of the heavier hook is all that's needed for conditions

#2 : use a hook with the weight already pre-molded to the shaft. I really like the VMC "Drop dead" hooks, and they are about the only thing I use for fluke style baits anymore.

#3 : I am a big fan of the alberto knot for joining fluoro to braid, but sometimes with a fluke, I will NOT use this not, and substitute a small swivel. The swivel adds weight and helps keep the bait down. I shortern my leaders up when I do this, so I am not constantly reeling the swivel through the tip guide

#4: Buy a fluke style bait that has a denser salt content. I gave up on Zoom because they are TOO buoyant, I tried several other denser baits, and liked them a lot better. The GYCB D-shad was one, the SK Caffeine Shad was another, and my personal favorite bait of this style is from Havoc called "the jerk". It's denser than the Zoom baits, but not soo salt laden like the SK and GYCB....which IMHO made those two, very fragile.

 

I really like this idea for hitting different depths in the water column.  I've never used a small swivel to slow sink or fish middle column.  I like this.  Do you fish it that way typically above submerged weeds?  Does the swivel collect weeds/slime?