Fishing line

[William Snee]

I use 14 lb. test Stren on my reels. The places I fish have muddy bottoms with a few snags,logs,etc. Just wondering if 14 lb. test is too much or should I go smaller?  All advice is appreciated.

[Nitrofreak]

14lb. test is fine for what your doing, if you seem to be getting snagged a lot it could be the way you rig, you leave a lot of room for discussions with what may be happening however, for example, we don't know what technique your using, if it is a Texas rig, the bait may be grabbing on to something and causing the hook to become exposed, like a ribbon tail worm, the tail on those will wrap around twigs or snag on a splintered parts of the log, the weight you are using may be too heavy for what you are attempting to try, soft bottom is like a vacuum for heavier weights.

One example of a fix for your situation may be to rig a weedless tube style bait, if you would, a few more specifics would be helpful so that we can give you the best advise possible.

[avidone1]

Seems fine to me

[Tmmytomato]

Nitrofreak has given you some good starting suggestions. My very first thought was your weight is too heavy. Have you thrown many weightless stick baits (Senko types) and weightless flukes?

[uhhhmike]

I base my line weight on a few different factors- the clarity of the water, the type of lure I am fishing, and the amount of cover in the area.

I generally try to use the lightest line possible to reduce the possibility of my line spooking the fish.

I believe that in dirtier water it doesn't matter as much in clearer water. In high vis water i typically fish 6-10 pound flouro for texas rigs or finesse baits. If I'm throwing jigs or spinners ill generally throw 20 lb flouro in high vis, or 30-50 lb braid in muddy water or around heavy cover. 14-20 pound flouro also works well when I'm throwing cranks as it helps bring my lure down deeper in the water column. 

Overall I try to keep multiple different setups with me at all times.

I'm fairly new to the world of bass fishing, so I'm not sure if this is what you are "supposed" to do, but it has been pretty productive for me!

Hope this helps!