Need help deciding best line for possible baitcaster.

[Ace]

Hello, I'm thinking about getting a  Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier Baitcast Reel and what was wondering what would be best for it. I have two other rods and reels and one has 8LB mono, and the other has 12LB Mono, so anything above that for this one please. I mainly fish bass. But I do like to fish for carp.

[RMcDuffee726]

14 lb flouro

[BassnChris]

I use 20# super cast on all my reels and tie on a fluro leader.

all my reels are the BPS pro qualifiers.

[MassYak85]

Personally if I could only have one rod and reel and could only use one line, it would be 40lb braid and I would just tie leaders on as needed. But 12 or 14lb copoly would probably be my second choice. I would hesitate using straight fluoro if it is your only setup since it sinks and can mess up the action on topwaters. 

[thebillsman]

What techniques do you plan on using?

[CNYBassin]

That's tough to answer without knowing what specifically you're going to use the setup for. 

I don't personally like Copolymer lines. Some people do, I don't care for it. So I would recommend 100% fluorocarbon or braided line. It just depends on what techniques you're going to be using that rod for. You could always go with like 40lb power pro, and tie in a leader if necessary. 

[IamNewbie]

I'd go for a 15-20lb Fluro personally. Good all around line, have never had a toothy fish bite it off and I tear from snags easily.

[Caliyak]

30 or 40lb braid 

[Advantage]

10 hours ago, Ace said:

Hello, I'm thinking about getting a  Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier Baitcast Reel and what was wondering what would be best for it. I have two other rods and reels and one has 8LB mono, and the other has 12LB Mono, so anything above that for this one please. I mainly fish bass. But I do like to fish for carp.

What rod are you paring it to? And what lures/techniques/presentations are you planning on using it for?

[new2BC4bass]

I use a lot of 8# mono or co-polymers on Medium power rods and 12# on MH rods.  Versatile lines, IMHO.  I do use 40# braid when casting into heavy weeds, lilies, etc.  Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Mono, Izorline XXX, Silver Thread AN40 or Excalibur, McCoy Mean Green, Yo-Zuri and Sunline Super Natural are just a few good options.

[Ace]

10 hours ago, CNYBassin said:

That's tough to answer without knowing what specifically you're going to use the setup for. 

I don't personally like Copolymer lines. Some people do, I don't care for it. So I would recommend 100% fluorocarbon or braided line. It just depends on what techniques you're going to be using that rod for. You could always go with like 40lb power pro, and tie in a leader if necessary. 

I mainly go for weightless Texas rigged soft baits, spinnerbaits, and the occasional swimbait. I fish mainly ponds and muddy rivers aswell. Thanks so much for all the help guys.

4 hours ago, Advantage said:

What rod are you paring it to? And what lures/techniques/presentations are you planning on using it for?

I'm having a hard time deciding, for what rod to pair it with, but I'm going for a heavy rod though. Do you think an Abu Garcia 2.0 would go well? And I mainly fish weightless texas rigged soft baits and spinnerbaits.

8 hours ago, Caliyak said:

30 or 40lb braid 

That's what I was thinking too. Do I need to tie it on too anything? I'm new to baitcasting. And all my spinning rods use 1 type of line aswell.

1 hour ago, new2BC4bass said:

I use a lot of 8# mono or co-polymers on Medium power rods and 12# on MH rods.  Versatile lines, IMHO.  I do use 40# braid when casting into heavy weeds, lilies, etc.  Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Mono, Izorline XXX, Silver Thread AN40 or Excalibur, McCoy Mean Green, Yo-Zuri and Sunline Super Natural are just a few good options.

What I fish is heavy weeds, and rocky surfaces would somewhere along 30-40 work well with texas rigged softbaits and spinnerbaits and also what type?

9 hours ago, IamNewbie said:

I'd go for a 15-20lb Fluro personally. Good all around line, have never had a toothy fish bite it off and I tear from snags easily.

When I catch toothy fish I normally retie my baits. But thank you for the suggestion.

[Ace]

12 hours ago, thebillsman said:

What techniques do you plan on using?

Well somewhat quickly dragging the texas rigged softbaits through the water and reeling in the spinnerbaits quickly and recasting as possible quickly as I can to get the fish atttention. Sorry if I wasn't specific about this I'm still new to fishing like this.

[Jaderose]

30 lb braid with 12lb Flouro leader

[new2BC4bass]

Rocks and braid don't go together very well.  30#-40# braid is ok except use a leader with it when bottom fishing in rocky areas.  Best leader would be line designated to be used as a leader.  Leader material comes in very small spools.  Straight fluoro should also work.  Just be aware that if you have to break the line from a snag, you will have to cut several more feet of line off.  At lest that has been my severely limited experience.  Lots of people like fluoro.  I've got it on only one or two reels.  Personally I prefer a good mono or co-polymer, but that is only my opinion.

EDIT:  Also I wouldn't fill the spool with fluoro.  Too expensive.  If the reel holds 120 yards of 12# mono (common amount), fill a bit less than half way with a cheap mono and top off with the fluoro.

[thebillsman]

I would recommend flouro for bottom contact baits and spinners. I like InvizX in 10 and 12lb.

[MRBAMA57]

It would all depend on lures and techniques you want to use.  For example crankbaits would be more effective in their particular depth range with 10 to 14 lb test.  For general bass fishing with soft plastics like worms and lizards I use 17 to 20 lb line.  For heavy cover I will go with 35 to 64 lib braid. Lots of variables to consider and I myself am still learning.  

[Fishinthefish]

If I had to only fish one line for the rest of my life it would be braid, and I would tie on leaders as nessicary

[timsford]

 Cf rIf you are trying to throw weightless worms, then a heavy powered a u rod is going to be way too stiff to load and cast well. Their rods are stiffer than most and a mh abu feels like most makers heavy power. For line I'd look at 14-17 lb mono, copoly, or fluoro. If you fish around a lot of weeds then 40 lb braids would be my pick

[Caliyak]

6 hours ago, Ace said:

 

That's what I was thinking too. Do I need to tie it on too anything? I'm new to baitcasting. And all my spinning rods use 1 type of line aswell.

 

You have to start the reel with mono, a backing of mono. This is very important to prevent the braid from slipping and to save you money on buying braid. You can add hundred yards of mono and one hundred yards of braid. The 300 yard spool will last you longer.

[CNYBassin]

Yes, absolutely make sure you use monofilament backing with braided line. It doesn't have to be anything special. Some regular old stren original will do you fine. Just try to keep the diameters close to the same, because it's easier to tie your junction knot with similar diameter lines. Not only will this prevent line slip but it will save you money on spool ups with braid. There's zero reason to fill up a reel with 150 yards of braid. You're never gonna use it all, and half of it will never even get wet. Put on 50 yards of mono, and fill it the rest of the way up with braid. That gives you roughly 2 long casts worth of braid. That's more than enough line to work with, and you'll have cushion should you hook into a bigger fish incidentally. This is pretty much exactly what I do. Now, instead of only filling up 1 reel with that 150 yard filler spool of braid, you can fill 2, possibly 3, depending on how stingy you wanna be. 

It'll save you quite a bit of money in the long run. There's no reason to fill a spool up entirely with braid. You're never gonna get run down to the backing with 40 or 50lb line, lol. If you don't want to go the backing route, another solution is wrapping the spool with electrical tape. Just one full wrap is all that's needed. Braid is pretty slick stuff, and it doesn't dig into itself like regular line will. It will dig into the electrical tape or the mono backing, and work like a charm. And don't worry about the junction knot. It will bury itself fine in the spool, and it won't cause any issues with casting or cause a backlash or anything like that. Just make sure when you spool the line onto the baitcaster, you're doing it under a fair amount of tension, and you want the line coming off the top of the filler spool, and onto the reel. 

Good braid will last you multiple seasons. At the end of the season, you can take all the braid off the reel, and then turn it around and reel it back on in reverse, so you can make use of the fresh braid that's been buried in the reel. I do this all the time with some braids that fade quickly.

PS: If you're looking for an all-purpose rod, I'd recommend going with a medium-heavy over a heavy power rod. Something in the 7 to 7'6 range. 7'3 would be pretty ideal. Fast or mod-fast action probably. 

[Bankbeater]

I would use Fluoro, Mono, or Copoly in the 15 to 17 pound range.