I need a FC recommendation

[Rhino68W]

I just got a Manley rod for Texas rigs. It has micro guides (sort of) and I don't want to mess with braid and a leader since many many people say it gets clipped by the small guides a lot.

That leave me the option of going mostly Fluorocarbon on this rod/reel. I am thinking 12# to cover my bases but could I get by with 10# or even 8#? 

Also, feel free to recommend a preferred brand. And do you use a lot of Mono backing to save some $$$?

[fishnkamp]

First I use Power Pro Spectra and Suffix 832 and P Line CXX 10 pound moss green for leaders on rods with micro guides.  I tie them together with a double uni knot and have no problem.  The knot is small and goes right through if you cut the ends close. Also the FG knot is a pretty nice knot also. Watch these three videos. 

 

 

 Now if you still want to go with a fluoro look at using P Line FloroClear in about 12 pound test. It is a copolymer line coated with fluorocarbon. For a true fluoro try P LIne Halo in 12 or 14 pound test. You will need to use some line conditioner with it but it is super strong. My buddies using it love it but only use up to 8 pound on a 3000 size spinning reel, and up to 17 pound test on baitcasters. When they use it on spinning reels they spool it on the reel's spool and drop the spool in hot water for a few minutes.  And again use line conditioner, but by doing so they have no worries about fishing docks, rocks, around metal, rebar, and they usually end up catching a few snakeheads while bass fishing on the Potomac river as well. The stuff holds up well, and casts well if maintained. Personally I have not fished it much. I prefer the braid/ leader system.  

[Rhino68W]

Thanks for all of that information man! I might try the leader first and see what happens. The reel is currently spooled with 50# braid but it's time to replace the line anyways. But I will try the FG Knot this weekend before I go straight FC

[fishnkamp]

Unless the braid is in bad condition fish it. Go get some P Line CXX moss green in 10 pound test. I use it because it is the diameter of most 12 to 14 pound test. It is a bit on the stiff side but not too stiff and it breaks at over 20 pounds.  For some reason the moss green breaks higher than other of their lines. It is much more abrasion resistant than most mono or copoly lines sort alike Trilene Xt is compared to XL.  That line has worked really well for me. I got turned on to it by a guide name Craig Powers, he is a winner of some FLW events and we spent two amazing days fishing with him in Tennessee. It was like BASS 101 class.

If you do change your line consider Power Pro Spectra,  or Suffix 832 braid. I had tried some Spiderwire years ago and ended up throwing it away. Most recently a friend had me fish one of his rods and it changed my mind. I now have Spiderwire Stealth braid on two of my rods. It fishes well and I like the coating on it.  I would spool up 30 to 50 test depending on what you want to fish in. Open clear water I go to thrity if heavy lily pads and rough cover than 50 # works.  I still would try the line on there first.  One other thing, and you may already know this but I have a procedure I always do to fill any reel of mine.

I always fill my reel half full of either Stren Original Clear Blue or Bass Pro Shops Excel mono. I always use 14 pound test and spool it tight. The mono allows me to get a real good tight arbor knot so no line slippage on the reel and it lays on nice and even. Now when I spool up the braid it can not dig in and I only need half as much. If god forbid I had one of those incidents that Bill Dance said " you might want to trade that one in" then it cost much less to refill. I but either a 300 yard spool of Stren for around $8.00 or $11.00 for a 1200 yd spool of Excel.  That means the first one half of the reel cost less than 3 cents a foot to fill and a 150 yard spool of Power Pro Spectra will fill two reels for $15.00 It works out to be about $10.00 per reel so it is more economical that way. I use the same uni to uni knot here as well.  If you do not own a line spooling station I highly recommend spending $20 for a Berkley line station. I have been using one for over 10 years and it makes it easy to fill a reel nice and even since both the line spool and the reel are held still and the line and line spool are kept under tension.  Look here but it is available at BPS as well.

 http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/fishing-line/line-winders-strippers-tools|/pc/104793480/c/104719680/sc/103939380/berkley-reg-line-winder/1729189.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fline-winders-strippers-tools%2F_%2FN-1100388%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103939380

[J Francho]

Tie direct with braid, or use something durable, like P-Line CXX.  I much prefer the strength over any "perceived" gains in sensitivity.  Those Manley rods are pretty nice, and should be sensitive anyway.

[roadwarrior]

Tatsu #12

 

[fishnkamp]

i just went out to their site. I just realized you were speaking of a brand of rod lol  Those guides are great, they are not micro guides the are MicroWave guides. Doug Hannon designed them to help capture and eliminate line twist and slap on the rod as it goes out thru the first guide. I have a friend that does custom rod work and loves them. He has used them on about 50 rods already.  Good Luck and please let us know what you think of the rod after you get to use it for a while. I am sure I am not the only member on this site that was not familiar with the brand.  I would love to try their 6'9"  to 7'3"medium spinning rod for Sencos, drop shotting, and shakey heads but i would be leary since I have never heard anyone using them.

[WRB]

1. Turn around the old braid and try the leader using 12lb mono.

2.  Keep the old braid as filler, it's light weight and makes a perfect backing line.

3. Start with Sunline Super Sniper 12 lb FC before moving onto the very expensive Tatsu or Toray FC lines, I use Sunline FC refuse to pay $$$$ for very marginal improvement in knot strength.

Tom

[MassYak85]

21 minutes ago, WRB said:

 

3. Start with Sunline Super Sniper 12 lb FC before moving onto the very expensive Tatsu or Toray FC lines, I use Sunline FC refuse to pay $$$$ for very marginal improvement in knot strength.

Tom

x2 on Sniper

Also x2 on the FG knot if you want to try a leader. It should go through your microguides easily. 

[Big Bait Fishing]

the guides they use on those rods are not that small as you should not have a problem passing a line connection knot . if they had true micro guides ( 2,3 , or 4 mm ) you would have to use a main line or a slim knot , even a uni-to-uni knot should pass fine with the microwave guides ..

[Turkey sandwich]

Post a review on the Rod, if you can.  I've seen a lot posted about them on Facebook in the PA smallmouth and kayak groups and they seem to be getting good reviews.  As for line, even my microguides rods run braid to leader and good, slim connection knots remove most problems and provide tons of benefits.  Quality braid will likely last 2-3 seasons, and sometimes you can find sales on 832 or Powerpro, making it crazy affordable.  I'm also on board with using lines like Hybrid or CXX for leader around snaggy cover and rocks because they're nearly indestructible. 

[Rhino68W]

2 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

i just went out to their site. I just realized you were speaking of a brand of rod lol  Those guides are great, they are not micro guides the are MicroWave guides. Doug Hannon designed them to help capture and eliminate line twist and slap on the rod as it goes out thru the first guide. I have a friend that does custom rod work and loves them. He has used them on about 50 rods already.  Good Luck and please let us know what you think of the rod after you get to use it for a while. I am sure I am not the only member on this site that was not familiar with the brand.  I would love to try their 6'9"  to 7'3"medium spinning rod for Sencos, drop shotting, and shakey heads but i would be leary since I have never heard anyone using them.

I used a 60% promo code and couldn't pass up on one for $80 shipped. Too good of a deal lol. 

I will let you know how it goes after a few outings with it! 

 

Also, I decided to try out the FG knot with some 12#FC I normally use for Leaders. It is Sunline Super Sniper 12#FC as some mentioned here. 

[NoahWatts]

Sunline sniper for casting and pitching, Sunline Shooter for flipping

[thebillsman]

10-12lb InvizX.

[clh121787]

Tatsu>sniper =trilene 100 % Im not braid to leader type dude. Is it a spinning or casting set up

[d-camarena]

Ill take some avocados please

[Mike L]

On 8/26/2016 at 0:40 PM, WRB said:

1. Turn around the old braid and try the leader using 12lb mono.

2.  Keep the old braid as filler, it's light weight and makes a perfect backing line.

3. Start with Sunline Super Sniper 12 lb FC before moving onto the very expensive Tatsu or Toray FC lines, I use Sunline FC refuse to pay $$$$ for very marginal improvement in knot strength.

Tom

Ditto 

 

 

Mike 

[new2BC4bass]

I've been using the Alberto Knot when I splice lines.  The FG Knot is thinner and looks to be a lot easier to tie.  Never seen it before.  Thanks for posting the videos.  Otherwise I probably still would never have seen it because I have been very satisfied with the Alberto Knot and couldn't imagine any thinner or stronger knot.  This will be my go to knot for splicing from now on.  Thanks.

[fishnkamp]

That is okay, I only saw it because someone else on this forum shared it a few weeks ago.  This is what makes Bass Resources the great place it is.  Lots of members willing to help other members. 

[Janderson45]

I have a st Cruz avid with micro guides, it's got a Shimano reel spooled up with straight Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon.  Love the line.  Mine has 14lb test, have also used and would highly recommend their 12lb test line and 7lb test line.  Haven't used other sizes but I'm sure they're very nice as well...

its all personal preference, obviously as others have demonstrated here you still have the ability to use some sort of braided super line along with a leader.  I do that all the time on other setups that I own, just not this specific rod with micro guides.  I may experiment with it in the future, but for now I'm loving the straight Sunline sniper.  

[WPCfishing]

Braid with a leader...

[.ghoti.]

11 hours ago, WPCfishing said:

Braid with a leader...

Do i really have to start with the avocados again?

[Glenn]

Well since you asked about fluorocarbon, I suggest 15lb Invizx for an all-around, general purpose fluorocarbon line.  I don't use leaders...on anything.  But for backing, I use cheap mono or braid, then use a blood knot to join them.

Hope that helps!

12 hours ago, WPCfishing said:

Braid with a leader...

 

[Felix77]

For FC I use 15lb Invizx as well.   I have it backed with old braid.  Use an alberto knot to tie the two together.  Why alberto.   It's what I use for my leaders so it gives me practice tying it one more time.   You can get away with a simple uni-uni.