4 lb. line

[jimmyjoe]

    Let's say you're fishing for crappie. (I am.) And let's say you use 4 lb. mono line. (I do.) And let's say you change from an ultralight/moderate to a medium light/fast. (I did.) At 1/8-5/8, it's more powerful but it's also "deader", if you get me. It's rated 4-10 lb. line. I've always gone the really light lures route for crappie, but there are a lot of heavier lures out there that are supposed to work really well. I'd like to try them.  So how heavy a lure can I zing out there on 4 lb. line before I reach its limit? I'm not thinking so much about an ideal, one-time case; I'm thinking that as line is used and cast time and again, it gets some abrasion that weakens it. Then 19 casts go perfect, and the 20th goes, "SNAP!". (Oops!) I know 1/4 ounce is OK. How much further should I go? The reason I want to use 4 lb., btw, is that it pre-loads well and gives me better sensitivity, whereas heavier lines kinda "muffle the touch", and I fish crappie by touch, not sight.    Thnx.     jj

[Team9nine]

How much heavier are you wanting to go for crappie above 1/4-oz.? The line itself won't be an issue, as repeated casting has, at best, a negligible effect on line - else we'd all be breaking off lures on the cast eventually. You can wear down a knot with repeated catches, but unless you're trying to wing something crazy in weight for the 4lb. test, you shouldn't have much issue with a "crappie" bait.

[jimmyjoe]

    Let me tell you how this all started, and then you might see where I'm going. This last year, I was casting for crappie with a #3 Mepps Aglia, a fairly reliable crappie-getter. One of the guys I fish with was using a #5 Aglia, going for bass. He caught a crappie. No snag or anything; the crappie bit the hook. I must have looked incredulous, because he laughed and said, "Yeah, it happens sometimes. Crappie sometimes go for big lures, y'know." Well, no, I hadn't known they hit something THAT big. So we got to talking, and he said that there were slews of 3/8 crankbaits and spoons that are good crappie lures. (I think he said that because he knew that I love to use spoons.) So I got out some 1/3 and 3/8 oz. lures (ones that he thought might be productive for crappie) and put them on my smallmouth rod. It's a ML/F that had 8 lb. line on it at the time. I might have caught one or two crappie that morning, but the rest of the time was pure frustration. I'd think I got a hit, but .... no fish. I thought I could feel what was going on, but .... nope. Dead feel. So I took the reel with 4 lb. line off my ultralight, and put it on the medium light. Heck, yeah! Now I could feel what was happening, and I started to hook crappie again. But that day, I threw two lures away because the line snapped. I can't remember both, but one was a 3/8 oz. silver spoon. I noticed that the 4 lb. line gave me a LOT better feel with that (or any other) spoon compared to the 8 lb. line. Later I tried 6 lb. line, and I had some luck, but could still feel the lure better with 4 lb. line. So I figured  would use 4 lb. for as much as I could, only moving up to 6 or 8 when I absolutely HAD to. I know that this rod is a lot different than the ultralight I was using, and stresses the line more. But if I can feel what's going on, I can hook fish better with this rod than the ultralight. Faster reaction time on my part, I guess. I want to use 4 lb. with 1/3 ounce Cleo spoons for sure, and 5/16 Bomber A4 crankbaits, too. But I don't have any idea how much further I can push it, and whether the stress I'd put on the 4 lb. line increased the chances of it snapping like it did. I feel comfortable predicting how 8, 10 or 12 lb. line is going to act. I am far less confident when talking about 4 lb. line. Now you, Team9nine, said "... unless you're trying to wing something crazy in weight for 4 lb. line ... "  What's a crazy weight? Where should I stop? From what I've always seen, crappie in fall hit a bigger set of lures than crappie in spring. They all taste great, though!    jj

[Bluebasser86]

Have you considered trying a thin braid? A lot of crappie guys around here use light braided lines because they're thin and have great sensitivity but also strong enough to straighten out a lot of crappie hooks so they don't lose as many baits in the brush. 

[Team9nine]

Bluebasser has a good option above. Something like 6# Fireline will deliver great feel, yet have the strength to throw small cranks and such all day, and handle large fish. If you choose to stay with a monofilament, I'd probably either select a thick 4# line like Trilene XT or P*line CXX, or a thin 6# line like XL or any of the fluorocarbons. 

[Crestliner2008]

I agree with the Fireline recommended above (with a fluorocarbon leader). Are you trying to select a set-up specifically for use with heavier baits, or are you trying to select a rig to handle ALL your crappie needs, including the bigger baits? I think the later option is not realistic and will limit your catches. You should have a couple of "regular" (light to UL) rigs for the everyday, bread & butter crappie presentations. And then one heavier (ML) rig for when you want to see if they are eating "big".

 

The light rigs have been talked about here many times already, so I'll focus on the heavier baits that you want to throw. First off, I hope you do know that even though you can/will catch crappie on the larger baits, that is not a "high percentage" presentation. You are not going to go out there with a 3/8 - 1/2 oz. presentation and catch as many as you will on the more finesse set-ups. That's just the way it is.

 

The same is true of LM bass fishing with big swimbaits. Your catch will tend to larger, but less numerous than with the more conventional presentations. Now I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for saying that, but it's just the nature of the beast. Big does equal big results - occaisionally. But certainly not regularly. I caught a big 2+ lb. crappie one time on a 3/4 oz. Rattletrap, while casting a rip rap for bass. Would I go out specifically to do that again just for crappie? No. JMO!

[jimmyjoe]

   

5 hours ago, Crestliner2008 said:

I hope you do know that even though you can/will catch crappie on the larger baits, that is not a "high percentage" presentation.

    Yeah, I'm starting to see that. Because I eat crappie, I was hooked on the idea of bigger fish. I think I'm going to play it cautious: I'm going to go a little bigger, but try out several low-diameter mono lines for feel and pre-load. I won't use superlines. I fought those for 5 years, and gave up. I'm now monofilament only. Got some Magnathin, some AN40, and am looking for P-line PF. I never saw it before, but my nephew who fishes the Florida swears by it. And I'm going to go the traditional fisherman's route, also. I'm gonna get a new rod; L/Mod if I can. That will give me enough leeway to sorta ease into this bigger size bracket of lures. I'll give you a little background: when I first was taught to fish for crappie, about 1963, I was taught by a fly fisherman. His idea was that you never have to use anything that a fly rod won't handle. I got away from fly fishing, and went on to bigger fish. When I developed arthritis about 15 years ago, I had to go back to an ultralight to stay in the fishing game. (Less torque and stress.) I automatically, without even thinking, used ultralight lures for crappie. It was an attitude that was just ingrained. Now I have a chance to get out of that mental mindset. 2018 might be interesting! Thnx.   jj

[Bluebasser86]

I don't crappie fish often, and I don't eat them, but if I can find some bigger ones I'll fish for them. One of my most productive baits has been a 3" Berkley power minnow on a 1/16oz jighead. It gives you that bigger profile, without adding a ton of weight, and it still falls pretty quickly because there's not much to provide any drag to slow the fall. It's been pretty productive for me.

[jimmyjoe]

    Nice fish!  It's odd to me to hear you describe the fall. Back in the day, I'd use 1/100th oz. jigs with marabou and tinsel to deliberately give a SLOW fall. That was with a fly rod, of course. I have no idea why we were so caught up in the "slow fall" idea, but we were. Nowadays, I cast little spoons and occasionally get hit on the drop. I count the seconds, and consider it an accurate estimation of depth of the school. One of the reasons I use spoons is that the two lakes that are my favorite crappie spots require long casts. Both of then have points covered in habitat that go out quite a ways. Yeah, I know, I know; I should buy a boat. Little birdie says, "Cheap, Cheap!". jj 

[Bankbeater]

I use to crappie fish with 4 pound mono, but after I discovered that catfish like crappie spinners, I changed over to 6 pound line. 

[Florida Cracker2]

I use 4lb. with larger lures without issues. I prefer 6lb. because bass and catfish often hit where I fish for crappie (called specks here). I once tried 2lb. but the line would break if you casted too hard. I'ts been years since I seen 2lb. test in the stores. But then again...I haven't looked hard.

 

Caught this with 4lb. test with speck jig. Never know what will hit.

[islandbass]

Good advice so far. But how often do you check the condition of your line and more importantly, the knot? For me, when I use 4# mono, I go out of my way to check these two things more often usual. The main reason is 4# is on the really light side so after the knot is tied (and assuming the line is rated a true 4#) you will be at < 4# out the gate. 

 

The only reasons a line will break after 20 casts or so is because something weakened the line or the knot and casting, if done soundly with proper mechanics, would most likely not be the culprit  for line breaking. 

 

I think using braid is a decent solution. 

[Dwight Hottle]

11 minutes ago, islandbass said:

Good advice so far. But how often do you check the condition of your line and more importantly, the knot? For me, when I use 4# mono, I go out of my way to check these two things more often usual. The main reason is 4# is on the really light side so after the knot is tied (and assuming the line is rated a true 4#) you will be at < 4# out the gate. 

 

The only reasons a line will break after 20 casts or so is because something weakened the line or the knot and casting, if done soundly with proper mechanics, would most likely not be the culprit  for line breaking. 

 

I think using braid is a decent solution. 

 

I agree you have to determine what lb test you want to use that gives you an advantage without any negatives. Not all 4lb test is equal. Some breaks at 4lbs, some at 6lb & some at 8lb. Once you know what diameter works you need to shop by diameter not pound breakage. As already mentioned braid will give you the right diameter but will inherently be stronger regarding breakage.