TOPWATER COMBO

[artdav]

Trying to put together a Top Water Combo. Is 12 or 15 pound mono a good choice for top water, when pair with a 6'4 MED MF rod?? Mainly throwing Poppers, Pop-R, and Spook JR'S. Any advice or opinions are welcomed. Thanks Guys

[Deleted account]

 

1 hour ago, artdav said:

Trying to put together a Top Water Combo. Is 12 or 15 pound mono a good choice for top water, when pair with a 6'4 MED MF rod?? Mainly throwing Poppers, Pop-R, and Spook JR'S. Any advice or opinions are welcomed. Thanks Guys

I like 12 for poppers and 15 for spooks. The rod sounds good.

[artdav]

13 hours ago, reason said:

 

I like 12 for poppers and 15 for spooks. The rod sounds good.

thanks

[RB 77]

I use 12 and 15 primarily and 20 for bigger stuff. With the baits you listed the 12 would probably work the best for optimum casting distance. Heavier baits could get the 15 pound just fine.

[papajoe222]

Welcome to BR.

You could base line choice on the size of the hooks of the bait you’re using. Let me explain. Small, thin wire hooks don’t require a lot of force to penetrate, while larger, thicker hooks do. An easy solution would be to use heavier line for lures with thicker hooks and lighter line for smaller/ thinner hooks. That’s a good solution if you happen to have two or three combos to dedicate to top water applications. 

If not, you can do one of two things. Either adjust your hookset, or go with heavier line for all situations. I recommend the latter because being startled by a fish blowing up on your lure tends to distract you from thinking about how you should set the hook.

In short, go with the 15lb. line. Oh, don’t forget to wait until you feel the fish, or see your line moving off before setting the hook ?

[artdav]

21 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Welcome to BR.

You could base line choice on the size of the hooks of the bait you’re using. Let me explain. Small, thin wire hooks don’t require a lot of force to penetrate, while larger, thicker hooks do. An easy solution would be to use heavier line for lures with thicker hooks and lighter line for smaller/ thinner hooks. That’s a good solution if you happen to have two or three combos to dedicate to top water applications. 

If not, you can do one of two things. Either adjust your hookset, or go with heavier line for all situations. I recommend the latter because being startled by a fish blowing up on your lure tends to distract you from thinking about how you should set the hook.

In short, go with the 15lb. line. Oh, don’t forget to wait until you feel the fish, or see your line moving off before setting the hook ?

thank you.....the only lures im going to use on this rod are spook jr's and poppers.

[J Francho]

I use Tuf-Line Supercast in 25# for topwaters.  It's zero stretch, has a mono core, and floats.  It's pretty much the ideal topwater line.

[artdav]

1 hour ago, RB 77 said:

I use 12 and 15 primarily and 20 for bigger stuff. With the baits you listed the 12 would probably work the best for optimum casting distance. Heavier baits could get the 15 pound just fine.

im guessing the spook jr's are between 1/8 or 1/4 weight, so i hope 12lb line will work

[J Francho]

Super Spook Jr. is 1/2 oz.

[Junger]

53 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I use Tuf-Line Supercast in 25# for topwaters.  It's zero stretch, has a mono core, and floats.  It's pretty much the ideal topwater line.

Does the mono core make it stay "straight" near the lure tie so reduce the chance of hooks snagging on the line?

[J Francho]

It behaves a lot like mono, but without the stretch or memory.  It's nothing like a conventional braid. 

[RB 77]

3 hours ago, artdav said:

im guessing the spook jr's are between 1/8 or 1/4 weight, so i hope 12lb line will work

 

The Spook Jr. is the one bait you mentioned that would actually warrant the 15 lb. For the Poppers I would prefer the 12 lb. If your only going to spool one size line, I would go with the lighter size for the casting advantage as the 12 lb will be just fine strength wise.

[ChrisD46]

23 hours ago, reason said:

 

I like 12 for poppers and 15 for spooks. The rod sounds good.

*#30 lb. braid mainline would be good for both poppers and spooks - then all you would have to do is swap out the leader (#12 for poppers & #15 for spook jr. ) ... Just food for thought .

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

*#30 lb. braid mainline would be good for both poppers and spooks - then all you would have to do is swap out the leader (#12 for poppers & #15 for spook jr. ) ... Just food for thought .

Yes, that would work for someone starting out. Some us old guys have too much muscle memory to make that work without relearning the motions, specially with poppers, where less is more.