Bank trip + line review (Updated)

[Team9nine]

Made a short trip to a 4.5 acre lake this afternoon chasing green fish. When I walked up to the bank, I saw a lot of crawdad holes. Additionally, the bottom looked mostly sandy/clay with some nice scattered weed growth that looked to end fairly close to shore. I figured the active bass would likely be within 20 ft of the weedline, so I tied on a 3/32-oz mushroom head jig and tipped it with a green-pumpkin/red AirRig. It was a good call, as the area outside the weeds was clean, and I slowly worked my way along the bank, pitching outside the weed edge to deeper water and working the bait back to the weedline. Managed 16 bass doing that at the halfway point. Instead of going the rest of the way around the lake, I doubled back on the half I had already worked, primarily because the light breeze that existed was blowing toward and along that shore I had just worked, usually a good thing in small bodies of water.

 

Switched baits up to a finesse worm to work into the weeds and moss a little more on the way back, and scored 20 more bass doing that for a total of 36 to hand. Not a bad day for about 2.5 hours of work

 

 

 

 

 

I just had the one spinning rod with today (like always), and had recently spooled on a new braid I wanted to try. Yoz-Ami G-soul SS 112. It is an 8 carrier braid, with 4 strands of typical superline along with 4 strands of esther PE to give it a density of 1.12, heavier than water and as such, a sinking braid. The positives noted on this first trip were I like the color, it casts great (above average), seems strong (I was using 14 lb. test) and holds an FG knot well. It also had all the sensitivity you'd expect from a braid, actually better than some brands because it is so limp, thin and manageable. Very quiet going through the guides. Was hard to determine the sinking aspect, so I'll have to play more with that. One more positive...it has the best little line spooling mechanism built into it that I've come across. Very compact and butter smooth. I even saved it for possibly reloading and reusing somewhere down the road.

 

The only negative was that I did get 4 small wind knots, 3 of which I was able to get out relatively easily, but one that locked down about 20 ft up the line. I was able to simply snip the loops off and keep fishing with the full length, but a little surprised to have that many "issues" on the first trip. Split the 150 m spool in half and put it on two reels, so will be interesting to see how it performs on the other reel, a more modern reel with different spool design. I guess one more negative was the cost, about 75% more than what my usual Power Pro and 832 runs. After one trip though, I'd say certainly more positives than negatives. I'll spend more time with it and update again down the road.

 

[Darren.]

Another great analysis, Brian!

 

What size leader are you using with the 14# braid and FG?

While it may be a great knot, I prefer using two appendages

to tie mine  

[Team9nine]

Went with my standard 8# leader and it worked just fine. Did have it on my M St. Croix which I felt was borderline overpowered (too much rod).

[Darren.]

59 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Went with my standard 8# leader and it worked just fine. Did have it on my M St. Croix which I felt was borderline overpowered (too much rod).

You need to do a video of tying 8# leader to braid via FG!  

[The Bassman]

I used to fish PP on my older Shimanos with the rounded spool lip and it was a genuine pain. Newer Stradics are much better but I still get the occasional tangle when I least expect it.

[roadwarrior]

[Team9nine]

10 hours ago, Darren. said:

You need to do a video of tying 8# leader to braid via FG!  

I might do that. No issues though - I even use FG on my crappie setups with 3# braid to 5# FC leaders. Got it all down pretty good, finally.

2 hours ago, The Bassman said:

I used to fish PP on my older Shimanos with the rounded spool lip and it was a genuine pain. Newer Stradics are much better but I still get the occasional tangle when I least expect it.

This was an older, discontinued Cabela’s Fish Eagle reel, so similar lip style to your older Shinano, I’d bet. I even slightly underspooled which I normally don’t do.

[Dirtyeggroll]

Loving the detailed posts lately! Thanks for a great description and commentary!

[Team9nine]

Made another quick trip from the bank this evening to throw the new line, this time on an outfit that is a more modern reel, a Lews Mach I Speed Spool (spinning). I also had this paired with a true Medium powered rod, which was good as I was throwing a much lighter setup tonight - a 3" Stik-O on a 1/16 oz jighead with a #4 hook.

 

 

Same 14# YGK SS 112 line and 8# leader. Good news - one trip around the pond tonight, just over an hours worth of fishing, and not a single hint of a wind knot. Everything else pretty much still applies; great casting, quiet and smooth through the guides, very limp and manageable line, easy to see. I even got a sense for the sinking ability of the line with this smaller bait, and it certainly seems like it does help. Still the same great sensitivity. Overall, I'm impressed so far. Even managed to land a dozen bass to help test everything out  I plan on continuing to throw this line quite a bit, so we'll see what the long term assessment is...how well it holds up; how it handles line twist; and other small things that can only be determined with more use. 

 

 

[JustJames]

@Team9ninehow soft and limb of the line? Do you think this would be good for crappies? I was gonna try ester line but can’t seem to get myself use true 2lb line. I like gliss line for limb soft and sensitivity but we all know about none exist abrasion resistance.

[Team9nine]

4 hours ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

@Team9ninehow soft and limb of the line? Do you think this would be good for crappies? I was gonna try ester line but can’t seem to get myself use true 2lb line. I like gliss line for limb soft and sensitivity but we all know about none exist abrasion resistance.

Good question. I spend as much time in a boat chasing crappie as I do bass, so I’ll bring along one of the sticks with the new line and test it out next time I go. Gut feeling is if you like 1/8 oz or larger baits, it will probably work fine. I use primarily micro-braid for crappie fishing, 3 and 5 pound tests. SS112 on TW website lists 10lb as lightest available. If you ordered that, I’d have to believe it would work fine. The line has 4 Esther monos tied in with the 4 PE filaments. I spent a year and a half testing Nanofil for bass and crappie, but ultimately had to walk away. Would be hard to match its limpness, but as you mentioned, there are other issues with this type line (Nano, Gliss, etc). 

 

I’ll report back when I try the new line on crappie.

[JustJames]

Thanks, so far I have used #18 gliss, #8 Sufix 832 and #8 reg PP. I like gliss the most for sensitivity second is 832 with PP the third. I feel like there is more resistance from the lure while swimming it back and lack of sensitivity when got bite. I’m not sure why? even PP got smaller diameter compare to 832 but I believe it make bigger bowl under water there for the feeling not as crisp. 

As of now I mainly fish from bank so it “cast and reel” thing and my preferred weight is 1/32 - 1/16oz.