Cranking mono?

[Tim Kelly]

What do people like for crankbaits? Listening to BTL with David Fritts the other day he was a great advocate for 10lb low stretch mono. What brands do you like? He was talking about an old stren cranking line, but said that Berkley Sensation was a current low stretch line. I wasn't entirely convinced as he's sponsored by them and I've never thought much of sensation when I've used it. Recommendations welcome. 

[Sam]

Old school had us using mono for treble hook baits for the stretch.

 

Today, the pros are using fluorocarbon for their presentations.

 

So it is up to you in what you have confidence: mono or flouro.

 

Then you can add braid to the formula if you wish and really get confused.

 

So keep it simple and use the line you like best for your various presentations.

 

And you are right, the pros always hawk their products. Ike sells anything he can. 

[RichF]

I've used both mono and fluoro for cranking.  I don't know if I buy into the whole "fluoro sinks so your bait gets deeper" argument.  May be true but I don't think I've ever noticed.  I do prefer fluoro because of its abrasion resistance.  I can bang a plug off rocks much longer with 12lb Trilene 100% before having to re-tie than I can with any mono I've used. 

[PersicoTrotaVA]

I used to crank with braid but I switched to fluoro for the stretch and my bait does get deeper with fluoro. Plus in clearer water fluoro is harder to see. I have wanted to try a fluoro leader with braid to see if the bait still gets down but that’s too much work. 

[swhit140]

I've been using 10 & 12lb mono for crankbaits & smaller top waters, I've never even tried fluro. I don't really fish any deep lakes so it doesn't really matter for me.

[Log Catcher]

I use Sufix Siege in 12# for crankbaits along with spinnerbaits and topwaters. This line has worked very well for me.

[dgkasper58]

Good Brandon Cobb line tiddybits.

Good stuff from the Bassin'masters.com -- pay attention to the parts about the pros, who really ARE different from most of us: Mono   > The rap on it is that it stretches, and the fact that it floats can be a disadvantage with some lures.   > ...topwater baits. A line that floats will keep your lure from dropping nose down as you work it along. Another thing is that a slower hookset is better with most topwater lures. It lets the fish take the bait in its mouth deeper. The stretch in mono helps with that.   > ...great cold-water cranking line. The bite will be lethargic. Bass need more time to mouth the bait. Mono, with its lesser feel and its stretch, makes it difficult to set the hook immediately.   Fluoro   > We want the feel and, because of our experience, we're able to delay a hookset when that's necessary. Some recreational anglers have enough experience to do that, some don't.   Braid   > It's great for topwater plugs. It floats and keeps the bait up high and performing as it should. You do have to make sure you delay your hookset, though. You won't get any help from braid.   > One issue with braid that you should keep in the back of your mind is that it makes a rubbing sound in heavy vegetation. If that bothers you, think about using fluorocarbon. In heavier test weights it's almost as durable as braid.

[Dwight Hottle]

I started using suffix advance last year replacing Defier Armilo and have really liked it for topwater & cranks & jerkbaits.

[dgkasper58]

1 minute ago, Dwight Hottle said:

replacing Defier Armilo

I used that for my glide baits and was having a lot of frays on my line.  Sunline thought it may have been a defective spool and took care of me.  Haven't had the problem since.

 

Have you experienced the frays?

 

[galyonj]

I just use Yo-Zuri for cranking. It's cheap. Works for me. I feel like the stretch works with my rod tip and gives me a little bit of springiness that helps me keep the fish pinned on those little hooks if they get rowdy.

[OnthePotomac]

I have often reported on here that in the days before braid and flouro became the rage, every baitcaster I had was spooled with 14lb BPS Excel mono and I don't recall any fishing problems with it.  I used the stuff for a variety of baits, soft and hard.  I guess it would qualify as really basic fishing.

[Dwight Hottle]

5 minutes ago, dgkasper58 said:

I used that for my glide baits and was having a lot of frays on my line.  Sunline thought it may have been a defective spool and took care of me.  Haven't had the problem since.

 

Have you experienced the frays?

 

No problem with frays. My only issues was the line seemed to coil excessively on the reel spool. I do not use line conditioner. The Advance has eliminated that issue and held up really well for a week in Mexico catching big bass. I have been using 14lb & 17lb only. 

[MN Fisher]

Both rigs I use for cranks have Yo-Zuri Hybrid. 12# on the BC, 10# on the spinner.

[Tim Kelly]

OK, what I was getting at was that 10lb mono is a very vague description as it seems to be between 0.22 and 0.30mm diameter depending on brand and variety, 10lb is the line described for dive charts, but again, which one. Fritts was saying that the 10lb makes a good long casting line and allows the lures to run as designed, but then which mono? 

 

I have a huge amount of respect for Fritts and many of the other anglers who have been doing it for a long time and have a system really dialled in. Trouble is it becomes more difficult to know what they're really saying when they have to promote a sponsor's product that might not be exactly the thing they would really choose. As another curve Berkley sensation labelled 10lb in the states is something like 0.27mm, depending on where you look, but it's 0.22 here in Europe. That Fritts is so certain that his system works well and had been refined over the years makes me think the diameter and the low stretch are important, but quite what they are is not obvious.

[DitchPanda]

I've been using 10lb big game and before I used Stren high impact which I feel is similar in a lot of ways for both small cranks and poppers...I'm shore bound so I dont care about the extra depth fluoro supposedly gives...for lipless and Squarebills I'm using 12 and 15lb copoly..my thoughts on the mono is a little extra stretch with small hooks could help plus I use 10 since I can throw it a little better with the light baits

[galyonj]

I think you're overthinking the impact that the potential hundredths of a millimeter difference between brands of line (at the same test weight) will have on the depth and action of a given lure, and, consequently, on that lure's fish-catching ability.

 

If there's a mono that you trust, go with it and don't worry unless and until it gives you a reason to worry.

[Tim Kelly]

Maybe, but it seems pointless being specific about the 10lb if the diameter is irrelevant.

[galyonj]

Eh. I don't mean that it's irrelevant, just that it's not necessarily gonna make or break the presentation with all else being equal.

 

Is 10lb gonna get you to advertised depth compared to, say, 15lb? Totally.

 

Is .22mm 10lb gonna outfish .27mm 10lb with the same presentation? That's probably pretty iffy.

 

Here's the thing, though: If you truly believe that a given line is gonna outfish another one, you're more likely to use it in situations in that have a high success rate for the presentation, and you will catch more fish with that line using that presentation than you would if you had spooled up with the other one. Because every time you pick up the stick with the line you weren't sure about or didn't really like, you spent the whole cast second-guessing yourself and not working the presentation.

 

Nobody ever works better with tools they don't trust.

[Tim Kelly]

Yeah, I get that, but you can definitely get .27mm line labelled as 10 and the same diameter labelled as 15. I have always struggled to get anywhere near the dive depths that are published for crankbaits, but have probably never fished mono or fluoro as fine as I imagine Fritts was recommending. I've fished 20lb braid, which is finer than most suitable monos, but still never achieved the advertised depths, so I'm at a very early stage in my crankbait learning. Pretty sure I've never caught a bass on a crank, though I only get to fish for them a few days a year, but want to improve my technique on the fish I fish for more regularly too.

[Dwight Hottle]

9 minutes ago, Tim Kelly said:

Maybe, but it seems pointless being specific about the 10lb if the diameter is irrelevant.

I know what your referring to regarding the 10lb standard & diving depth charts. I always considered that 10lb diameter off the self line differed from one chart to another but generally fell within .011 to .0134 range. I used the Precision Trolling book now available only as an app. Their 10lb standard was developed using Berkley XT line in 10lb class which measures at .0134 the largest dia 10lb line I know of. I found using a smaller dia 10lb mono got my baits about 1 to 2 feet deeper depending on how much line was out. 

[Tim Kelly]

Thanks Dwight, good info. 

[WRB]

I switched from 10 lb Trilene XT to 10 & 12 lb Big Game in the early 80's over 40 years ago. When Sunline introduced Defier Armillo Nylon line about 5 years ago I switched to 11 lb Armillo for crankbaits and top water lures. The performance with Armillo is excellent the cost is high compared to Big Game that is still my back up choice.

Cranking you make hundreds of casts during a outing and casting performance is critical.

Deep diving crankbaits put a lot of stress on the line making long casts. You don't want knot fatigue so I always use a strong light weight clip to reduce knot wear. Abrasion can be an issue using square bill or lipless style crank baits around wood cover or structure, deep divers usually keep the line away from abrasion issues.

Tom

PS, 11 lb Armillo is .274mm / .0108D.,Big Game 10 lb is .305mm / .012D.

[Falkus]

2 hours ago, galyonj said:

I just use Yo-Zuri for cranking. It's cheap. Works for me. I feel like the stretch works with my rod tip and gives me a little bit of springiness that helps me keep the fish pinned on those little hooks if they get rowdy.

same here - using 8lbs or 10lbs range depending. 

 

Yo-Zuri's breaking strength for 8lbs is around 12.5 pounds.

[Tim Kelly]

Another thing I thought was interesting was Fritts saying that mono lasted longer than fluoro for cranking. He said similar fluoro would be worn out in a day compared to mono. Not sure whether that's because of getting snagged as mono survives being stretched better than fluoro, or something else, but I fully believe that he's tried it and found mono superior. If not superior, at least a lot cheaper to replace every day!

[roadwarrior]

Sunline Deifer Shooter Armilo #11

 

https://sunlineamerica.com/products/shooter-defier-armilo/?sku=60073870