River Fishing Line

[Kiss My Bass!]

I am planning on using my 6'6" Medium spinning rod and 6' ML spinning rod for more river fishing in NC in the Charlotte area. I want to spool the reels with 6 lb test but should I spool it with fluro or mono? I would consider 10 or 15 lb braid to fluro or mono but I don't know how to tie the knots and sometimes using a barrel swivel can be a pain.

 

My goal would be to catch smallies but no idea if that's even realistic in my area so would be happy to use mostly the ML rod and catch any species I can in the rivers. Thanks for the help!

[jimmyjoe]

   I  would use mono. There are people on here who are fanatic (and successful) braid users. I was, once. I've moved on. I use 6 lb. Stren on my ML/F setup, and have Magnethin in the background.

   Mono has stretch, mono is consistent and reliable with knots, and mono is inexpensive. Fluoro can be difficult to manage on spinning gear; it benefits from a large diameter spool. Knots on smaller-diameter fluoro are less reliable than on mono.

   That being said, you need to learn the knots that you may find necessary. It's not that hard. Once you have that skill, your confidence level will grow, and you'll be a more capable fisherman.

 

   Good luck!    jj

[Throwafrog]

 

Mono- 6lb stren original clear blue florescent is my vote

[FryDog62]

Two great all-round lines - strong, limp, abrasion resistant, great knots and lower stretch are 6 pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid and Sufix Advance Mono.  You’ll find a lot of fans of both lines here on BR.  

[OnthePotomac]

No big river like the Tidal Potomac and it's massive grass beds and on it for the last 20 years with my three spinning reels (I use bait casters mostly) have been spooled with 8lb BPS Excel green mono and I can't begin to tell you how many bass have landed with it, but you can bet it has been a whole big ol bunch.  I buy it in 1000yd spools.  Never even thought about using anything else.  My reels are 2500 and 3000 Sahara's on 7' medium rods.  Currently all Carbonlites.

[TBAG]

I would use 6lb Yo-zuri Hybrid. I will say I also use KVD line and lure which makes the line perform even better.

[CountryboyinDC]

I definitely wouldn't add a barrel swivel, but I feel that braid is worth the effort.  Line has a lot more to do with sensitivity perception to the angler than the rod (although there are other benefits to a light, high modulus rod blank).  Some folks believe that sensitivity is not always a good thing, many of them much better anglers than I am.  One such angler is a midwest finesse guru for whom the Ned rig is named.  Me, I like braid and use it unless I have a specific reason not to, like for topwater plugs where the front treble gets fouled in braid due to the likeness of the line.  I use the Crazy Alberto knot, which is a modified Albright, and it causes me few issues.  For simplicity, no leader wins, and obviously that's the way a lot of folks here are going about it.

[Kiss My Bass!]

1 hour ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I definitely wouldn't add a barrel swivel, but I feel that braid is worth the effort.  Line has a lot more to do with sensitivity perception to the angler than the rod (although there are other benefits to a light, high modulus rod blank).  Some folks believe that sensitivity is not always a good thing, many of them much better anglers than I am.  One such angler is a midwest finesse guru for whom the Ned rig is named.  Me, I like braid and use it unless I have a specific reason not to, like for topwater plugs where the front treble gets fouled in braid due to the likeness of the line.  I use the Crazy Alberto knot, which is a modified Albright, and it causes me few issues.  For simplicity, no leader wins, and obviously that's the way a lot of folks here are going about it.

I am certainly more comfortable with braid as thats what I typically use and this morning looked up how to tie the Alberto knot and have tied it three times in a row with no issues. How long of a leader do you typically use? Is it better to just have a couple feet and tie the knot every time I go fishing or do you spool lets say 100 yards so you only have to tie the knot once?

[CountryboyinDC]

I typically have the leader long enough so that the main line to leader knot is between the reel and the 1st guide, which is probably around 6' most of the time.  I change them out everytime I take the rod fishing.  There are some people who want the knot on the reel spool when they set the hook.  In my estimation, in bass fishing where the main (braid) line is way stronger than the leader most instances, the weak link is the terminal knot, particularly with flurocarbon leaders.  I tried 30' leaders, but there are some reels (Daiwa baitcasters with the T-wing levelwind aperature) that don't do so well, and I decided it was probably to start with a fresh leader anyway.  That's the part of the line that gets the most abrasion.