Light line on baitcasters

[Cantcatchbass]

I used to use some 50lb line to catch smallmouth but now i have ran out of braid and am switching to 10lb mono while waiting for new braid,my question is how do you fish with light line on a baitcaster for smallmouth and possibly muskie?btw i am fishing a mix of cover and jigs and moving baits on this set up

[NHBull]

Most of my BC set ups have 30 lb braid that is close to 10 lb Mono.

you should have no problems. If your concerned about digging in, don’t

[Cantcatchbass]

37 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Most of my BC set ups have 30 lb braid that is close to 10 lb Mono.

you should have no problems. If your concerned about digging in, don’t

Im not concern about line digging in but im more concern about strength of line and how use light line on a baitcaster to not break off

[redmeansdistortion]

You'll be just fine.  I've caught lots of 5lb+ smallies on 6lb mono.  Set your drag right and play the fish.  

[dodgeguy]

Loosen the drag. You can't use 20lbs of drag on 10lb line.

[Bluebasser86]

10lb isn't really that light on a baitcaster. I have several reels with 10lb on it I use for a variety of baits and have landed fish over 30lbs with them, you'll be fine if you take your time and set the drag properly.

[Hammer 4]

I used 10 lb mono n my baitcasters for years, fishing fresh and saltwater, the later where the fish are much bigger and fight Way harder. Learning how to use your drag, how to fight a fish imho are important skills.

 

I think nowadays some anglers use line that's needlessly to heavy for their application.

[NHBull]

7 hours ago, Cantcatchbass said:

Im not concern about line digging in but im more concern about strength of line and how use light line on a baitcaster to not break off

Like others have said, it actually isn’t that light.  That’s what the good lord made drag for ?

[Finessegenics]

10lb line is plenty strong. The only way you’ll break your line is by horsing fish in or overdoing your hooksets. Just play it cool and let the fish take some drag if it has to. 
 

And if you’re actually intentionally  targeting Muskie with 10lb mono, I’d advise against it. If it’s just a possible by-catch when smallmouth fishing  then so be it. Not that 10lb line is light, but for muskies it can be dangerous because they’d be able to put a long fight against a 10lb mono on bass tackle. The longer the fight on a Muskie, usually the less “releasable” the Muskie becomes. They’re a surprisingly fragile fish and when pushed to their limit, they sometimes don’t make it. 

[Cantcatchbass]

Thanks guys for the very helpful answers,my follow up question would be would playing drag on a baitcaster damage the gears?i heard something like this on tackle advisors

[Manly Studson]

I think a baitcaster worth it’s salt can take some abuse drag-wise. I back off the drag when the reel isn’t in use. Otherwise I set it to around 1/4-1/3 strength of the line. 10 pound mono with 2.5 to 3.5 pounds drag works well for the smallmouth I catch.

[Finessegenics]

28 minutes ago, Cantcatchbass said:

Thanks guys for the very helpful answers,my follow up question would be would playing drag on a baitcaster damage the gears?i heard something like this on tackle advisors

Not to my knowledge and I don’t see why it would...the drag is designed to exactly do that; play a fish out. 

[Hower08]

10 pound line is far from light line. Use your drag and the action of the rod to get any fish back to the boat

[cheezyridr]

i just ordered a daiwa sv lite that i plan to spool with 8lb mono, on a medium lite rod, so i can throw small lite weight  lures.  i dont anticipate any real problems doing this.  my regular bass rod is only 12lb  mono, and i never have problems...as long as i dont cast directly into a tree full of vines like i did a couple days ago with a brand new chatterbait.

?

[WRB]

On July 3, 2020 at 4:47 PM, Cantcatchbass said:

I used to use some 50lb line to catch smallmouth but now i have ran out of braid and am switching to 10lb mono while waiting for new braid,my question is how do you fish with light line on a baitcaster for smallmouth and possibly muskie?btw i am fishing a mix of cover and jigs and moving baits on this set up

Evaluate line by diameter. 

I used 8 lb Maxima Ultra Green @.010D on a 70's vintage 2500C to catch my PB 37 lb musky fishing for Smallmouth at Lake of the Woods Canada.

Today I use 11 lb Sunline Defier Armillo mono @ .011D.

Tom

PS, my 5 PB LMB were caught on 10 and 12 lb Big Game mono

 

[RoLo]

 

8-lb mono line is heavy enough for the vast majority of fish caught in freshwater.

On the other hand, 50-lb braid is mainly used to bolster abrasion-resistance

when fishing in heavy cover (frogging, toading, punching ~)

By no means an exact science, but a nice combo for smallies is 20-lb braid with an 8-lb nylon leader.

 

Roger

[WRB]

My minimum line diameter for baitcasting reels is .010D, .009 and it starts digging into itself on most casting reels. Spinning reels you can go smaller. 

10D is 30 lb test for the average braid and good choice for bait caster, I prefer .012 D or 50 lbs because it's easier to handle, don't need that much strength.

Drags; set at 1/3rd the leader or weaker line strength; 8 to 10 lb about 3 lbs drag.

Tom