What Line to put on new Baitcaster

[J. M. Richardson]

Hey all,

I recently received a Abu Garcia Ambassador baitcaster (my first baitcaster) and a 6'6 medium heavy rod to put it on. My question is: What kind of line should I put on this set up?

I will be fishing mostly crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwater with it including frogs (need to be able to rip through a lot of lilypads and weeds with those).

I was thinking something like 17-20 pound Siege Braid or some sort of Flourocarbon (but I have no experience with flourocarbon line).

Any help and tips are appreciated.

Thanks.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

Flourocarbon will sink with topwater baits pulling it under some

[J. M. Richardson]

thanks did not know that.

I've had success in the past throwing some topwaters on braid with spinning gear. I will probably just put braid on my baitcaster and switch my spinning gear over to flourocarbon and mono

[David P]

Top water, crankbaits and spinnerbaits all can be fished effectively with mono . Sounds like your rod is probably a F or XF tip as well, so the mono would definitely help with cranks and treble hook baits.

Frogs are an ENTIRELY different story, where a longer , heavier rod are better, and 65lb braid. 17-20lb braid is nothing .

Mono with frogs is a no-no, and braid with a faster tip rod for cranks won't be the best either.

Best bet is to save up for a flipping rod for jigs and frogs and heavier baits next.

[J. M. Richardson]

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately it's going to be a while before I get get a flippin' rod for jigs or frogs, so I have to make do with I have. I'll just continue to throw the frog with what i currently use then.

What Pound mono would be good for the baitcaster?

I was thinking 12lb abrasion resistant line (Berkley Trilene XT?)

[djmax22]

I would go for mono (unless you are going to use it for frogs) as for what lb test you should refer to the rod specifications.

[J. M. Richardson]

The rod is rated for 8-20 lb line

[NBR]

I would use a limp line for easy casting. All the line companies make them with Berkleys XL being a possibility. So much depends on the water you fish. The water I fish is very clear so I haven't used braid although I plan on using it this year on my C-Rig outfit.

Another thing you should think about is line cost. Starting out sooner or later you will get a backlash that has to be cut out. A pricey thing with braid or flourocarbon.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

I like Trilene Sensation in 10-12lb....I'm using 10 right now on my rod for smaller plastics.  It's a fairly limp line and feels smaller than other 10lb lines I have used like the P-Line CXX and BPS Excel.  For my crankbaits I am using 12lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid.

[mase088]

12 lb P-line CXX.

[Stasher1]

I've been switching between braid, flouro, and mono for my baitcasters and have settled on 12# Sufix Elite for pretty much everything except frogs and jig. It's limp, strong, readily available, and reasonably priced.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewsufixelite.html

[J. M. Richardson]

I've used the suffix siege on my spinning reels before and really like it.

I'm not familiar with Yo Zuri Hybrid line though. What is it/

[Fish Fast]

the best casting mono I have found thus far is sufix elite.  I would get 12 or 14 pound test.

[Ineedanewscreenname20170204]

12# YoZuri UltraSoft (Cabelas)

[FishingPirate]

Past experience has taught me to go with 14lb mono. It feels much better on a baitcaster IMO. An exception would be if you were finnessing it up, like for me, I keep 10lb flouro on my Sol 7'0"M baitcasting combo.

[dodgeguy]

50 pound test fireline braid.make sure it's fireline braid and not fued fireline!!!braid on a baitcaster should be at least 50 lb because the thicker diameter keeps it from digging in.50 is 12 diameter.