8 Pound mono and larger bass.....

[Mr.Sheephead]

I have landed a 3 pound bass with 8lb mono and its my personal best so far in my 2 years of bass fishing. Today I tried a pond and landed a few small but fat bass then i caught something huge! compaired to my 3 pounder this one had way more mass and more power but that split second i set the hook i new it was too good to be true. Just 3 seconds later i see it swim off to the left and i folowed it like i always do and tried to let him tire but i forgot to drop my rod to eliminate my line guide drag and the line snaped on me either that or it was a toothy fish! just that feel of disrespect! made me wonder should i go to 10lb mono? THE POND HAS LOTS OF SCATTERED PLOTS OF WEEDS BUT IF I WAS EVER TO BE DOGGED DOWN INTO the weeds i have enough scattered spots of open water to let the fish run to. I fight fish by settin the hook once try to bring em in and when they swim away to either side i follow them and if i feel there gonna snap the line or shake it out of there mouth i let them run off with line..... i do this to alot of bass i catch even with 30lb braid and even with some small bass and my loss of fish due to hook shaken out is 0 but line snaping from teethy fish is 2 and line snaping from a fish idk about is 1 so give me all the advise you can about my situation!

Thank you very much guys!

for those who have no idea what i mean when i say your line guides are part of your drag heres a video of what i mean

[backwater4]

8lb line doesn't snap that easily. I've caught nice fish in the weeds with 8lb Trilene XL. Maybe it was nicked up a bit. If it's real heavy weed, I would definitely go to a larger line, as long as the lure can be fished correctly with it. How was your drag set? If you get more bites with the lighter line, no need to change, maybe just adjust a few things. Make sure it's fresh line, line thats been on a reel awhile can deteriorate(?) quick. Check your drag, your line guides and the roller on the reel. Make sure everything is in working order and 8lb should be fine.

[Crestliner2008]

Crank your drag down as tight as you can get it and learn to backreel. You won't loose any more fish to a failing line anymore - IF you tie good knots, that is.

Also, always keep your rod at least at a 45 degree angle to the fish. Let the rod do the work for you. Not sure where you got the notion that you have to point your rod at a fish? That's about the worse thing you can ever do (if I understand what you're saying that is?). Never heard of "line guide drag" before either!?

[Marty]

No fish you are apt to hook can break your line just because of the size of the fish. Consider that a giant will just spool you--not break the line--if the drag is set properly and there are no external factors involved.

The line could be weakened by something in the water or some sort of user error. Often line size is dictated by the nature of the cover more than the size of the fish.

[islandbass]

Do you use your drag? I don't follow unless I have to. Sorry you lost her though. That's always a bummer. I think you need to give the line more credit. In pristine condition 8# is more than sufficient to handle even large bass.  People in my neck of the woods are known to land 25 lb kings on as little as 6# test so I know 8# line can handle just about any bass.

It probably is going to break at a higher rating than advertised as many lines do anyway.

With that said, as the cover gets heavier, so should the line.

[evrgladesbasser]

I have had 8lb mono snap on me before, and here are the reasons:

- The line directly above the hook gets worn down, sand-papered if you will, by the mouths of previous catches. Upon hookset on my next catch it snaps. You can fix this by checking your line just above the hook, and moving it up about 6in if it looks worn.

- The line snaps at the hook, where it is inherently weaker. Haven't found a fix for this yet.

- The fish wraps around a sunken object and I just pulled to dang hard trying to unwrap it. Haven't found a fix for this one either.

In open water with good line I rarely lose a fish on mono. I keep my drag pretty darn tight to so I don't miss my hookset. And I don't beleive fish weight would be so important because an 8lb fish underwater doesn't really weigh 8lbs. Good luck man hope this helps out.

[Nitrofreak]

Think about where the line broke at... was it between you and the fish or at the rod or at the fish?

If it broke somewhere between the rod and the fish I would have to say it was either too stressed from to little drag or it had some kind of damage at one time or another and weakened it.

If it broke at the fish I would most likely say either your hook broke it or the line at the knot may have stressed if you have not retied after a few catches.

If it broke between your reel and the rod tip I would take a good look at both.

Look at where the line broke and you should see fraying if the fish was responsible...Regardless I would re-spool or take what you need off and re-rig.

I too have battled larger fish with #8 test and have not had any problems...It's bound to happen from time to time we all lose big fish especially and usually our first big one's because we tend to lose focus and get excited ( not saying that's what happened )

Sorry you missed her but you can go back again she will be there somewhere.

Good luck be safe and be happy.

PS Let us know when you do land her!!

[Mr.Sheephead]

Crank your drag down as tight as you can get it and learn to backreel. You won't loose any more fish to a failing line anymore - IF you tie good knots, that is.

Also, always keep your rod at least at a 45 degree angle to the fish. Let the rod do the work for you. Not sure where you got the notion that you have to point your rod at a fish? That's about the worse thing you can ever do (if I understand what you're saying that is?). Never heard of "line guide drag" before either!?

the line guides on the rod accout to the drag as they cause drag when the rod is lifted up (12-2 oclok position) they push againts the line and make friction which adds about 30-40% to the drag and when using really light line and a fish is about to break you thats when you lower the rod to relieve some drag or friction on the line guides making line easyer to come out..... i learned this off a fishing guide on youtube..... Im guessing it was broken at the knot since i landed a few small fat good fighters before losing my beauty sometimes when i inspect my knot after time the knot looks to have shrunk and the mono became compressed from being pulled and constantly tightened after catching a few fish..... how often should i retie my knots? which knot holds best and fastest to tie? NO palomar knots tho because they have way too much tag ends when finish tieing... I use The Hangman's Knot for all my knots unless im drop shotting

[Dan:]

Yeah, you don't have to worry about line guides causing friction on the line...Just adjust your drag and you'll be fine.

I use the palomar for everything. The length of the tag end can be controlled by the tier

[Hammer 4]

6lb test will haul in a 10lb bass...the drag is your friend..

Caught a 7lb rainbow on 3 lb trilene xl.

Light line makes fishing FUN!!!  ;D

[1inStripes]

NO palomar knots tho because they have way too much tag ends when finish tieing...

Ever heard of a knife, or clippers?

[burleytog]

I use the palomar for everything. The length of the tag end can be controlled by the tier

Yep.  Line is cheap.  A long tag end (thusly clipped) ensures that 4-6" of abraded line will be removed.

Line guide drag?  Never heard that one before.   

[Nitrofreak]

Yeah, you don't have to worry about line guides causing friction on the line

You are usually fooled by this because we tend to overlook our equipment from time to time... if one of your line guides has a nick or a crack in it or is missing the insert it can cause damage to the line and should be inspected everytime out.

[Nice_Bass]

Crank your drag down as tight as you can get it and learn to backreel. You won't loose any more fish to a failing line anymore - IF you tie good knots, that is.

Also, always keep your rod at least at a 45 degree angle to the fish. Let the rod do the work for you. Not sure where you got the notion that you have to point your rod at a fish? That's about the worse thing you can ever do (if I understand what you're saying that is?). Never heard of "line guide drag" before either!?

the line guides on the rod accout to the drag as they cause drag when the rod is lifted up (12-2 oclok position) they push againts the line and make friction which adds about 30-40% to the drag and when using really light line and a fish is about to break you thats when you lower the rod to relieve some drag or friction on the line guides making line easyer to come out..... i learned this off a fishing guide on youtube..... Im guessing it was broken at the knot since i landed a few small fat good fighters before losing my beauty sometimes when i inspect my knot after time the knot looks to have shrunk and the mono became compressed from being pulled and constantly tightened after catching a few fish..... how often should i retie my knots? which knot holds best and fastest to tie? NO palomar knots tho because they have way too much tag ends when finish tieing... I use The Hangman's Knot for all my knots unless im drop shotting

I use trilene knot for most connections, it is quick and very strong.  Also agree with others though, palomer is quick and a good knot as well.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

I use 8lb trilene on my spinning set up and its the only light mono i like.Pline sucks never get it. But ive brought 5 pounders through the thicket and lots of goodsize fish over and over without retying and its fine.Although i do reccomend retying. My dad has caught 8 and 9s on 6lb before.Look at Ray Scott he's caught 10 lbers on 4 lb test.Just gotta have good line,a good set up, and know how to play em right 

[grimlin]

I've uprooted small tree branches using 6# CXX P-line.

I'm a big,big Trilene fan,but I'll gladly take P-line over Trilene any time of the day now.

[tyrius.]

Set your drag right and you'll catch anything that hits your lure in open water on 2lb test.  The size of your line isn't the problem.  You're not setting your drag correctly.

[bassin is addicting]

right now i'm only using 2 lines..on my spinning gear

yo-zuri ultra soft 6lb

and 8lb trilene xl....and xt sometimes

i use improved clinch(cinch?) knot and have had no problems with larger fish.

drag is key. and checking for nicks after a few fish.