Introducing myself and a question!

[atoms]

First off, Let me introduce myself since I an new here:

My name is Adam and I am an amateur bass fisherman. I have been fishing for bass for years but have only recently moved from live bait fishing to artificial (couple years ago).  I began bass fishing in the hampton roads area of Virginia, then moved to the west coast of Florida and fished bass there, and now I have landed in northeastern North Carolina and am lucky enough to have a small lake (5 acres) in my yard that is stocked with bass (among other things). It's a long, narrow lake that stretches the length of about 12 homes and is about 200' across at my yard. It is pretty deep, I'd say over 20 feet deep, but my end of the lake has shallower parts. There is really no structure in the lake that I know of since it used to be a borrow pit and has no logs and stumps.

I do fairly well in this lake, which is only lightly stocked and the fish are mostly young and small. Most bass are about 1 to 1 and 1/2 pounds with some larger fish (I've caught up to 5 lbs)  that have come in from other nearby lakes that connect with drainage pipes.

Now for my question:

Am I scaring bass away with my line? I use the moss green colored Power Pro. The lake is not clear, but not very stained either. I'd say it's right in the middle.

Anyone here use Power Pro? I LOVE it. It's super strong and casts very far and it's super smooth. It also has near zero stretch so you can really feel EVERYTHING. I love it. Did I mention I love it?

Currently fishing with texas rigged worms.

Favorite fishing tequnique: Top water. I love the sight of a bass crashing bait!

Please feel free to post any advice you may have regarding my lake and how you might approach fishing it!

Thanks!!!

BTW - Here's a picture of one of the larger bass from my lake:

[Gatorbassman]

First of all welcome to this awesome site. I know you will be able to learn and teach a lot here.

  My opinion is that you should take off the power-pro and fish some mono, co-poly, or floro line.

  Don't get me wrong Power-Pro is great. I have some on my flipping rod but it is not an all purpose fishing line. You should use braided line in only a few situations.

1. Flipping a pitching to heavy cover in a lake where there are larger than avarage bass.

2. Fishing in tough vegetation like Lili pads.

3. Bed fishing for trophy bass.

  The problem with fishing braided line in clear lakes is the fact that it's not clear line. If the water is very clear you might as well toss in your anchor rope because that is what it looks like to fish.

  Don't be afraid to go to 8 to 12 lb test line. If there is a little stain to the water you can used low-vis green line. But if it is a clear lake go with clear mono or even better a co-poly line. I personally don't like fluorocarbon but some people swear by it.  

  Yes you will lose a few fish but keep a close eye on the first five feet of you line for damage, and retie often and you shouldn't have any problem.      

[atoms]

Thanks for the prompt response!   ;D

Dumb question: What is co-poly?

Also, which of the line that you recommend do you feel with be the closest to the feel of the power pro?

I'm going to have a really hard time giving up that smooth casting action.

[Gatorbassman]

Yea, Changing is going to put a screwball in your cast for a little while but you will get better with practice.

Co-ploymer line- Technically, these are monofilament lines - but they have some characteristics that differentiate it from standard monofilament lines. Copolymer fishing lines are a mix of several materials that are turned into a single strand of line. Often times, the process of creating copolymer fishing line can reduce the negative things about monofilament lines (such as memory) while improving it's characteristics, such as adding more abrasion resistance. In comparison to standard monofilament lines, copolymer lines tend to be a bit stiffer, stronger on a diameter basis and have less stretch.

[atoms]

Thanks!

Low stretch is a biggie for me.

I HATE STRETCHY LINE!

Since I am stuck on the bank, I tend to cast as far as I can, and since so many strikes are on the drop, I am setting the hook with a lot of line out. Stretchy line is disasterous at those distances!

Thanks again!!!

[Guest whittler]

Adam

Welcome to the site.

If you are using PP line and like it I see no reason to change, use a lot of PP line myself. Do fish see line? I'm sure they do but I do not think they see it as a threat and unless your using rope, just don't think it makes any difference to the fish.

[senko_77]

adam, welcome to the best fishin site in the world.  i am having the same problem you are having about the stretchy line at long distances.  the other prob i think you are having and a problem i know i would have, is the cost of braided line.  its like 15bucks for what 150yds.?????  i just made a change recently to a line called yo-zuri hybrid.  it is a mix between florocarbon and nylon.  i use 8lb. test, and it has a breakin test of 12.  its just thin 12 basically.  it has pretty much zero stretch and is super abrasion resistent.  it costs 12 bucks for 6ooyds.  it acts like braid, but is way more cost efficent.  hope this helps

[paully]

I have PP on my baitcaster and I love it. I am almost out though so I am going to switch to Sufix Promix(DNA). Its very strong, smooth casting and low stretch. u can find it on this site.

another site. com

sry I cant directly link cause it wont let me.

I also tried YozuriHybrid and I didn't like it that much.

tangled up toom much and was very springy

[atoms]

^ thanks to all for the great coments and recommendations!

I'll try out some new lines and let you all know what I think!

[albiechaser]

hey adam,  welcome,

and welcome to nc.

i live in raleigh nc.

been here about 14 years.  we got some awesome fishing here.

do you live near weldon/roanoke river? thats around the NE part of our state.

theres world class shad/striper runs there every spring. plus a 14lb large mouth was caught at the rappids dam 2 years ago there.

pretty fishy river.

have a great day

steve

[albiechaser]

oh  and if you really like the power pro. get some spro power swivels #8 and tie some 10/12 lb mono on as leader,  put about  6' on there and you'll be set.

[atoms]

Thanks Steve!

I am about as far NE as you can get in NC, so the closest rivers to me are the North Landing river in VA and the North West River.

I am right near the Currituck Sound.

Also, good idea about the mono leader.

[paully]

I personally wouldn't recommend swivels. I would tie an albright knot with braid to mono. I think you lose sensitivy with a swivel. Also try fluorcarbon almost invisiible underwater

[albiechaser]

paully you have not seen the spro power swivels #8,

their rated @ 50# test are less then 1/16 wide and 1/4 in long.  tiny little suckers. lol real tiny almost weightless.

http://www.***.com/descpage-SPS.html

an albright knot will surly work too.

good luck

[Nick_Barr]

Welcome to the board. I would use McCoy fishing Line if you wanted the best Co-Polymer in the business at only $7 bucks a spool.

[atoms]

Ok, I tried the co-poly stuff and hated it.

I used 15lb. Suffix and it felt like I was throwing bungie cord.

I guess I've been spoiled by the Power Pro, which is THE BEST BRAIDED by far.

I switched back to Power Pro and I'll just have to deal with scaring off a few fish here and there.

Thanks for all the recommendations.

[bassackwards]

was that a 15lb diameter?

your best bet is to just tie on a flurocarbon liter. might as well not fight your urge to use PP. I use it, great line.

I really want to try this Yozuri Hybrid (soft). I just got to find a way to buy it online, I dont have a credit card.. hah (for good reason I guess)

do you walk around the pond or just the side of your land? I'm hoping you fish the whole thing. you should put some cover around your side of it, if its shallow, and it has cover, that'll be the spot durin the spawn, and just make it better overall.

[FlyRod]

Uhhhh....the last thing modern guides need is a metal swivel crashing through them on cast or retrieve, especially sawing back and forth as a fish strips drag and line is recovered...DON'T do it, no matter how small the swivel is!

Next, the braid with leader is a concept I long ago embraced, and still do. For example, I fish light plastics (w/weights in the 1/32-1/8 range,) on 15 or 20 test P-line Spectrex braid, with a 12-15 test pure fluorocarbon leader. When first tied on, the leaders are about 6 ft. in length. so I can retie/change lures several times before I need to go through the nightmare of tying a new leader on with the $&^@! J-Knot (see DuPont Stren website).

For this light stuff, I usually use a Chronarch 50MG or a "Rado 100B with a 50MG wiffle spool (drops right in, no hassle.) mated to a St.Croix Avid AC69MLXF.

Note: The zilch stretch of the braid compensates for the reduced hooksetting power of the extra fast tip AND afford enhanced sensitivity.

So, if you own only a few reels, I suggest you not waste money and time by changing lines to accomodate changes in technique or conditions.

Idea: If, as I have done with my 50MGs, 100Bs, 200BSFs, etc, you can acquire extra spools you will have an advantage that is well worth the expense.

In my case, since fluoro co-polys and braid won't fluoresce under UV, I switch to spools loaded with P-Line CX, which will fluoresce, when fishing plastics at night.

If I need a "mono" during daylight, I switch to P-Line FloroClear.

In the case of 50MG/100B reels, you can buy 5 wiffles for the price of one 50MG or two 100Bs.

Good luck!

FlyRod.