The lowdown on lines
I've browsed the aisles at Dick's a hundred times over the past few years, but a visit last week really made me stop and think.
Like most anglers, I know the wall where Dick's displays its great selection of fishing line. I've purchased many a spool there, but never really thought about the display itself.
There, in an array of colorful packages, is just about any kind of line a fisherman might need. It's the vastness of the offering, however, that boggles the mind.
Line manufacturers have perfected the art and science of marketing. They see a need and fill it with a product that neatly fits that need. But a shopper who is unschooled in the performance traits of the dozens of brands and varieties could easily become dizzy in trying to decide which spool to buy.
More selection now
Gone are the days when the selection basically boiled down to three: Stren, Trilene and a bargain-priced off brand.
Today's fishing line displays offer a constellation of choices: Berkeley, SpiderWire, P-Line, Seaguar, Stren, Sensithin, Super Tough, XL, XT, monofilament, braid, fluorocarbon, copolymer, clear, green, fluoroescent, hi-vis yellow and on and on. Add the breaking-strength ratings and the multiplier sends the choices up through the stratosphere.
I've tried just about every brand and variety of fishing line. As a result, I have learned that despite the tremendous number of offerings, picking the right one for my needs is just a matter of understanding how each performs.
The reels in my boat this morning are spooled with several kinds of lines. Each was selected because of unique characteristics that enable me to get my lure into the strike zone more enticingly to tease a strike and then get the fish into my boat.
I really like close-quarters flipping for bass in shallow, gnarly cover. Two lines help me in those situations.
One is 20-pound test monofilament. I spool up with Trilene XT (extra tough) or P-Line. Both are extremely smooth and nick-resistant, very important attributes in getting a bait into heavy cover and wrestling a hog largemouth out of the trash.
My second choice for flipping is 50-pound-test braid, which has a diameter close to 12-pound mono. Due to its extreme strength, braided line is necessary when the fish are hiding in dense vegetation or particularly nasty brush.
I found another extremely useful application for braid this summer. In situations where you must make long casts to work a lure over a bed of lily pads, braid is by far the best bet. When a big bass or pike explodes through the vegetation to blast the bait, braid provides secure hookups and enables me to winch the fish through the jungle of stems that would snap mono.
For casting crankbaits, the nod goes unquestionably to 10-pound P-Line. It is limber enough to enable my plug to work at maximum depth and wobble, yet tough enough to avoid scrapes and cuts that happen when the bait is bouncing around rocks and stumps.
What's his line?
My spinnerbait and buzzbait rods' reels are filled with 17-pound Trilene XT or P-Line. They cast great, have relatively low stretch so hooksets are sure, and give me enough pulling power to get a big bass to the boat.
Ten-pound test Trilene XL (extra limp) is a good all-around spinning rod line. For the most part, I use spinning gear and small lures around relatively snag-free spots. The smaller diameter gives the lure good action and fish don't see the line as well.
When I want the line to be totally invisible, I go to Seaguar fluorocarbon. I've tried other brands, but wasn't satisfied; they retained too much memory and the line coiled up off the spool, and, most importantly, broke way too easily.
Fluorcarbon is invisible under water. It's also heavier than water, so it sinks, which is important in getting baits down deep. It's the perfect choice for dragging small tube jigs in 25 to 30 feet of water for Lake Erie smallmouths.
Those are my normal choices. Each fills a specific application -- from flipping to cranking to spinning and dragging. Following the guide above may help you next time your head is spinning at the line display.
jwwollitz@aol.com