Line for new crankbait setup..

[jedimaster]

Well what do you guys run on your crankbait rods for bass? I just picked up a 7' MojoBass Crankbait rod and it'll be used with a curado. Just wondering about the line. I am thinking 10-12 pound florocarbon. It looks like most people don't use braid on the crankbait setups do to the stratch. Any input on poundage or brand?

[diggyj]

I recommend a braided line like 20 or 30 lb PowerPro. You can tie on a fluoro leader if you like.

 

Dirk

[troutologist]

I would recommend 12lb Berkley 100% or Suffix Fluro....both good products that have handled well for me. For me if I can get away with lighter line I'd try it, depending on the cover.

 

 

In my feeble mind, when casting cranks you are not as worried about attaining depth than when trolling, making thin dia. braid less of an advantage (for diving deep) due to pulling hooks out of fish.

[ecmilley]

i run pretty much the same set up but with a chronarch i a use 14lb trielene xt easy casting and good hook sets

[OhioFisherman]

I like a medium action rod for throwing most bass size crank baits, and mono for line, it helps prevents the hooks from tearing out. A long rod gives better distance and softer action also helps prevent tear outs.

 

A lot of wood in the waters here, even in older lakes, I use as heavy of line as I can and still accomplish what I am trying to do with the crank. Waters with little or no snags, light weeds and such #10 test more junk # 14 test.

[Garry2Rs]

In my opinion, ten and twelve pound mono or fluorocarbon is so stretchy that it's hard to tell if you have a weed or a hit, especially with a soft crankbait rod.

 

For all around use on my crankbait rods I like 40 pound braid...As you're probably aware, it's about the size of 12 pound mono. I don't think line visibility is an issue because crankbaits hits are generally a reaction strike. On slower moving plugs, like jerkbaits, if I'm worried about the line being visible, I use fluorocarbon leaders.

[JPD]

Typically in open water situations fluorocarbon or mono are the best choices with 10 to 15 lb test are the most common depending on a few things. The only time I would ever recommend braid is when fishing heavy weed areas and you need to get the bait through but this can also be accomplished with fluoro since it has far less stretch than mono if you use 100% fluoro and not the coated lines. Braid will cost you fish unless you are fishing with a limp noodle for a rod and if you are, casting it will not be much fun.

 

My choice would be fluoro and 12 lb would be the starting point.

 

JP

[Sinker]

I use 50lb braid. I find it rips thru the weeds the best. The hits feel more violent on braid too I sometimes put a 12lb fluoro leader on it, but not always.

 

S

[Garnet]

It really depends what you are trying accomplish. If it's max depth use flouro and 10lb. Or go the other way 50lb. Spider Thread braid to run the same bait 2 ft shallower. A good standard set up would be 30lb Spider Thread Braid and then run flouro or mono leaders.

[Blake]

When throwing cranks I use P-Line Halo Floro in 12lb and I also use the Suffix Cranking Line in different lb's depending on where and what I am fishing. Flor to me is a must when using cranks with the only exception is if I am using it in weeds then 40lb Power pro is used.

[Garry2Rs]

I don't understand this prejudice against braided lines and the dogmatic reciting of the propaganda about the supposed benefits of Fluorocarbon.

 

Here is a quotation from the Tackle Tour - Fluorocarbon Showdown.

Google "Tackle Tour Fluorocarbon" to find the whole article...

quote

"Stretch:

Surprisingly, a bi-product of our tensile test was our ability to watch the stretch in each of our line samples before they broke. We stopped short of collecting data on this observation due to a number of questionable variables, but the one thing we can clearly state is, all the fluorocarbon lines we tested have either the same, or in some cases, more stretch than our baseline Trilene XL. We hope to address this at a later date, but for now, as far as we are concerned, the claim that fluorocarbon lines have virtually no stretch is absolutely invalid."unquote.

 

As a matter of fact, I don't lose fish by using braid on my G.Loomis and Shimano Crucial crankbait rods. In fact the biggest problem with these soft rods is that if I hook a Musky by accident I sometimes have trouble setting the hook, even with braid, because the rods are so soft!

 

As for casting with soft rods, it is true that the timing is different than on a stiffer rod. However, both these rods are a pleasure to cast with either braided or plastic lines.

 

I do use some 20# test plastic lines, but I find 10 and 12 pound mono and fluoro useless because it is as dead feeling as fishing with an elastic band.

 

I see no advantage in throwing mono or fluoro on a crankbait rod, since line visibility is seldom an issue with these reaction baits. If, in a specific circumstance, it is a concern I use a fluoro leader on my braid.

Garry2R's

[Garnet]

It's a depth issue floure sinks braid floats and mono float for a bit. And then diameter of line affects depth. Most people never get to this level with crankbaits.

[bassjnkie]

I use Suffix fast sink crankbait mono. Only problem it's hard to find here, last place I seen it was JB's.

[GoneFishin]

It's a depth issue floure sinks braid floats and mono float for a bit. And then diameter of line affects depth. Most people never get to this level with crankbaits.

 

Yah I always thought the big issue when choosing line for crank baits was the sinking ability. I'm sure you'll end up with a few more fish if your lure is getting to the zone quicker and I was under the impression that braid is bad to use with crank baits because it has a tendency to float.

 

This is a topic I would like to hear more about. I was just about to change to either floro or mono this year for my crank bait rods, but I'm not going to bother if it doesn't get me down deeper/quicker.

[Garnet]

Most times on the Kawrarthas you will want less depth to keep your cranks tipping the tops of weeds so Spider Thread Braid and thick diameter. If ultimate depth is required keep the diameter small and floura does sink. By going to extremes you can get 2ft deeper or 2ft shallower.

[OhioFisherman]

Garnet, not just in the Kawartha`s it works a lot of places. I use some old reels as crank bait reels, Shimano 251`s they have like a 4.7 to 1 ratio, slow by todays standards.

 

Gone, deeper quicker isn`t always the answer, you can catch fish on a deeper running crank in shallower water. A slow retrieve with one that wobbles well and just nick the weeds from time to time.

 

Who knows what fish think, or if they do, had days when a crank bait would catch a fish or two, but they would absolutely blast a lizard or worm swam through the weeds, even a jig and pig. Might depend on what the food is doing?

[fish-miester]

for the past two yrs I have used 12-14lb Trilen XL on my crankbait rod.. havnt had any complaints