WHICH FISHING LINE SHOULD I USE
BY RANDY LAUKSHTEIN
When I first started fishing as a young boy, my dad taught me to use monofilament fishing line. Over the years, I got hooked on Ande fishing line. I was fishing off of the North Carolina beach piers at the time. Monofilament fishing line had great strength and abrasion, and that’s what everyone else was using around me at the time. It was not until I got hooked into backwater fishing that I made the change to braided fishing line. Again, its what everyone else around me was using. At first, I thought these people were just nuts. This line was very hard to get used to after always using monofilament line. When casting with a crosswind, your line would fly around like a kite string. You would get wind knots in it, making you want to scream. But I was determined to master this because I wanted to be like the rest. I knew there had to be a reason why all these other snook anglers used it.
Well, now I can honestly say that I have mastered fishing with braided line. I still, on occasion, get wind knots, and yes, sometimes on windy days I see my line blow over a mangrove branch. Nevertheless, that’s part of the adventure, right? I have created all kinds of new bad words when this happens. So anyway, I want to show you the main differences in fishing lines and when and where you should use them.
Monofilament fishing line is a great, inexpensive line that has been around forever. If you are going to be fishing open flats, bays, and passes, then this is fine. Many anglers who use top water plugs will use monofilament line with a bait caster. Heavier gear that you may use around passes and deeper water are also fine with monofilament line. However, you do not want to use monofilament around structure, and if you do you may want to go to a heavier line. The problem with this is that the fish can see the line. In addition, monofilament line has give. What this means is the line has stretch to it. This is something you do not want when fishing under or around structure. You need to be able to pull the fish out as fast as possible and not give any slack, or its over before it even started. I find that when using plugs, especially top water plugs, it does not perform as well as braided line, which has no give.
Fluorocarbon line is very much like monofilament line. When looking at the two, you may not even be able to tell them apart. The big difference in Fluorocarbon is that it is stronger than monofilament, and almost disappears under water. This makes it a better line, but it is costly. I do have some friends who have no problem filling their reel spools with this stuff. As for me, I like it as a shock leader. It works great with monofilament line and braided line. Just use the proper knots, such as an Albright knot, when tying the lines together. Fluorocarbon also has some give, but when being used as a shock leader, the line is so short that it makes very little difference. Fluorocarbon line is heavier than monofilament line, so when using it instead of a monofilament leader for top water, you may need to make it shorter or it will tend to drag your plug down and not work the way you want. Just shorten it a little at a time until it works properly.
Braided line looks like string. Underwater, it still looks like string. Yes, fish can see it. It does not really matter what color line that you use, the fish can still see it. Perhaps in muddy water they cannot see it, but they can’t see much of anything. This is why I use a shock leader to give a separation between the bait and line, in the hopes that the fish do not connect the two. Also, using a leader gives more strength around structure and the famous gill plates of snook. Braided line has no give to it. When you feel a hit and pull the line, it does not stretch. This is what you want when you are trying to pull a nice snook or redfish out of the mangroves. With no stretch, you can feel your shrimp popping when a predator comes near the hook. When working plugs, you will get better action since the line does not stretch. In addition, when you put 20 lbs braided line next to 20 lbs monofilament line you will see a great difference. Braided line is much thinner, and this is a very good thing. First you now can put more line on your reel. Second you will now be able to cast further. Thinner line + less drag = longer casts. I mean a lot longer casts.
I use braided line on just about everything now. However, this is a choice that I have made for me but may not be right for you. Wherever you choose to fish, or whatever style you choose to fish, use the proper line for the job and you will be a more successful angler.
