line test considerations

[MuskieBait]

Yes, there are both pros and cons for different line strengths. It all depends on what kind of situation you are in.

Obviously, you cannot (well, some of us could) have multiple rods and reels with various kinds of lines and weight of lines. But you can ALWAYS attaches a leader or topshot to your mainline to achieve similar effect.

For example, you can use 30lb braid for its benefits of no-stretch, thin diameter, supple, and sensitive nature, while attaching a 4-foot 15lb fluorocarbon leader for its benefit of low visibility, abrasion resistant and a little bit of stretch.

The goal often is to find the balance between the various properties of various types of line. There is no one way to do things, but you can often find compromises by mixing and matching mainline and leader.

BTW, 8lb is plenty strong for a lot of situations. The strength factor is often overemphasized. A lot of the factors determining whether you can successfully land the fish or not depend on your rod, your drag and your technique. A rod with a slower action can cushion light lines much better and the spring action in the rod actually put more resistance on the fish. A good smooth drag will let you set the resistance very close to the limit of the breaking strength of your line, thus allowing you to apply maximum pressure on the fish without breaking (maximum pressure does not mean the maximum stoppage power of you reel, eg. 20lbs of drag...but basically the upper limit of your line's breaking strength). Experience with fight fish, that is, knowing when you let the fish run and when to hold your ground, as well as being patient with letting the fish run when necessary and not rushing a landing job, certainly helps to bring in big fish with light lines.

Example:

I landed a 30lb grass carp on 8lb mono mainline...it took less than 5 minutes to land the fish from a box cut coral canal (meaning there were sharp ledges of coral rock lining the shore, making landing the fish tricky).

It's not really all that difficult. You just have to realize that there are opportunity for the fish to break you off close to shore, so you try not to rush by bringing the fish in too early. If the fish comes in too early, it still has a lot of strength to run deep quickly (which then you cause the line angle to be too steep and cut you on the coral ledge). Instead, you let the fish play out in deeper water. As long as the fish is in deeper water, the line will go over the ledge without ever touching the ledge. Once you are confident that the fish has tired enough, and it only fights you close to the surface, you can then bring it toward shore closely and keep your drag on a lighter setting. Getting the fish on the surface does not mean completely exhausting the fish, but rather being in control of the fish and being able to turn it to point its head up. You don't want to overplay a fish to complete exhaustion since the fish will not revive well.

A lot of the rookie mistake with a fish close to shore is to either keep the drag setting the same or tighten up the drag to keep the fish from running off again. Instead, you should lighten the drag pressure. When the fish is close to you, there is only a very short stretch of line between your rod tip and the fish. The rod is also likely pointed up so there is little bend left in the rod to cushion a sudden surge. With light lines, this is where most fish are broken off. With a lighter drag, it will allow the fish to run off without breaking your line, especially when the fish finally sees the net. The fish is already fairly tired (well you should have tired it out in deeper water in the first place), so even if it runs off, it will be a short distance.

Especially with rocky or weedy areas, it is important to keep the fish's head up when the fish wants to run. With a light drag, you can still allow the fish to run, but using the rod to keep the head up as high as possible. This prevents the fish from going too deep and getting you into trouble. With a tight drag, you can only drop the rod angle to cushion the line to prevent the fish from breaking you off, but when you drop the rod angle, you allow the fish to dive deeper into snags.

And as in all case of landing fish, a good net boy always helps. An experience net person will know when to back off and not force the landing (thus avoid knocking the fish with the net or getting the line tangled), and when to go for the net job and put the fish directly in the bag.