A good baseball player understands his equipment. He knows how best his bat, glove, spikes, helmet and the ball respond to conditions. Bass fishing is the same. Knowing the workings of your rod, reel and lure will increase your chances of catching fish. Knowing the effects of your line is one more important element in a successful outing.
Line Weight
Retailer Cabela's says bass anglers generally use 10- to 14-lb. fishing line, although avid anglers choose heavier, 14- to 20-lb. line. The range can be as wide as 4-lb. line to 50-lb. or heavier. The lighter 4- to 6-lb. lines are for finesse fishing or for smallmouth bass fishing. The 10- to 14-lb. range is for average, open-water conditions. Heavier lines get more use in topwater fishing and when flipping or pitching lures deep into woody or rocky cover. Other factors, like the size of your lure, affect your line choice.
Your rod and reel will have a recommended range of line weight for optimum performance. Generally, the lighter the line, the further you will be able to cast and the deeper you will be able to fish. The shorter your casts, the heavier the line you will need to avoid breaking your line on a hookset. Heavy line also is used as the main line in Carolina-rigging or as backing on the inner half of your spool.
Impact on Lures
Your line affects the way your lure acts. Line size affects the angle at which a topwater lure rests on the surface. Leader length helps determine how far off the bottom a Carolina-rig lure floats. Line weight impacts how hard you can set the hook. Line diameter is one factor in the depth your lure can reach and the speed at which the bait falls through the water column. Pro fisherman Chad Brauer says a change from 10-lb. to 12-lb. line can make a crankbait run 1 to 2 feet shallower. If you're catching fish on a lure and want to run it a little shallower or deeper, a change of line is all you need.
Spool Connection
Tie a bad knot on purpose. When you connect your fishing line to your reel spool, tie an overhand knot or a bad granny knot that will slip if all your line runs out. Most bass fishing reels hold 100 to 200 yards of line. If all of that line runs out when you hook a fish, it's not a bass. The only time you are likely to run all the line off a bass fishing reel is if you accidentally and unknowingly hit the spool release button while you are in a bass boat under power. If you have tied a good knot, your rod will pop out of the boat when the line runs out. Tie a bad knot, and the line will break and you'll keep your rod and reel.
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