I have no idea how many miles of line I’ve spooled onto fishing reels since I began writing about the outdoors professionally back in the early 1980’s, but I’m sure it would stretch from here to there and back again with room to spare. It certainly should. As of today, the Cabela’s catalog lists 168 different lines — not counting fly lines — and the Bass Pro Shops catalog lists 188.
I haven’t tried all of those lines, of course, but I have subjected a legitimate sample of every type of fishing line to my version of a real world evaluation. I’ve passed the results of many of those tests along to you. I read several of them spanning the past 15 years, before I started to write this week’s column. Not totally to my surprise, I discovered that choosing the “right” line for any given purpose is so confusing that, over time, I haven’t always agreed with myself.
Since I’m first and foremost a rod and reel catfisherman, I’ve begged, borrowed and bought miles of line whose manufacturers touted as “perfect” catfish line. Some of it was even labeled as “catfish line.”
But wait! Before I go on, I should explain to the non-catfishermen among you that catfishermen face a unique dilemma. Although few of them would admit it, the overwhelming majority of the catfish caught by rod and reel anglers weigh between one and four pounds. Even so the next bite the angler gets might find him or her attached to an extremely irritated whiskered behemoth weighing more than a typical kindergartner.
My first experiments were contacted with abrasion resistant 20- and 30-pound test monofilament. To quote myself, “Give me a high capacity reel and a decent rod, and I can land any fresh water fish on 20-pound line.” I probably could, too, if it didn’t get under a brush pile I couldn’t keep it out of.
Next came “Super Line.” Woven from a blend of polyethylene and other plastic polymers, this new line was pound for pound at least one third smaller in diameter than monofilament. It didn’t stretch and would cast a two-ounce sinker and a cut bait into the next time zone. It’s only apparent disadvantage was that it only worked well on revolving spool reels.
With my all too common act-now-repent-at-leisure zeal, I respooled all of my catfish reels with 65-pound Super Line. I found something I really liked about the new line on my first trip to the river. Thirty-pound test monofilament stretches enough to make it extremely difficult to break off a snagged hook from an anchored boat. When I get snagged using Super Line, I take about five wraps around a piece of pipe I carry for that purpose and–without even leaving my seat–apply steadily increasing power until the hook pulls free or the line breaks.
But I’m not trying to catch logs; I’m trying to catch fish. It didn’t take very many nice fish lost at boatside and one hit that was so violent, the rod holder broke with two of my fingers between it and the gunnel to convince me that I’d have to learn new techniques to add the stretch the line didn’t have naturally. The most workable answer was to back the drag off far enough that a 3-pound catfish could pull out line if it really wanted to. Additional drag was applied by the angler’s thumb just as had been the case before internal drag systems were invented. At least nowadays, the reel’s anti-reverse mechanism keeps the reel handle from “busting your knuckles” when a big fish makes an unexpected run.
The last couple of years, I’ve been doing quite a bit of night catfishing, and even though a catfish’s bite is seldom subtle enough to require watching your line, I still like to be able to do it. So I stripped off the Super Line and spooled half of my reels with bright orange 30-pound test monofilament. Two outings later, I changed out the other half. So far, I’m very happy with my choice.
While I haven’t come right out and said so, you don’t have to read too far between the lines to figure out that I often use more than three rods and reels at once. I’m not confessing to a violation of the Wildlife Code. As long as an angler doesn’t exceed the maximum 33-hook aggregate limit by all means being used simultaneously, he can use as many rods and reels or poles out of an occupied boat, so long as no more than three of the poles and rods in the boat aren’t labeled with the user’s name and address. I know it sounds silly, but allowing an angler to have equipment labeled as unattended in his boat is a big favor, especially for crappie anglers who like to fish spider rigs.
Next week I’ll take you on a journey through the tangle of line choices available to bass and crappie anglers.
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