Best Line for Bassin'

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The braided line stuff is bringing back memories for me. The late Russ Izor treated me to "some new stuff from Japan ". It was strange feeling, different than Dacron, and slippery.For awhile we all tied a figure 8 knot at the tag end of our line and then tied an improved clinch knot and let the Fig. 8 knot slip down and jam into the clinch knot. Follow that? When wet, it would cut you to the bone. I was using some on my jigstick, throwing surface iron and live sardines. I noticed that if I was hooked up and I let the line slip a little I could cut anybodys line who crossed me. Same for kelp. What an asset!. I had some on my Flippin stick and I could lift small trees right off the bottom. They looked like Chrismas trees they were so full of snagged lures. What a miracle! Fantastic Stuff... Why doesn't everybody use it?Its kind of a hassle. A backlsh with braid is murder. Never get it out. It slides down into itself when tension is applied so it casts kind of sticky as the line reaches spots when it has stuck. It floats. It is so light that the wind really affects it. Knots have improved since the advent of the superlines, but you really have to like to tie knots when you spool the stuff up. It is advised to first wind on three feet or so of mono then tie your favorite knot to the braid then do the same thing on the other side if you want to fish a leader. Are you with me? All of this is knot hard so to say and it has its benifits. The floating superline is easy to see for Flipping and almost unbreakable. I stopped using any leader long ago when I use braid and don't see any difference in the amount of strikes I get. It is so sensitive that you have to let them eat it or your hooksets will result in lips instead of whole fish.
Ok, what lines do I like? I've been fishing Spiderwire XXX Monofiliment in 6 , 10, 15 pound test. Very soft with outstanding knot strength.Fishes very well and lasts a long time. I use 17 pound Vanish on my live bait rod. A little wiry but cheap for flouro and has worked well on some big fish. Twenty on up to straight 100 :Triline Big game. Cheap, Durable and fishes well in open water. Thirty pound Spiderwire braid.Just on my Innerflow Flippin stick. Stuff slides down the middle of my weird Rod with no guides. Got the rod for thrusting a jig back into holes in the reeds we were flipping. Can't break it with a rod, I still use it because I got a five pound spool of it, because of my story on how the stuff saved my life one time. But, that's another story....
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