I want to know why I see so many walleye anglers using 10lb plus braid if your targeting walleyes I just dont get it I myself have landed many 6lb plus walleyes biggest one being real close to 13lb's  and I use a 6lb PowerPro Red or hi vis yellow, and most of the people that are using this 10lb plus line are fishing from boats I just dont get it, have we become so run and gun as fisherman that we forgot how to fish for the fun of the sport, The line peeling even on a 2 pounder still puts a smile on my face and hope it continues too for years to come. I fish from the bank 10 months of the year the other 2 months I am standing on ice.

 

This was an Issue that came to mind as after work yesterday I went back to the lake that I normally fish and I see someone throughing a 1/8 ounce jig on what looks like a tow cable, ask them about their Set-up and every piece they have fits perfect Fish Eagle II 7.5 foot rod Pfleuger Reel dont remember what series but he had it spooled with 20lb Fireline, and I have seen many other people say something on here to that extent as well, My father showed me how to catch walleye on a homemade 6.5' rod with a icecork handle and 4lb mono and he told me before I could move up lb test in line I had to straigten a hook, Took me 2 years to find the right knot but I did it.

 

Is there a reason better hook ups? I understand losing less lures maybe but its just not clicking.

 

I am posting this mainly because I just think most of us are forgetting what the sport is suppose to be about and thats the fun, The search, the find, the fight.

 

I think people use higher strength lines so they don't lose the fish of a lifetime.  Chances are the lures won't work right in this case.  I'd love to catch a really big fish, but it won't kill me to break off a few.  I'll still have stories to tell about the one that got away.

Understand that pillman, but if your using a tow cable with an overhand knot it isnt gonna hold the weight capacity its rated for in the first place.

 

 I know im in a Walleye section but this is on topic, 2 falls ago I was sitting with my at that time 2 year old daughter catching white bass on live tail cut shad, using ultra light tackle, I had her rod set in a cylinder block as she was throwing rocks in the water, which all kids do, when suddenly I hear a clank first thought was she tipped arock over on herself, turn and look and she is sitting down watching her rod move towards the water pointing at it, this rod was a spincast set up with 6lb mono wal-mart brand at that, after about 40 min or so after I had picked up the rod and set the hook fighting the fishes many many pulls I landed a 43lb flathead catfish and just for giggles I handed her the rod so she felt she caught it in the 5 feet of water.

 

Learn your knots down your line size and catch more fish, the thinner the line the less water resistance the better your baits move.

NebWalleye,
                        I fish walleyes with differant line's. For jigging I'll go 4 to 8 lb floro. But when bottom bouncing, I use 14 to 20 lb  fireline! Why? To save tackle, but I still use  4 to 8 lbs on my leaders. It's still fishing with light line. Trolling I'll go to 10 lb test Stren.


                                             Joe


        LM/03

Thanks for clearing that up for me bull trout guess it does make sense, I jig from the bank myself, in heavy rock and fallen timber and I do loose about $5-$10 worth of jigs daily but I reap the rewards.

Neb Walleye,
                   Have you ever tried "slip bobbering"?

                      Joe

 

LM/03

  NW, I use the High Vis green 6-LB on my spinning reel, and Cajun Red 8-LB on my bait caster, the red is hard to break even when you want to. If I need a leader I tie on a barrel swivel and add a 10 lb mono leader. If I think that I need more I will double or triple the leader. Harder for the Northerns to cut all of them. It also gives a light jig a more realistic presentation than you would get with a steel leader.

 

Jim USArmy 1986-Present Life Member NAFC Member Western Fishers Member Full Moon Fishers A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. Henry David Thoreau

I like slip-bobbering.  when setting up a pole, I usually put a stop-knot on the line just in case. 

OK Nebraska Walleye, I guess you're talking about me so let me splain. I fish for eyes (see my avatar) with 15 lb. Tuff Line. It's a green braided line with a 4 lb. diameter. No stretch to it. I use a 6ft. Medium action Ugly Stick and a spinning reel. I fish from a boat. Many times while fishing I'll be drifting or trolling right on or just above the bottom. Between the braided line and the sensitve rod tip, I can feel the difference between the bottom, the weeds and the walleye "tap-tap". Rocks and weeds are a common snag using that method, hence one reason for the heavier line. Also quite often I'll hook into a northern or muskie and the 15 lb. braided line has paid off in those instances too. A polymar knot works great and I never have had one break or let loose.

 

Nobody taught me how to fish. I had to figure it out by myself and that's what works for me in the waters I fish.

 

 

 

 

Be Fishers of Men, You catch, He Cleans Trophy Life Member and Proud of it. You got a problem with that?

Hey Lazarus:

Do you mean a Palomar Knot? The Palomar is in my opinnion THE knot for braid. I can understand the heavy test line for the bass guys working heavy weeds or cover, but when I am out walleye fishing, I have to give the fish a chance and never use anything over 8# unless I am pulling boards or dipsies, and even then rarely above 15#.

Tom

I fish almost exclusively for walleye and use nothing but Power Pro braid. The lightest line I use is 6/20 on my jigging rods. For open water trolling on Lake Erie and Ontario, everything is spooled with 8/30. As Lazarus said.. I hate loosing terminal tackle and can staighten a jig hook with the 20 lb. braid. It's not the loss of the jig, but the time involved to replace it that bothers me! Most of my jigging is done in stained water, so stealth is not an issue. For clear water trolling, I do run an 8 foot section of floro leader. The pull of dipsies and boards put too much stress on a line for much less than 30lb. as far as I'm concerned. I guess the bottom line is.. go with what works best for you. I do well with the heavy stuff and plan on sticking with it! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris) ps.. I also only use the polomar or polymar (however you want to spell it) knot!

Did anyone else see the bit about sweaty hands on the Club home page? A fishing buddy of mine clued me on this about 5 years ago. Bottom line: saliva good, sweat bad! If I sit down to tie harnesses or Lindy rigs, the first thing I do is wash my hands. If I am on the water, I rinse in the lake or river before tying. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but it sure can't hurt. BTW, I have settled on two knots for all of my fishing needs, the Palomar for attatching terminal tackle and lures or the uni for snelling and splicing line. Both are easy to tie and retain good knot strength on ALL types of line.

Tom

Yep. Both great knots pegsguy.

If you wash your hands before tying, be careful of what kind of soap you use. The soap can be worse than the sweat. Make sure you rinse well.

 

 

Be Fishers of Men, You catch, He Cleans Trophy Life Member and Proud of it. You got a problem with that?

By the way, Love your forum signature.

Soap isn't the problem, it's inadequate rinsing! Any time I handle any kind of bait or lure I make sure my hands are well rinsed in clean water. Not sure if it is always necessary, but I'm sure it can't hurt.

Anyone watching Knot Wars? Next week this year's winner goes up against the palomar. Should be interesting.

Tom

NebraskaWalleye,

 I fish Lake Erie and use 14 pound crystal Fireline on Stcriox 7 foot med power fast action walleye legend tournament and a Quantum Energy pti.  Is this a tow cable?  The diameter a 14 pound is the same as your 6 pound mono.  20 pound tow cable Fireline has the same diameter as 8 pound mono.  I use fireline so I can get more line on my reels before my backing shows up.  I have had 100 yards out fishing deep on a fast drift with a crawler harness.  Try that with 6 pound mono and bring in a 9 pound fish. 

I have never had 6 pound mono unknot it always snaps above. If you are straitening hook on 6 pound mono you should use different hooks.  When you use some of these super lines and you are long lined the lack of stretch lets you hook set faster and you can feel what is going on out there. 

Bulltrout ,

I don’t know how deep you are trolling and what you are trolling with but when I use dipsy divers I’m using 30 or 40 power pro to the dipsy and 20 pound leaders or harnesses on snubbers. Do not want to lose my dipsys.

I fish Lk Mich for trout and salmon, run boards, dipsys and downriggers and only fish with 20# Fireline Crystal with a mono or fluoro leader. A 20#+ fish is always a possibility, so with the added drag of the tackle(and boards and dipsys aren't cheap) the 20# line makes sense, but for drifting or casting for Walleye? Either you know how to fish or not. A 15# walleye should be no problem on 8# test.

Tom

Not to start a argument but still 20 Fireline doesn’t look like a tow cable. It’s not a matter of bring in a 15 pound fish on 8 pound mono it a matter of having 200 feet of mono out on a long line.   With sag and about 25% stretch in your line knowing what is going on down there and getting the go hook set is easier with the supper lines (Fireline).  The heavy test is mostly due to how much line goes on your reel 14 pound works for me.  It is about technology if you don’t like it don’t use it.  They probably said the same things about fish finders some time ago.  My grandfather didn’t have one and he was a fisherman so I’m told.   

 Know most premade harnesses are 20 pound mono which is what I use for my leaders when trolling.  The 40 pound power pro is to keep my line counters accurate again size matters.  If you are using Fireline on line counters they may not be accurate.  You may want to check that out I don’t know F.Y.I.   This was tooled to me at a trolling seminar.

No one showed me how to tie knots or how to fish I had to learn on my own and no one should criticize someone for how they fish or what they use how about making a suggestion instead.

Tony

Tony:

I didn't have anyone to learn from either. The bottom line is that the smaller the line, the harder it is for the fish to see it. There is a reason they call what I do Sport Fishing. Part of this is giving the fish a fair chance. Fishing for 5# fish with 30# test is not very sporting in my mind. Just a personal oppinion.

Tom

Tom,

14-6 Fireline is 14 pound test with a 6 pound mono diameter my line is thinner than your 8 pound.

30-8 Power Pro is 30 pound test 8 pound mono diameter.

40-10 Power Pro is 40 pound test 10 pound mono diameter.

The thinner the line the hard it is for the fish to see it. I agree.  And that’s the bottom line.

I understand sport fishing and that’s cool but don’t criticizes people for how they fish and that was not even directed at you in the first place .  When we drift Lake Erie you can go from 40' to 10' or 20' to 6' in the western basin right now and an average depth of less than 25 feet and zebra mussels every were. That a lot of lures. That is another reason.  Mono gets ripped up.  And like I said you have to fill your reel so it would take 450 yards of 6 pound Fireline to fill a 30 size reel or 300 yard of 14 Fireline at the same price per yard.  I don’t know about Lake Michigan but with an average depth of 279 feet, max of 923 feet I’m going to think that you don’t worry about it as much as I do but I don’t know for sure. Know let’s talk about some fun.  I would like to fish Lake Michigan and have fished Lake Ontario by St. Catherin in Canada 25 to 30 pound salmon is a lot of fun.  4 years in a row with a king over 28 pounds.  In Lake Erie that’s not happening maybe a sturgeon on a hope and a prayer, but we got some musky and that’s always fun got two last year.   

Tony