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| I am getting rigged up for trolling this year. What is the best line for trolling for muskies?
Thanks much! |
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Posts: 1529
| depends where ya fish. on l.s.c. its mainly big game mono green..
has mild stretch
holds in planer clips well.
in-expensive |
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Posts: 2097
| I like braid for trolling as well as casting. 80-100lb braid. I don't have issues with braid popping out of my OR18 releass. |
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Posts: 2324
Location: Chisholm, MN | Wondering the same thing. Doesn't the large diameter of 100# hinder the action of the lure and not let some baits dive as deep? |
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Posts: 189
Location: Barrington, Il | I like mono myself. Braid has its place and so does wire line. |
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Posts: 20213
Location: oswego, il | used to use mono and works fine. rightnow i am using braid on heavy catfish fiberglass rods, works verry well. |
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I use Mono for most applications in tests from 17 to 50 lb. I prefer Mason P-LINE to all other mono lines . 30 pound Mason has been my go to for 10 years now. On St. Clair it is all I run with 60 pound Big Game hard mono leaders. On inland lakes I run steel leaders due to wood, rock and other things that can cut off you line.
Braid for trolling requires a different mind set for me. Smaller spools to keep from burying line and you must run top of the line rod guides or you WILL saw grooves in them. Big Musky lures cause the line to saw back and forth through the guides and cheap guides die fast. I run stainless steel wide guides with mono and have zero problems. Mono gives you some stretch which helps with smaller baits however limits hook penetration on large baits . There is a crossing point where Braid is necessary to get adequate hook setting. I build trolling lures from 4 to 21 inches. Guys that run our Deep Threat line find that the 10 inch model and 12 inch models can be run on 50 to 60 pound mono but the 15 and 21 require braid in the 130 pound range . The best set for our 21" is a tuna or halibut rod with roller guides and 130 pound braid line. Use that same set on a smaller bait and you just rip the hooks out. The best rig for our little 4 inch rippin shad has been 17 pound mason P-Line mono with 45 pound steel leaders on southern lakes. Anything heavier sucks the life out of those smaller lures. Baits in the 5 to 8 inch range run well on 30 pound. I run 50 on anything bigger up to 13 inch baits. Then I am forced to go braid for bigger stuff. I keep reels spooled with different test lines and just switch them up depending on where we are going to be fishing.
Line type is relative to lure size,hook size and depth desired . The type of trolling you do is also relative. I have seen most of the set ups used. Horror stories about shattered casting rods broke on snags where the users were using 100 pound braid, drag locked down and hit a log at 5 mph with air temps under 30 degrees. That is a great combination for a shattered 300 dollar graphite casting rod. When ever trolling with one of my casting rods I hold the rod in my hand while trolling to my next casting spot. I use all glass rods for trolling.
So in short your question has about 100 answers . If you would like some direct advice pm me with what you are going to be doing as far as trolling applications. I would be glad to help you get on the right track. Mike
Edited by Kingfisher 3/26/2013 11:50 AM
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | Kirby Budrow - 3/26/2013 11:04 AM
Wondering the same thing. Doesn't the large diameter of 100# hinder the action of the lure and not let some baits dive as deep?
Braid lines rarely effect the lure actions as they are much smaller diameter. 100 pound braid is like 20 pound mono. Bigger braid is better then fine braid for trolling as light braids like 30 pound will get buried in the spool real easy. Using lighter braid requires very tight winding on the spool to stop this from happening. Also here is huge safety reminder. On rivers with swift current NEVER WRAP BRAID LINE AROUND YOUR HAND and try pulling loose from a snag. The current will pull your boat down stream and You can get cut badly.
My biggest problem with using braid for trolling is knowing when the line has a bad spot in it. Nicks show up real well on Mono , not so with braids. Braids will work great if you #1 use good rods with good rod guides and #2 Keep your drags loose enough to give on snags before breaking rod holders, rods etc. You need some give in the system. Mono stretches braid does not. Mike |
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Posts: 4266
| I use Stren Magna Flex mono in flourescent yellow. 40# test. After I saw guys catching Marlin and Tuna and other ocean fish with it I figured it must be tough. Then I tie up leaders of different poundage of fluorocarbon for different lakes and different lures and I tie bead chain on either end of the leaders. The bead chain snags weeds, prevents twists and is stronger than any snap. All of my trolling lures have X strong split rings in the nose so I just connect bead chain to the split ring for my connection. I've never used braid because I want stretch in my line and bend in my rods when I troll, and Magna Flex was designed for trolling. I spent a decade working on my brothers Lake Mich. salmon charter boat, so I learned lots about trolling in those years, but I am by no means a professional. I listen to the guys who do it for a living. |
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Posts: 114
Location: Kingston, Ontario | Am planning on trying out the new Spiderwire Zilla Braid this year for trolling in 30# test. It is equivalent diameter to about 60 or 80lb Sufix 832 but has about 6% stretch. Supposed to be a nice blend of braid/mono properties and I think will be ideal for trolling. The smaller diameter compared to 30lb mono should help achieve more depth when needed, larger diameter than 30lb braid won't bind up and the stretch should help with hooksets. We'll see, haven't tried it yet but have heard some good things. |
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Posts: 285
Location: NE Wisconsin | Let me first say for casting I am strictly a braided guy. But for trolling, my friends and I, after trying both and have found we have less "losses" with mono. I think mono gives you some degree of forgiveness. With a few thousand pound boat moving forward at 2.5-6 MPH something has to give when you have a strike, and also as the the boat moves forward early in the fight.. Yes drags have to be set right and you can use a limber rod, but early in the fight, we feel mono gives you a little added forgiveness. I use about 40# Big Game.. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | "getting rigged up for trolling"..... Such a simple question. Okay, let's start with a few questions back atcha before we get to what line or the poundage you should be using.
1st, What is the minimum / maximum depth you plan on running? What speeds do you plan on trolling? Do you plan on using planner boards, rod holders or dipsies? Do you plan to walk the bottom or run free? Do you ever fish in waters with zebra mussels?
Been trolling for a long time and have used nearly all the different types of lines, high stretch/low stretch mono, fluorocarbon, braid, lead core, copper and single strand stainless, probably missed one or two, ha ha, but to your question, "What is the best line for trolling for muskies?" In a word or two, its not possible to get away with just one..... Unless you plan on trolling a very narrow depth range.
Everything starts with the "depth and speed" we "aim" to achieve and the line we choose has a direct effect on our depth control. It's been said many times that "trolling is the teacher". Trolling teaches the fisherman many things, the shape of a structure situation, bottom make up etc; to many to list here but the most important reason is, "trolling teaches the fisherman where to cast". In many instances a good troller can point to where trolling the shallows may have indicated one casting position while another (the real money spot) was discovered by trolling deep structure.
If your answer to the question of minimum and maximum running depth happens to be from 2'- 18'-20 something feet then mono is your best bet. A 20-30lb low stretch mono with a 80-100lb 3' mono leader will work just fine. Happy trolling!
However if, down the road you wish to interpret mid depth structure say out to 20'- 35' or so..... then a second trolling rod spooled up with a good braid and a deep running crank may be your ticket. I have found the new 7" JB1 Spoonplug with its 3 different depth settings to be a good dependable tool for reaching these depths. Pm me and I'll get you info on how and where you can get them.
But then again say you really get into this trolling thing and begin to interpret deep water structure and want to hit even deeper depths, then leadcore or even better would be to go with stainless wire and the new Jb2 Spoonplug, good from 35'+.
After all of our years of trolling, literately tens of thousands of miles it comes down to two simple areas, controlling the depth and speed of our lures or bait on the cast and on the troll. We can not ever expect to be successfully in ANY significant way by casting or dragging baits based on color, action or size, or the moon ha ha! We must put our lures or bait at the right depth, (on structure) move them at the right speed and do so at the right time.
There is no best all around line for every occasion, there are times when the fish are shallow, there are times when the fish are deep and there are times when they're in between. Having the right tools, lures, lines, boat etc to reach the fish on the troll at all depths greatly improves our understanding of the waters being fished and our chances for success.
To become a more knowledgable troller, Step one, get some low stretch mono, a bucket full of markers, hold the rod while trolling and practice learning to control lures out to 15' before going any deeper.
Such a long answer.
Best of luck! |
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Posts: 114
| Would any trolling setup work for both walleye and musky, without having to change the line/rods/reels. Just having a snap at the end to change between 120lb flouro and 10lb flour? |
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| get any braided line you can get but stay away from mono,stretching line is a big no no for casting ,it's exactly the same thing for trolling.for precision trolling the less line you put behind the boat the most precision you get so once again mono is a big no no.the mono diameter is so big sometimes a lots of cranks can't even reach a depth of 10 feet....
a lazarus article was telling mono is good for nothing so i tend to believe it |
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Posts: 81
Location: Toronto, Ontario | My friends and I run 100# PowerPro on Tekota's or other reels with smooth drags, on the St. Croix glass trolling rod....with the drag set to peel just above the "slipping" point. With that configuration, we rarely lose fish. 100lb PowerPro has an excellent dive curve and the sensitivity for detecting weeds or other debris on the line is excellent. I wouldn't consider mono but hey, if it works for you, go for it. |
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