Choosing The Right Line For Cranking And Flipping 2025
RippinLips1992 reply :
Hello Everybody,
I have been fishing with my dad ever since I could walk but now that I am out of school and making a little more money, I have decided to start taking bass fishing a bit more seriously. It seems that the first step in this process is to make sure you have all of the right tools of the. I currently own two Curados spooled with 20lb test fireline on BPS Extreme Casting Rods. I have had them for a good ten years and haven't had any problems. However, I'm looking into buying a flipping and pitching rod as well as a cranking rod to add to my repertoire before this years season starts. I like the Curado so much I don't see myself going in any different direction there, but I am curious about what type of line is best to put on my two new reels.
The flipping and pitching stick is the new BPS Bionic Blade 7' H with microguides and it will double as a frog rod. There is a lot of downed timber in some of the lakes that I fish as well as a lot of thick lily pads.
The cranking rod is the BPS Crankin Stick 7' M. I would use this rod in most of the same areas as I would use the former, as well as maybe fishing some deeper diving baits (8-12 ft) thru weed beds in open water.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Penguino reply :
On 1/27/2015 at 11:19 PM, RippinLips1992 said:Hello Everybody,
I have been fishing with my dad ever since I could walk but now that I am out of school and making a little more money, I have decided to start taking bass fishing a bit more seriously. It seems that the first step in this process is to make sure you have all of the right tools of the. I currently own two Curados spooled with 20lb test fireline on BPS Extreme Casting Rods. I have had them for a good ten years and haven't had any problems. However, I'm looking into buying a flipping and pitching rod as well as a cranking rod to add to my repertoire before this years season starts. I like the Curado so much I don't see myself going in any different direction there, but I am curious about what type of line is best to put on my two new reels.
The flipping and pitching stick is the new BPS Bionic Blade 7' H with microguides and it will double as a frog rod. There is a lot of downed timber in some of the lakes that I fish as well as a lot of thick lily pads.
The cranking rod is the BPS Crankin Stick 7' M. I would use this rod in most of the same areas as I would use the former, as well as maybe fishing some deeper diving baits (8-12 ft) thru weed beds in open water.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Flipping and Pitching: 40 Pound Braid with a fluorocarbon leader
Crankin rod: 12 Pound Mono
kikstand454 reply :
A high strength braid. ... probably #40 ( at least) ...for your flipping/frog rod.
A good flouro or hybrid in the 12# range for your cranking rod.
I personally choose power pro and yozuri hybrid. Any personal preference will do.
Good luck!
fisherrw reply :
12 for crank 50 braid for flip.
Felix77 reply :
50 Braid for Flippin'
12lb FC for Crankbaits
RippinLips1992 reply :
Thanks Everybody! What would the drawbacks be to putting fireline on the cranking rod as well? I know that it floats, but wouldn't the smaller diameter of the line (compared to mono or FC) somewhat account for the added buoyancy of the line? I am just so comfortable with throwing braid on my bait casters that I can't fully wrap my head around making a switch to FC.
HoosierHawgs reply :
On 1/27/2015 at 11:41 PM, Penguino said:Flipping and Pitching: 40 Pound Braid with a fluorocarbon leader
Crankin rod: 12 Pound Mono
This is what I use!
illinifan4152 reply :
On 1/27/2015 at 11:56 PM, Felix77 said:50 Braid for Flippin'
12lb FC for Crankbaits
x2
HoosierHawgs reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 12:04 AM, RippinLips1992 said:Thanks Everybody! What would the drawbacks be to putting fireline on the cranking rod as well? I know that it floats, but wouldn't the smaller diameter of the line (compared to mono or FC) somewhat account for the added buoyancy of the line? I am just so comfortable with throwing braid on my bait casters that I can't fully wrap my head around making a switch to FC.
FireLine has no stretch, so if you were going to use it on a cranking rod, you would want a very soft rod and you would probably want to back off your drag, but I don't see why you couldn't try it and see if you like it.
Penguino reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 1:00 AM, jakob1010 said:FireLine has no stretch, so if you were going to use it on a cranking rod, you would want a very soft rod and you would probably want to back off your drag, but I don't see why you couldn't try it and see if you like it.
Unless you like using slow-moderate action fiberglass rods, don't put fireline on your fishing reel for crankin. It has no stretch, so you will miss a lot of fish.
J Francho reply :
What does a lack of stretch have to do with missing fish? I hear this a lot, and really I never hear an answer that makes any sense. Personally, I prefer to use CXX or Tatsu for cranks. I also prefer a moderate taper graphite rod. I feel that rebound and deflection off cover is better with this combination - specifically for lipped divers, not shallow square bills or traps. I'm just not seeing a valid argument for why stretch matters in missing bites.
Felix77 reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 2:15 AM, J Francho said:What does a lack of stretch have to do with missing fish? I hear this a lot, and really I never hear an answer that makes any sense. Personally, I prefer to use CXX or Tatsu for cranks. I also prefer a moderate taper graphite rod. I feel that rebound and deflection off cover is better with this combination - specifically for lipped divers, not shallow square bills or traps. I'm just not seeing a valid argument for why stretch matters in missing bites.
I have heard two philosophies on this ... Would be curious if you heard the same ...
1 - "Stretch" in the line provides some forgiveness when a bass strikes a treble bait. This allows you an increased probability of hooking the bass merely because the forgiveness provides a brief moment longer to swallow the bait.
2 - "Sensitivity/forgiveness" ... focuses on the rods ability to absorb the impact and via it's flex it offers that brief moment longer to swallow the bait as well.
I am with you I think ... the principle I like to follow is that you have enough "feel" to sense what the CB is doing. That can be done with numerous combinations of line and rod/reel combinations.
I personally prefer straight FC and a relatively parabolic M rod. I see no reason why braid with the proper rod couldn't give you the same result. Maybe even Braid with a FC leader.
HookdUP reply :
I have curado's on all the setups you speak of in various form and it goes like this in my garage
Fluro jig rod ... 7-10 Ducket micro magic pro 16lb sun-line curado ihg
Braid jig rod ... 7-6 duckett ghost 30lb fx2 sun-line curado 200e7
Crankbait rod ... 7-6 ducket micro crank 12lb big game Curado 200dpv
Braid crankbait rod (square bills/summer) 7ft ducket micro crank 20lb power pro slick timber
Curado ihg
J Francho reply :
Felix, great points! I subscribed to both theories you raised for many years. Keep in mind, I've been a crankbait fisherman since I was a kid. The problem is, I've used braid with several miving baits, including treble hooked cranks. The missing fish because of a zero level reaction time doesn't hold water. It also has nothing to do with treble or single hook baits. I don't miss fish when I use a siwash hook on a spoon or a spinner. Or an umbrella rig for that matter - in fact a little trick is to use a spoon with a treble on the center bait instead of a swimbait.
Why would you need more reaction time with an open hook bait than a weedless/brush guard bait? Do swim jig guys use stretchy mono? The argument makes no sense.
I'll reiterate that my preference has more to do with deflection and rebound feel, and also my reaction to cover - NOT THE STRIKE - like wood or dock pilings. You won't miss bites because of braid. If you're missing strikes, chances are they weren't engulfing the bait anyway, and the problem is some other part of the presentation - color, profile, cadence, action, etc., and not the line.
LApanic reply :
12# flouro for crankbait
20# flouro for wood/sparse veg pitching
65# power pro, drag locked down, for heavy veg and frogging
Alonerankin2 reply :
I use #8 to #10 Yo hybrid, or CXX on cranks..
12 to 20 on Flip rigs.. Same lines as above based on cover types.
corn-on-the-rob reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 6:00 AM, J Francho said:Felix, great points! I subscribed to both theories you raised for many years. Keep in mind, I've been a crankbait fisherman since I was a kid. The problem is, I've used braid with several miving baits, including treble hooked cranks. The missing fish because of a zero level reaction time doesn't hold water. It also has nothing to do with treble or single hook baits. I don't miss fish when I use a siwash hook on a spoon or a spinner. Or an umbrella rig for that matter - in fact a little trick is to use a spoon with a treble on the center bait instead of a swimbait.
Why would you need more reaction time with an open hook bait than a weedless/brush guard bait? Do swim jig guys use stretchy mono? The argument makes no sense.
I'll reiterate that my preference has more to do with deflection and rebound feel, and also my reaction to cover - NOT THE STRIKE - like wood or dock pilings. You won't miss bites because of braid. If you're missing strikes, chances are they weren't engulfing the bait anyway, and the problem is some other part of the presentation - color, profile, cadence, action, etc., and not the line.
It is nice to hear someone else say this. It is one of the things where people hear/say something for so long that they believe it to be fact, or heard it from someone and and trusted the info was true because the logic is actually convincing (and it does sound like it).
You also left out one of the most important factors, user error. If someone missed 30% of their bites/landings on mono, and after switching then misses 30% on braid without knowing the actual numbers, they might attribute those missed fish to the braid because when trying new things failures stand out more than successes and will then assume braid was the problem. I will say that switching to mono from braid IS different and may take a little practice to adjust to those differences.
I am not saying braid is definitively better than mono on moving baits, but I will say it is not worse when it comes to hook-up/landing. Although, the sensitivity with braid on moving baits is (IMHO) virtually unbeatable.
I run braid on all my set ups after using mono my entire life and wish I had done it way sooner though it may not be for everyone. I also use FC leaders on all set ups I need/want to. Win, win.
RippinLips1992 reply :
Thank you guys so much for all of your input. One last question that I have. I've been digging through a whole bunch of different forums and other bass fishing websites and can't seem to find a definitive answer. Should I go with PowerPro or Fireline. Like I said in my original question, I have been fishing Fireline since I was a child, but I would be open to try a change if it seems like the right choice. An thoughts?
Delaware Valley Tackle reply :
On 1/28/2015 at 2:15 AM, J Francho said:What does a lack of stretch have to do with missing fish? I hear this a lot, and really I never hear an answer that makes any sense. Personally, I prefer to use CXX or Tatsu for cranks. I also prefer a moderate taper graphite rod. I feel that rebound and deflection off cover is better with this combination - specifically for lipped divers, not shallow square bills or traps. I'm just not seeing a valid argument for why stretch matters in missing bites.
X2 It's a misconception that you're pulling the bait away from a fish and they "need time to eat it" and that stretchy line will compensate. Using a more sensitive combo of rod and line along with sticky sharp hooks and being ready for a quicker hookset has actually improved crankbaiting for me.
crankbank reply :
Flipping: 40+lb braid, no leader
Cranking: 12lb copoly or hybrid
roadwarrior reply :
On 1/27/2015 at 11:41 PM, Penguino said:Flipping and Pitching: 40 Pound Braid with a fluorocarbon leader
Crankin rod: 12 Pound Mono
That will work!
Zach Dunham reply :
Braided line does lose you more fish with treble hooks in my opinion. However, it isn't because the fish "didn't get the lure deep enough". From what I have seen, using braid with a fast-moving bait tears bigger holes in the mouth when the hook goes in, allowing the fish more room to throw the bait. Also, the stretch comes in to play a little bit when a fish jumps and the line goes slack, a very little bit of the slack will be taken up by the line contracting if it was stretched. To adjust for this you can use a moderate or slow rod and use braid. I prefer to use a moderate-fast rod or even fast for some moving baits and with that setup I lose a far greater number while using braid.
J Francho reply :
Losing fish is a separate issue, mitigated with proper gear and settings. The main claim is that you miss bites with braid. As far as losing fish goes, I have a saying. The longer it takes for the fish to get in the net, the more that can go wrong.
J Francho reply :
Forgot to mention this about tearing big holes with braid: why isn't this an issue with heavy cover fishing? I believe tha answer to that question is the solution for cranks as well.
ZB85 reply :
not to hijack the thread but if your using your cranking rod for lipless cranks as well would it be better to move up to 15# fluoro if that's your line of choice or is 12# sufficient?
J Francho reply :
I use 12# for lipless over weeds. I step it up for rocks.
Alpha Male reply :
You can use braid for cranking...I do. If I'm not getting bit I will add a fluoro leader.
Alpha Male reply :
I think the problem some people have with braid is they're used to "setting" the hook. With braid and especially with cranks I just reel set. Feel the bite pull until you get the rod loaded and fell a couple of quick turns
Penguino reply :
On 1/29/2015 at 11:07 AM, Alpha Male said:I think the problem some people have with braid is they're used to "setting" the hook. With braid and especially with cranks I just reel set. Feel the bite pull until you get the rod loaded and fell a couple of quick turns
Yeah I like using mono for cranks because I like doing "Instant-Rock Hard Hooksets"
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