Line for All Purpose Rod? 2025
Ik_47 reply :
I bank fish for the most part and travel light, a spinning rod and a baitcaster. I’ve been running straight braid on my baitcaster and I’ve liked it much more than mono. I just wonder sometimes if when the water is clear-stained if the fish can see the line and it deters bites. I throw everything on this rod, t rig, jig, chatter and spinnerbait, topwater, the occasionaly crank, etc. Do you guys recommend any other lines such as a copolymer line? Would a copolymer line be sensitive like braid but still less visible? would using a sharpie to blacken my moss green braid do anything? also, would copoly work in heavy cover (which i fish rarely but with the same rod) any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!
edit: id generally prefer not to use a leader but if thats just the best option, i might. i also dont want to use straight mono.
Glaucus reply :
Definitely copolymer. I like Yo Zuri Hybrid as an all purpose line. It's economical, strong, and manageable (especially with line conditioner). 4 or 6 lb on spinning gear, 10 or 12 lb on casting gear. Poundage depends on where you're fishing exactly and what gear you're using. On ML and M, it would be 4 and 10 for me. On M and MH it would be 6 and 12.
Brew City Bass reply :
I've got good news for you my friend, you can have the best of both worlds!
Leaders are God's gift to man who cannot decide between braid or poly.
Most of my rods have 30-50lb braid with a 6ft 10lb fluoro leader. If I'm jigging, or doing topwater I just cut off the leader. Everything else I use a leader.
Glaucus reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:14 AM, Brew City Bass said:I've got good news for you my friend, you can have the best of both worlds!
Leaders are God's gift to man who cannot decide between braid or poly.
Most of my rods have 30-50lb braid with a 6ft 10lb fluoro leader.
This too.
Matter of fact I'm about to leave myself and what I'm taking is ML spinning with 10lb braid to 4lb YZH, M spinning with 15lb braid to 6lb YZH, M casting with straight 12lb Trilene, and MH casting with straight 12lb YZH.
Ik_47 reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:14 AM, Brew City Bass said:I've got good news for you my friend, you can have the best of both worlds!
Leaders are God's gift to man who cannot decide between braid or poly.
Most of my rods have 30-50lb braid with a 6ft 10lb fluoro leader. If I'm jigging, or doing topwater I just cut off the leader. Everything else I use a leader.
i like to use leaders on my spinning setup, but i have bad memories of using leaders on my baitcasting and i dont trust them lol. what connection knot do u use, might b time to try the leaders again
Brew City Bass reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:20 AM, Ik_47 said:i like to use leaders on my spinning setup, but i have bad memories of using leaders on my baitcasting and i dont trust them lol. what connection knot do u use, might b time to try the leaders again
I use a blood knot, never had failed me.
NHBull reply :
Braid with leaders cover most of the needs. If you don’t trust a know on you BC, it’s operator error ????. A uni-uni works well and is easy to tie and may be the only knot you need to know.
For micro guides, I like the PR.
Ik_47 reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:44 AM, NHBull said:Braid with leaders cover most of the needs. If you don’t trust a know on you BC, it’s operator error ????. A uni-uni works well and is easy to tie and may be the only knot you need to know.
For micro guides, I like the PR.
i use the double uni knot on my spinning outfit and it works great. i havent used a leader on my baitcaster for years so i can probably tie the knot fine now
LxVE Bassin reply :
Flouro, mono, or copolymer leader. Good knot tying is a must.
NHBull reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:51 AM, Ik_47 said:i use the double uni knot on my spinning outfit and it works great. i havent used a leader on my baitcaster for years so i can probably tie the knot fine now
No disrespect intended...thought you were looking for a knot for the BC.......
BassinCNY reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:20 AM, Ik_47 said:i like to use leaders on my spinning setup, but i have bad memories of using leaders on my baitcasting and i dont trust them lol. what connection knot do u use, might b time to try the leaders again
Alberto knot for me. It isn't the strongest but it's the strongest knot I can easily tie in my canoe.
WRB reply :
See my PB 5 LMB listed...all on mono line using jigs, not good enough for the OP!
Tom
scaleface reply :
I know how to tie three knots and dont know how to tie leaders . LOL . I just use mono for everything . 12 lb Big Game is my all purpose line on my all purpose rods .
Brew City Bass reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 6:42 AM, scaleface said:I know how to tie three knots and dont know how to tie leaders . LOL . I just use mono for everything . 12 lb Big Game is my all purpose line on my all purpose rods .
Can't go wrong with big game. When I was using that I'd re-spool my rods every week because it was so d**n cheap.
papajoe222 reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 6:42 AM, scaleface said:I just use mono for everything . 12 lb Big Game is my all purpose line on my all purpose rods .
Best answer to the OP's question. 12lb-14lb Big Game.
WRB reply :
12-15 lb BG... But it's that lowly monofilament line the OP eliminated in his opening statement. Evidently drank the cool aid, "can't catch bass using stretchy line". Like most of today's bass angler using braid with 2 knots is somehow more reliable then 1 easy reliable knot. If you added up all the braid to leader knots to solve the knot strength and knot size issues they number is over dozen that few anglers can tie effectively under fishing conditions where knots a for fishing are tied. Uni to Uni knot being easiest to tie.
For any material to yield and start to stretch it must reach it's yield strength and for Nylon ( monofilament ) line that is close to 33% of it's ultimate strength or breaking point .
Tom
Drew03cmc reply :
Hi Seas Grand Slam copolymer has become my go to on my casting tackle and for leaders on my spinning rod.
GReb reply :
I've tried it all and keep coming back to mono for 90% of my setups. Cheap, reliable, and no fuss. It just flat works. Braid has its place for frogs, punching, and other slop situations. But outside of the slop mono still reigns supreme.
TOXIC reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 11:00 AM, WRB said:12-15 lb BG... But it's that lowly monofilament line the OP eliminated in his opening statement. Evidently drank the cool aid, "can't catch bass using stretchy line". Like most of today's bass angler using braid with 2 knots is somehow more reliable then 1 easy reliable knot. If you added up all the braid to leader knots to solve the knot strength and knot size issues they number is over dozen that few anglers can tie effectively under fishing conditions where knots a for fishing are tied. Uni to Uni knot being easiest to tie.
For any material to yield and start to stretch it must reach it's yield strength and for Nylon ( monofilament ) line that is close to 33% of it's ultimate strength or breaking point .
Tom
I could actually see you shaking your head while typing this. 
No disrespect to those who like to use braid for everything including flossing your teeth..... but to me...... what was once a very specialized line for a few specialized presentations, has been adopted for EVERY application. I'm amazed we ever caught a fish before expensive braid was invented. I just picked up a bunch of BPS Excel Mono in a bunch of different test on sale for 9 bucks at the Spring Classic and they all were 1,000yd spools. For me, I have to have a reason to throw braid otherwise mono is my go to. But that's just me.
new2BC4bass reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 8:18 PM, TOXIC said:I could actually see you shaking your head while typing this.
No disrespect to those who like to use braid for everything including flossing your teeth..... but to me...... what was once a very specialized line for a few specialized presentations, has been adopted for EVERY application. I'm amazed we ever caught a fish before expensive braid was invented. I just picked up a bunch of BPS Excel Mono in a bunch of different test on sale for 9 bucks at the Spring Classic and they all were 1,000yd spools. For me, I have to have a reason to throw braid otherwise mono is my go to. But that's just me.
I am the same as you and Tom. Caught more fish in the 15 year period between age 5 and 20 then all the rest of my years. I'm 71. Did it with Trilene XL. 4# and 8# almost exclusively (spinning only in those days). Course I wasn't a "bass fisherman" back then. Today I use braid for frogs and slop. Everything else is a mono or co-polymer.
PourMyOwn reply :
Just to add to the list of good lines that have been mentioned, 14 lb Silver Thread copoly is my all purpose line. I used a 3000 yd spool of it for probably 10 years, it served me very well.
Ik_47 reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 6:31 AM, WRB said:See my PB 5 LMB listed...all on mono line using jigs, not good enough for the OP!
Tom
dude i just dont like mono, ive fished both mono and braid and i just dont like mono. ig im not allowed to have an opinion lol
On 3/28/2019 at 3:02 AM, NHBull said:No disrespect intended...thought you were looking for a knot for the BC.......
not sure what u mean
new2BC4bass reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 9:40 PM, PourMyOwn said:Just to add to the list of good lines that have been mentioned, 14 lb Silver Thread copoly is my all purpose line. I used a 3000 yd spool of it for probably 10 years, it served me very well.
I have 3000 yard spools of 12# and 8# AN40. My grandsons will inherit what is left. 
OP. Use the line you prefer. I don't think anyone is trying to talk you into mono. Only giving you our opinions after having used it for many years. Many, many years in some of our cases. 
WRB reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, Ik_47 said:dude i just dont like mono, ive fished both mono and braid and i just dont like mono. ig im not allowed to have an opinion lol
not sure what u mean
Dude you use whatever you prefer it’s your choice to make.
My point is mono is a good all purpose line choice, just not your choice.
Tom
NYWayfarer reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 2:08 AM, Ik_47 said:I bank fish for the most part and travel light, a spinning rod and a baitcaster.
Same here.
My Baitcaster has Berkley Big Game 10-12# line for throwing topwater baits and heavier crankbaits.
My Spinning set up is for Drop shot, Ned Rigs, light cranks, weightless senkos, in line spinners, etc. my all purpose rod I guess. I usually have 6-8# Kastking Flourokote on it.
PAbasser927 reply :
I definitely drank the braid coolaid. I have braid on every single one of my rods for a slew of reasons.
I don’t find it to be tremendously more expensive due to how OCD I was when I ran mono/fluoro lines. I would always respool at least once throughout the season and I would always make sure my line was well conditioned to avoid memory issues. With braid I no longer condition and I don’t respool until I reach my backing on long casts. Usually it takes me multiple seasons to get to this point.
With no line stretch, braid adds hundreds of dollars of sensitivity to mid priced rods. It also offers more consistent hooksets. Aside from taking up extra slack, hookests at 100ft are the same as they are right next to the boat.
The ability to run different leaders keeps me from having to buy multiple rods. I want to use my 7’2MHM rod for deep cranking, I tie a 10-12lb fluoro leader to the 30lb braid mainline. 30lb braid diameter is typically equivalent to 8lb mono, so I can get deeper faster. I want to use that same rod to throw a whopper plopper, I cut off the leader and tie direct, since braid floats.
As far as connections knots go, I have never broken one so I haven’t had a reason to worry about it (*knocks on wood*). Even when I break off, it’s always at the terminal knot or a weak point somewhere on the leader. Never the leader knot.
That being said, the choice is 100% personal preference. Every line has its strengths and it’s up to you to prioritize what is important in a line, for you.
If braid was not available to me, I would use mono. While I love fluoro for leaders, it is my least favorite mainline. I could never get past the memory and manageability issues, even on high end fluoros such as Tatsu. I also didn’t notice any less stretch than mono depending on the brand. However once fluoro is stretched, it doesn’t retract fully like mono. It remains semi stretched and loses some of its strength. This would always leave me less confident in the strength of my mainline after a bad snag or break off.
JT Bagwell reply :
50# Cortland Master braid is my favorite "all around" fishing line for baitcasters.
If the water is at least a little stained, I just go with straight braid. But, if it is clear I will go with the
50# Cortland and a Berkley Trilene XT/XL leader. Sometimes I use the Trilene fluoro leader but most XT or XL.
On my spinning setups I go with 20 or 30# Cortland braid but again the water clarity will dictate whether or not
I use the Trilene leader.
Hulkster reply :
I like mono too for all purpose rigs. My favorite so far is Sufix Siege.
I use 12 pound on my baitcasting rig and 8 or 10 pound on my spinning rig.
but it is slick stuff, so a palomar knot is best to use with it.
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