Fluorocarbon Line Size Tips/Suggestions for Swimbait Fishing...?

[DEPS_250]

In general, How do most guys feel about fishing swimbaits with very light line? 

I know most people will use 20lb fluorocarbon as an all around good size to use for glide baits and swimbaits. I currently use 20lb for most of my swimbait fishing since it feels strong and gives me confidence targeting big fish. On the other hand, I did try some 14lb fluorocarbon the other day on a 7in/3oz glide bait in hopes of being able to get my bait to sink faster and fish deeper. The 14lb felt really thin, light and weak targeting big fish around some heavy nasty cover. 14lb felt really scary too when my bait got snagged and I was afraid of breaking off and losing my bait when trying to dislodge the snag.

Is it normal for most guys to drop down to 14-17lb fluorocarbon in order to be more stealthy and/or for getting the bait to sink faster and fish deeper? Is 10-12lb fluorocarbon even feasible for swimbait fishing? Has anyone ever tried or has anyone ever heard of someone dropping down to 10-12lb fluorocarbon for swimbait fishing? 10-12lb sounds even crazier and therefore your just asking for a world of hurt and getting your heart broken, especially if your grade of fish are bigger than normal. 

Is it advisable to just play around with adding weights to my baits in order to get them to sink faster and fish deeper instead of dropping down in line size since I like fishing the heavier 20lb?

[Bud95]

I’m sure there’s other opinions on here but this is my two cents. I’d be terrified of going any lighter than 20 with any swimbaits. I’ll even run 25 with some of my larger glides. Can’t say I’ve heard of anyone going lighter than 17 but I could be wrong. If your main concern is getting a bait to run deeper there’s a bunch of ways to do it instead of downsizing your line. Lead tape, grenade weights, etc. Do a little digging around on here and you’ll find a ton of info. That’s all I got, I’m still figuring this stuff out too haha.

[Catfishcarranza]

20 pound or heavier. I’d have a heart attack every cast if it were light line 

[manansalsa]

In my opinion the only time you should drop down in line size is if the thicker line is not allowing you to get the most out of your baits action. Of course there are exceptions such as if you’re throwing more finesse swimbaits, 20lbs is a little over the top. For example, I fish the deps 145ss on 15lb mono. “Stealth” doesn’t come into the equation of line choices for me. If you’re fishing your baits to the best of their ability, the fish aren’t ever going to be looking at your line. Some people fish straight braid.
 

Like @Bud95 said, I think the way to go is by modifying the bait, not by modifying your line if you want to fish it deeper. This also allows you to change your baits action on the fly if you want to quickly change from a faster sink to a slower sink, vice versa, etc.

[Jim137a]

25 minutes ago, Bud95 said:

I’m sure there’s other opinions on here but this is my two cents. I’d be terrified of going any lighter than 20 with any swimbaits. I’ll even run 25 with some of my larger glides. Can’t say I’ve heard of anyone going lighter than 17 but I could be wrong. If your main concern is getting a bait to run deeper there’s a bunch of ways to do it instead of downsizing your line. Lead tape, grenade weights, etc. Do a little digging around on here and you’ll find a ton of info. That’s all I got, I’m still figuring this stuff out too haha.

Exactly - a few grams of weight does quite a bit 

[DEPS_250]

I guess it all depends on a lot of different factors, people's personal preferences/experiences and people's personal opinions on what swimbait fishing even is and how it should be done. 

For example, Megabass recommends fishing the 6" magdraft on 15lb fluorocarbon for the best action. Most guys I know around here would classify the 6" magdraft as a 'finesse' style swimbait. Therefore, the 15lb seems right and would be the right choice in this scenario. 20lb line in this case might even be over kill and the thicker line will ruin the action of the bait.

Tackle Warehouse even recommends 15lb in one of their articles on fishing glide baits on their website. I am guessing they are probably illuding to the smaller, lighter and more finesse glide bait styles like the Deps 145, IMA glide fluke 125, 6th Sense speed glide etc. Therefore, fluorocarbon less than 20lb would be the right call in some scenarios depending on the size of the bait and the style of the bait, in order to get the right action just like @manansalsa stated. 

Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have been using 14lb fluoro on a 7in/3oz glide bait. 20lb seems like the right call here. I guess the size and weight of the bait really does/can dictate the line size you should be fishing. I guess I really should be looking into using lead tape strips to make my standard sized swimbaits go deeper instead of dropping down in line size.

Thanks for the introspection and help guys. Hope this post helps other beginner swimbaiters too. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by DEPS_250

[urbanhick]

I use floro on everything except top water.  16 lb sniper for the small stuff, 18 or 20 lb for the medium stuff and 25lb for the big stuff. I use it because it sinks and has low stretch compared to mono or co poly.

[Bass the east]

Not a big fish but I just flipped this 3lb11oz bass up a 5’ wall on 15lb CXX. I’ve been using 17lb minimum in the past, but chose to downsize to 15lb this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. The rod I’m using is an F5 BLK710 which is very parabolic. 

[zsneezes]

12 hours ago, Bass the east said:

Not a big fish but I just flipped this 3lb11oz bass up a 5’ wall on 15lb CXX. I’ve been using 17lb minimum in the past, but chose to downsize to 15lb this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. The rod I’m using is an F5 BLK710 which is very parabolic. 

I switched to 15lb flouro on my TK set up as well and found I like the action in b mode more than with 20lb.  I would be interested to hear your experience with 15 vs 17. 

[Jon P]

I'm a big fan of Sunline Structure FC for fishing soft baits. I'll drop down to 15 lb for small soft baits but usually stick with the 20. Most of my hard baits get Super Natural nylon in 20-25lb.

[SumoNinja]

Flipped both of these 8 lbers (top 2 pics) 1 on rip rap, 1 on a dock.

Bottom fish is a 9.5 lber that I did not flip because shoreline allowed for me to just drag it out of the water

All 3 caught on 15 lb test, izorline xxx. For baits that are 1 up to 3 oz I throw them on 15 lb test. Never been broken off. Any 5 lb bass will get flipped on 15, I won't hesitate 

Edited March 31, 2023 by SumoNinja

[ATA]

You might be able to find a 17lb fluoro same diameter with 20lb test of another brand. For me I cast all my Deps 250 and mothers on 20lb test Seaguar ABRAZX and I am loving it. 

[Morgan Y]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:00 PM, Bass the east said:

Not a big fish but I just flipped this 3lb11oz bass up a 5’ wall on 15lb CXX. I’ve been using 17lb minimum in the past, but chose to downsize to 15lb this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. The rod I’m using is an F5 BLK710 which is very parabolic. 

I’ve flipped 6lbers on 15 lb Invizx back before I used tatsu and have full confidence that I could flip an 8 or a bit bigger on it. 15 is far far stronger than it’s given credit for. 

[Bonzo]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:18 PM, DEPS_250 said:

In general, How do most guys feel about fishing swimbaits with very light line? 

I know most people will use 20lb fluorocarbon as an all around good size to use for glide baits and swimbaits. I currently use 20lb for most of my swimbait fishing since it feels strong and gives me confidence targeting big fish. On the other hand, I did try some 14lb fluorocarbon the other day on a 7in/3oz glide bait in hopes of being able to get my bait to sink faster and fish deeper. The 14lb felt really thin, light and weak targeting big fish around some heavy nasty cover. 14lb felt really scary too when my bait got snagged and I was afraid of breaking off and losing my bait when trying to dislodge the snag.

Is it normal for most guys to drop down to 14-17lb fluorocarbon in order to be more stealthy and/or for getting the bait to sink faster and fish deeper? Is 10-12lb fluorocarbon even feasible for swimbait fishing? Has anyone ever tried or has anyone ever heard of someone dropping down to 10-12lb fluorocarbon for swimbait fishing? 10-12lb sounds even crazier and therefore your just asking for a world of hurt and getting your heart broken, especially if your grade of fish are bigger than normal. 

Is it advisable to just play around with adding weights to my baits in order to get them to sink faster and fish deeper instead of dropping down in line size since I like fishing the heavier 20lb?

Ive been running 18lb sunline fc sniper for while now without issue, however i'm up north and should probably bump it up to 20 or higher just because of all the toothy fish we got up here.

[Tpreston]

I think it’s relative to weight of the lure and your combo set up. That being said I love 20 lb co poly and fluoro even big game. Used 14 lb fc super 16 sniper and 17 abrazx with no problem too. Also use 65 braid for a less sensitive rod, night time, heavy cover, or top water. Generally haven’t had issues with any line even the lighter pound tests. Ive caught bigs on 4 lb test with bfs gear and I’ve broken off fish on 80 lb braid. There is grey area when it comes to tying direct or using snaps/rings also. I think that if you’re in tune with your rod/reel set up for your lure and line choice and you know what to do and what not to do you should be safe to a certain extent. I wouldn’t go throwing a 6+ oz bait on 10lb test though.