Line questions

[Gradyfish]

12lb Berkley Big Game, you can buy it cheap and for me it has worked as well as more expensive choices. Any abuse to the line on any of my reels and I re-spool it with fresh line. I put a splice at the final 550 ft of line, and for the price of big game I can change the last 550’ for about a buck.

GF

[ebijack]

This has gone off the original topic about line.
IMHO, active/feeding fish will typically bite the best/fastest. But, trolling you are looking for a reaction bite. Doesn't matter if the fish are high or low. Find the fish that react. More fish are caught suspended, but most lines trolling out in the lake are suspended, most not all. Hundreds of lines/baits. Guess what, more fish are caught suspended. Drift fishing has a bit different results. Since one rod is always dragging the bottom. Another topic.
After fishing like many for most of my life. I look for fish that want to bite. I always cover the water column. Being limited on rods/lines/persons compared to Keith running 22 lines. I'd have to say most days out on the water, the biting fish depth changes where in the water column thru out the day. Up/down. Yes bring one or two rods set to the active biting depth. But leave the others where they are. Way to many times, the hot rod goes cold and if you are not still covering the water column you have to start over. Not knowing if they went high or low.
Example: One guy in the boat only has 1 or 2 fish on their side of the boat, The other side is almost limited. Then it changes, filling the limits on the low fish count side of the boat. And bigger fish. I'm not going to get into which side of the boat has which direction of currents etc. That is another topic.
I do know if you put the right bait infront of fish sitting on the bottom. You can catch them. And they are not "active/feeding". Again, reaction bite, not feeding.
Just my experience.

[Capt Eric]

This has gone off the original topic about line.
IMHO, ..... Being limited on rods/lines/persons compared to Keith running 22 lines.
I do know if you put the right bait infront of fish sitting on the bottom. You can catch them. And they are not "active/feeding". Again, reaction bite, not feeding.
Just my experience.

Sorry.... no disrespect here, but I had to jump in - because I've heard this claim before...... people think Keith (Pooh Bear) runs too many lines sometimes. Wrong. I've been on the boat, worked the boat, fished next to him, etc..... you all see us out there chewing up the same water quite often. It's 2 rods per person, just like everyone else. 6 man crew, himself, and a mate = 16 rods. Typically that means 6 rods on each board and 2 Dipsy's on each side. I run the same setup. Some days I may run 7 + 1 on each side. If I have a short crew, then I'm short rods. Same goes for him. And we get checked by the DNR just as often as everyone else.

And by the way, I'll take a school of feeding fish over reaction strikes any day... You can fish all day and pull a limit off reaction strikes, or you can pull a 6 man limit in 2 or 3 hours in a feeding school of fish. But in the end, the ONLY thing that really matters is having a GREAT, FUN, and SAFE day on the water!

[Greatwhitehunter]

Most Charters use 30lb power pro with Mono as a backer. Now this is using mostly big boards. So when you hear on the radio what program they are running you can dial it in fairly quickly. I personally don't like running mono for the fact it stretches to much for my liking. I like the fish to be hooked up as quickly as possible.

[ebijack]

I used to use braid. I stopped running dipsy's. Changed back to mono. #17 trilene test holds up to/against any fish your going to take out on Erie. 15+ yrs now.
Pulling meat, unless you are using jets or dipsy's. You don't know actually what true depth you are running. So a dive curve is only a guide. As is the trolling guide. A guide. Not an exact number.
Way to many other factors that aid/take away from the "guide".
Yes you can get a bit more depth from braid due to it's thin size and no stretch. But I can get any bait down to 65+ ft using weights up to only 3 oz and I have run upto 10oz and 8oz. And I don't have to let out 180+ ft of line to do it and still add weight. If that makes sense.
Just like everything else out there. There are folks who get paid to use and tell you/everyone they use said product/products because they are the best. As soon as sponsorship/freebies stop. They change product most everytime. Here is something that might help with your decision. Not my actual data so take it for what it is.

[Capt Eric]

Way to many other factors that aid/take away from the "guide".
Yes you can get a bit more depth from braid due to it's thin size and no stretch.

So awesome to finally hear someone else say this!!! Way too many factors affect what depth you're actually achieving.... Use these guides as a starting point, but see where you are actually hooking up with fish. Every one of my rods has a tag on it, i write the lead on each one with a dry-erase marker... As we start catching, I'm tracking which rods are doing well, and the rods that aren't catching get changed to the program that is. Also, how many times are you marking fish at 25 feet, but not catching those fish - but catching like crazy at 15 feet? Sometimes they don't want to see the bait in their face, but they'll come way up to get it.

Anyway - I use 30# PowerPro braid, yellow... works awesome on big boards. I can't say how it performs with inline boards....

Good luck!

[ebijack]

Sorry I didn't post a clearer message.
I have absolutely NO disrespect for Keith! Keith and his wife are awesome folks!
I've known Keith since the early 90's. Beginning of WC. He helped with info over the years. And we have helped Keith when we could. Quite a few random breakfasts meet ups near Lorain before heading out. Besides out on the water.
I was referring to having to label poles. 15,20 rods you need to know what is what.
"I know pooh bear also marks depth of each rod with dry eraser on a tag attached to each rod.I have been using masking tape to record leads on each rod.I will also mark color of spinner and number of fish caught on the rods.This will help in the first hour or two to help zone in on depth and color fish biting that day.Initially, we try and cover entire water column to see what depth fish biting.But will be sure to put line or two in depth you or pooh bear caught the day before."
When running 4,6 or 10 rods. I know what has what. And 2 rods are dedicated. One on bottom and one in the upper 10ft range. As typically the largest fish of the day comes on that rod.
I haven't seen Keith in quite a few years. I had to sell my boat. And good friend and fishin buddy "The Migrater" docked at Beaver Creek( Dennis) moved back to MO. So not alot of chances to get like I used to.

[Capt Eric]

Sorry I didn't post a clearer message.

And I'm sorry if I read it wrong! I've just heard the chatter enough.... people that have fished right beside me, behind me, in front, where ever..... maybe at 10 or 11AM I've got 36 plus a few extra on the cleanup, and they've only got 5..... same story every time it seems "they must be running 30 lines".... 20, 24, 30, whatever. No, that's not the case. We just figured out how to quickly identify exactly where the biting fish are, and then run 16 lines right there. If you pull 10 fish from an active pocket of fish each time through, it doesn't take long to limit.... and it doesn't require over-rodding either! It only requires paying very close attention to the leads and colors of the first few fish !!!!!
And true - that can change - so you always leave a couple other rods looking high or low, whatever, unless it's a frickin' bonzai! Then I'll set everything the same and watch the chaos unfold!!!

[jeepdude64]

I used maxima 15lb green for 3 years and did great with it. I troll mostly cranks and like to have a little stretch for both in-line boards and lures when the wind is up. I did buy a very well priced bulk spool of maxima 12 so that will be next to try. I am a little hesitant because I use snap weights often so I know it gets pinched at the point 20’ back. I usually cut off 20’ every couple months. I also try not to clip line deep in the snaps I try to keep it on the pads. I am respoolong this year and I do I use power pro backing to save some replacement cost.

[Eriegardless]

I've had good success with both mono and braid but for pulling inline boards I vote mono all the way. Mono with a soft rod keeps the board in the water and tracking so much better. For big boards, you can use either but I lean towards braid. I am a big PowerPro fan for braid and had good experiences using Suffix Elite for mono. Used Big Game for several years...it's cheap and found about anywhere. Works well but it does seem to have more memory than a lot of other mono lines.