fishing line quandry

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I like mono and keep all of my bass rods topped off with 14lb.-17lb. test. How often do I really need to replace this stuff? I've been putting fresh line on every year, but it takes a while for it to cast well. Should I just cut off the last few yards each fall? I also love night fishing and wanted to know if there are any lines that are specially marketed towards their fluorescing ability. Regualr mono is good, but do you have any experience with a line that really shines under a black light? Looking forward to my first night trip. Too chilly right now, though. :cry:

[1911crazy]

I use Excaliber Silver Thread Copolymere line.  I use 8lb test with some crankbaits mainly.  On my carolina rig setup its 14lb test.  I do cutoff like 10' or so at a time when it gets frayed.  I use 4 to 6 different setups and notice my lines last longer because my time with using each rod is less except for my crankbait rod I end up changing my line in the middle of the season besides the springtime.  I don't change my line unless the spool is low or it goes bad which using copolymere it seems to last longer than regular mono.  It also has less stretch than mono too.  I fish everyday too 24/7 for a few hours each day.  With the black light i can't help you I never use one i'm fishing from shore mainly I have access to my sons boat anytime i want to use it but the smaller places here are hot with bass.                                                                BigBill

I think there are better quality lines even mono than we had years ago anyway.  I can remember my lines lasting a few months many years ago then it was all bad at the same time maybe poor quality back then with the sunlite it just goes bad real quickly. We sure do have better lines now.

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Thanks, I remember as a kid never changing out my line on my 'ol catfishing rods, pretty stale stuff. I think I'll pick up some of that copolymer line. Sounds like good stuff.

[1911crazy]

Before I started getting into bass fishing really heavy I would fish for trout in streams only.  I used line like Garcia River Mist for years and wouldn't ever change line until it was really bad like every three years or so.  When I started bass fishing I used new mono line similair to the garcia line but experienced lost lures and lost fish.  So i went to find a better quality line.  I found a site called lurenet.com they had a line test posted where they tested some lines in abrasion and bending tests and excaliber did do good on all the tests but surpassed all the other lines in the bending tests by many cycles.  So it was my first choice of line to try. Now after a 6 years of using it i'm convinced that having good quality does matter my old ways of thinking cheaper is just as good was wrong. I have lost less fish and lost less lures too.  Plus the excaliber silver thread isn't as stretchy as regular mono is.  Then it was a learning process on where to set my drag too. One morning I recieved a good lesson from a large bass.  I casted out a Rapala orginal floater 2 3/4" minnow and had it ripped off my line right away as soon as it hit the water it was gone. After shedding a few tears of losing a good size fish I realized what I had done
wrong.  My drag wasn't loose enough to handle big strikes.  Now I leave all my drags loose enough to where the slightest snag in the weeds I can hear it ratchet.  And it has worked out great for me while we can always tighten it during the battle its still tight enough for a good hookset its set right on the edge of being too loose.  And most of the time its ok where its set to land larger fish up to 3 and 5lbers. As my years of getting educated on bass fishing I also found out that rod action/length and backbone also plays a key role too in using some baits too. Its kind of funny everyone can tell you this but its experience on the water fishing that teaches us the best.                                                BigBill

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Thanks for the info, I had a similar incident with a mal-adjusted drag. I was raised sort of poor and could afford only one real "bass lure" It was a jointed blue and silver minnow. I thought it was the greatest lure of all time even though I didn't know how to use it. I was at Greer's ferry in Arkansas and cast it out on an early foggy morning next to some awesome structure. (I was on the bank of course) No sooner had it hit the water then the first bass I had ever hooked (2lbs., may as well have been 15)grabbed it, jumped, and ripped it clean off my ancient mono. My Zebco 202 never made a sound. The lure was gone and I realized my drag was too tight to handle the sudden jolt. I spent the rest of that weekend fishing for anything that would eat a hot dog. Now I can afford the very best fishing tackle and a fine 16' Javelin boat and still wish I would have caught that first bass.  :cry:

[1911crazy]

Thanks for the info, I had a similar incident with a mal-adjusted drag. I was raised sort of poor and could afford only one real "bass lure" It was a jointed blue and silver minnow. I thought it was the greatest lure of all time even though I didn't know how to use it. I was at Greer's ferry in Arkansas and cast it out on an early foggy morning next to some awesome structure. (I was on the bank of course) No sooner had it hit the water then the first bass I had ever hooked (2lbs., may as well have been 15)grabbed it, jumped, and ripped it clean off my ancient mono. My Zebco 202 never made a sound. The lure was gone and I realized my drag was too tight to handle the sudden jolt. I spent the rest of that weekend fishing for anything that would eat a hot dog. Now I can afford the very best fishing tackle and a fine 16' Javelin boat and still wish I would have caught that first bass.  :cry:

We couldn't afford hardley any stuff too when I was young but I also had a zebco 202 we used it in freshwater and light saltwater(flatfish/snapperblues) we would wear one out a year and buy a new one every spring for many years when I was a kid.        BigBill