NationalProStaff.com - Line Options - Fishing Shallow Weeds

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Pure Fishing Team,

When fishing bass in shallow water, i.e. under 6 feet in weed & pad areas I always use 50 lb braid but I am concerned I’m not presenting the bait properly. What are your thoughts on fluorocarbon line for weightless Senkos® or flukes (for the sinking nature of fluoro) or even for something with a light worm weight in front of a worm or creature?

Thanks.
BC

Abu Garcia and Berkley Trilene Pro Staff Member Steve Chiasson of Cambridge, Ontario, offers the following answer:

Hi BC,

Braid floats so fluorocarbon would be a better choice as long as the cover is not too heavy. For heavy pad areas, I prefer Stealth 65 pound braid as you really have to get their heads up and out of the cover asap. The majority of the time I use Trilene 100% fluorocarbon in 20 lb. test for most weedy, shallow cover situations. When a Berkley Sinkworm or Senko® type bait is used, fluorocarbon has a nice, subtle sinking action which helps those tails quiver to trigger bites. A light worm weight with a creature or Power Worm is also a great place for flourocarbon. Bottom line with fluorocarbon is that you will get more bites than braid. You may miss a few more fish but if you don't get them on, you don't get them in!

Give Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon a try and if you still prefer the way braid handles, then try splicing the fluorocarbon onto your braid.

Best of luck,

Steve Chiasson

All Star Rods and Spiderwire Line Pro Staff Member Pierre LaFrance of Aylmer, PQ, offers the following response:

Hi BC,

It is truly a balancing act when you want to fish lighter lures around heavier cover. Here are a couple of options to consider when fishing around weedy areas with lighter lures.

When fishing in light to moderate weeds or pads, I often use fluorocarbon. In most cases I would suggest that you go with 12 to 17 pound test in those situations. A great product for this application is Berkley Vanish. It is more sensitive than mono and is quite abrasion resistant. Vanish also has a thinner diameter than some other lines in that category when comparing similar pound tests and as you said, fluorocarbon will let your weightless and lightly weighted baits sink better when compared to traditional braid.

If you are fishing around even heavier vegetation and are worried about wrestling fish out of those areas but want to let your bait have more action than when using heavier braid, a solution would be to use braid of a somewhat lighter pound test (i.e. use 30 pound test instead of 50 pound test). As you will be using a lighter pound test than what you normally use, it will also be a little harder for the fish to see. Just keep in mind to check your line more often when you are fishing heavier cover then you would when using a larger pound test braid.

My second suggestion in this case would be to use a sinking braid, as a floating braid used with a weightless or lightly weighted soft stickbait will sometimes have a harder time dropping down to the bottom of the water column as this type of line will slow down the rate at which they fall. Due to this, great products to keep in mind for this application would be Spiderwire Ultracast FluoroBraid or Berkley Gorilla Braid as they are both sinking braids. Also, using one of those in this situation will let you present the bait more efficiently by reducing the amount of slack between the rod tip and your bait. Less slack in the line will also help you detect bites more easily.

PL

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