There has been a lot said about mono line, but for the most part i see people name their brand for trolling...
Now i wanna know whats the best line , MONO , for live bait lindy rigging?

Howdy!
Here's one set-up:
PowerPro or Fireline from rod to swivel; Berkley XL to hook or light fluorocarbon treated with fly fishing line "float" spray to lift the fluoro (it sinks and can weigh down you bait more than a mono leader)

Others?

Thanks
p.s. I'd rather be trolling! The toughest thing (for me) about working a Lindy Rig properly is staying awake.

TrollerMan
Waconia MN USA

Sir, I guess it has a lot to do with what part of walleye country you live in.As for myself i have been a rigger for more than 30 years, going way back before people called it a Lindy Rig. I learned the technique from a great uncle who used the rigs in a northern wisconsin lake back in the late 60's and early 70's.But we always used the limpest mono that matched the water color, I now live in Ohio and we don't have very clear water conditions in our resevoirs, but most of the time green trilene xl works just fine, just change it often, so that your line stays limp and comes off the spool easily. For deeper riggin applications, over 20' deep I use smoke colored fireline or fireline crystal and a good flourocarbon for leader.Hope this helps a little, just experiment until you find what works on the lakes you fish.


Take a child fishing, you'll both learn something.

IAN,
I agree with your thoughts:
1. I have tried super lines and various braided lines for lindy rigging and I go back time after time to Mono.
Now, I have firmly decided to stay with Mono for rigging.

It seems that for live bait rigging, the use of braid, gives you super feel - but it also gives the fish "super feel."

i.e. As soon as you feel the fish, the fish feels you.

With mono and its inherent stretch, it takes you a bit longer to feel the fish, but it also takes longer for the fish to feel you, and when it does feel you, it isn't so sudden and sharp, because the mono is stretching a bit.

As a result, for those very light biting fish - that some times will happen, I really prefer the use of a slightly stretchy mono line.

I prefer one of two lines.
I use either 8 lb clear berkly sensation or
8 lb smoke colored Yozuri line.

Both of these are tough coplaner lines with some (but not a lot ) of stretch. You still have good feel, but a bit of forgivness in the feel of the fish.

I don't like to use a mono line that is not coplaner because that line typically has too much stretch.

This is sort of like the tale about Goldilocks and the three bears.

Not too big, not too little, but just right.

---------
That is what I like about the right line.
Not 0 stretch, not a not of stretch - but just a bit of stretch as is evident by the use of a high quality coplaner mono line.

Depending on the bite and water - I may downsize my snell running from the swivel after the weight do 6 lb or even 4 lb line - if the bite is very very very negative and the fish seem to be spooked by the larger lines.


I will only do this if I in a very negative bite situation, obviously maarking fish, but am not getting bit - in a fashion that speaks of line spooking.

Obviously, if you downsize your snell, you have to be very careful bringing in a fish that is on the large size.

Obviously, if you are fishing waters - where you are not likely to catch too many fish under 20 inches or so - you wouldn't want to downsize your snell this much.

However, if you are on a relatively smooth bottom, are not near sticks or rocks and take your time, there are very few walleys that you can't bring in with 4 lb line if you take your time.

If you are working timber, rocks, sticks or zebra mussells - then 4 lb line is not the line to use.

Take care
REW

thanks a lot guys,.
Actually, i like a bit of stretch in mono lines , cause i can check what the fish is doing .
Is Berkley trilene xl a good line?
I mean , i need a mono with low memory, very limp, and stretch isnt a problem, as long as it isnt too much.
I fished Sufix elite 4 lbs and caught walleys 40 feet deep, and i'm talking about 10 pounders, and the feel was great and 4 lbs in clean conditions isnt a problem at all, but lately i hear a lot of good things about the Berkley trilene xl smooth casting, so i hope its a good line for rigging live baits...

I have used Trilene XL in 4,6 and 8# for years with no major problems.

I don't use a pure mono for anything anymore. I prefer a copolymer like GAMMA. It still has some stretch, is very small diameter for the test, is naturally very limp and if stretched, the few spool loops there are fall out completely giving a very nice straight trail for both rigging and casting that allows line watching as well as giving a good feel. I have had no knot problems in three years either. It is also now available in clear and a couple of shades. Definitely check out the diameters to test when compared to Trilene. You can normally get a stronger copolymer line for the same diameter as Trilene.

I've switched from Trilene XL to Stren Original for rigs.

I vary the lb test with the seasons - 6 lb for very early spring, 8 or 10 lb through the heart of the summer, and 10-14 lb for fall fishing large minnows.

Both work well, but Stren tends to last longer. With XL, I just switch out the rig sooner, or the fish will do it for me.

I keep all the rigs I've never used on 1 style of holder, and after I've used them I store them on a different style of holder. Each winter, I cut line off all the rigs I've used - more often if I have time.

No1son,
Howdy! Which knot or knots do you use with Gamma?
Thanks!
TrollerMan
Waconia MN USA

Snell to attach bare hooks.

Palomar knots for swivels, leaders and jig heads.

I've also had good luck with the modified clinch knot and the Trilene knot which I bring back through the loop like on the modified clinch - these must be moistened to tighten down properly. Actually moisten all knots before snugging them down, they "slide" tight much easier.

Standard arbor knot to attach to spool.

I have not had problems with GAMMA line weights from 2 to 10 lb test with any of these knots when tied properly and moistened before final tightening. The Palomar and snell also work on braid; so they are more and more what I rely on.

In other words pretty much the same knots as I used to use for mono.
For the most part copolymer handles just like mono only better.

See Grog's knots (his snell is far better than some others I have seen.)
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php

Ok but what do you mean,... Trilene XL is a good line but it wears down faster than other lines ?
If it is the same kind of line as say sufix elite , then its a great line...
it must be very limp, good knots and low memory, ...if Trilene XL is all that,....its a pretty good line!

i will be giving gamma a try this year
it was a toss-up between them and yozuri...
yozuri out of stock so gamma won out
i have been a long time user of excalibur silver thread
so will see what happens.....
i have gone away from rigging with any type of braid
if i can feel the line dragging thru the weight when i am feeding line....what is the fish feeling 6 feet away thats doing the pulling....


manitoba .... a 100,000 lakes
how many walleyes ????
i will never have enough time....

I have not used SILVER THREAD; so I can't say if there is going to be much difference. I will say that if GAMMA is any indication then copolymer in general is head and shoulders above regular mono. I use GAMMA both through the ice and in open water, where I mostly fish ultralight, 2# through the ice and 2# and 4# in open water and I have taken a number of overweight fish with this line; so the line stands up real well and knots hold very well, too. 2# is hard to find in a store, except for ice fishing, but I use the same reels for both seasons; so I will just use last winter's 2# this summer. The 2# gives substantially more casting distance which helps when fish are spooky.

I will be very interested to hear how your comparison turns out. As far as I am concerned for this summer, I am completely satisfied with GAMMA; so I intend to stay with that for now anyway.

Not to throw too much confusion out there, but there are truly no "mono" lines made by any major line manufacture any more. All of the lines that get referenced to as mono are actually copolymer lines, or tr-polymer or multi-polymer lines. Each manufacture has their own polymer mixture/formula combination that they use giving their lines different characteristics than other brands etc, but when talking fishing lines, there actually isn't a mono-vs-copolymer choice out there to be had. In a nutshell, choices are copolymer, fluorocarbon, braided or fused lines! Will the term "mono" ever go away however? Likely not in my lifetime, I just wanted to interject and shed some light.

Like Burr, I'm partial to Stren, I usually make mine as I like different lenghts, and usually use 6# or 8# test, 6 if I think there's gonna be a lot of snags, 8 for rest.

I've tried some of the other types of line and keep coming back to Stren, it's what I'm comfortable with, so I stay with it.

Al