I got on some fish today at a small lake. It's very pressured, but recently since 3/4 is covered in lily pads, I've had the place to myself. The only thing I could get bit on was a senko in the 3-5 " range. I landed 8 bass and lost a few more. My setup is an 6'9" Avid X MLXF on 8 lb flouro. 

I basically cast into little openings/ lily pad weed points and winch out 1-2 lb fish, and skate them along the pads keep my rod as high as I possibly can. I  use this setup for drop shotting and jerkbaits, but I could always spool up with flouro again in the early spring when I typically use jerkbaits. Would a braid in the 10-15 lb test range be better suited for this, or should I just stick with what I have? 

Straight flourocarbon every time. 12# tatsu or sniper are my favorites.

Worth a read:

 

Worth a watch:

 

22 minutes ago, kickerfish1 said:

Straight flourocarbon every time. 12# tatsu or sniper are my favorites.

Does that perform well around pads? My concern would be 3-5 pound bass around the pads. 

A 3" senko will cast easier/farther with 10# braid than 8#sniper. Plus for pads braid will be much better if you get in the stuff more. Braid will rip through those weeds/pads. The strength of say 10# braid will be higher in the 15-17# ranges for added benefit. Might get away with 15# braid. Ive used 10-12# sniper fc but didnt care for the stretch hooksetting with my senko use. In pads you want to get them up and out with quickness not deal with line stretching and getting wrapped

14 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Worth a read:

 

Worth a watch:

 

Well, that answered my question and then some. I actually watched this twice before but I forgot all the specs. Thanks again! 

5 minutes ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

A 3" senko will cast easier/farther with 10# braid than 8#sniper. Plus for pads braid will be much better if you get in the stuff more. Braid will rip through those weeds/pads. The strength of say 10# braid will be higher in the 15-17# ranges for added benefit. Might get away with 15# braid. Ive used 10-12# sniper fc but didnt care for the stretch hooksetting with my senko use.

The main thing I was worried about was the braid inhibiting the action of a weightless senko. I have a medium action rod I might try with 12 lb flouro before I go the braid route for the ML rod. Thanks for the help! 

I use 20 lb  yellow braid on a MH spinning setup and love it.

i fish this in and around pads and laydowns, works great for me.

 

12# fluoro around pads, wood, docks, and rock. no issues.

10-14 pound mono with 12 being the most common pound test I use.

I use 10# braid with an 8# flouro lead.

That rod is probably a little light for throwing those baits in that kind of cover. Their 6"8 Medium might have been better. In your case i would probably load 20 pound Power Pro Spectra. It is the same as 6 pound mono but will cut through the pads better. I might experiment with a 8 pound P LIne CXX leader but probably tie direct instead.

6# yozuri hybrid 

2 hours ago, kickerfish1 said:

Straight flourocarbon every time. 12# tatsu or sniper are my favorites.

This, 12 lb. Sniper is also my line of choice. But if I were throwing the Senko into lily pads a lot, I'd up bump to 15 lb.

53 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

That rod is probably a little light for throwing those baits in that kind of cover. Their 6"8 Medium might have been better. In your case i would probably load 20 pound Power Pro Spectra. It is the same as 6 pound mono but will cut through the pads better. I might experiment with a 8 pound P LIne CXX leader but probably tie direct instead.

Yeah. I have a 6'8 MF LTB that I'll use for this once I get my new reel. I've been using a silvermax on it with braid and it is a pain to throw baits weightless. 

34 minutes ago, fishindad said:

This, 12 lb. Sniper is also my line of choice. But if I were throwing the Senko into lily pads a lot, I'd up bump to 15 lb.

Shall I tell my wife I need a new rod? LOL. I'm going to see how 12 lb works to start. My 6'8 LTB MF is going to be used for jerkbaits, finesse jigs, light t-rigs and maybe shakey heads already and it's hard balancing multiple techniques on the same rod. 

For any really light lures like unweighted plastics or lightly weighted plastic worms Sencos,tubes craws etc I like a 6'* to 7 foot medium spinning rod. It just plays so much better.  Bryans setup, the Avid X 6'8" Medium Extra Fast spinning rod with the RTX30 is so lightweight in your hand it is amazing

1 hour ago, DirtyDeuceGoose said:

6# yozuri hybrid 

That is ballsy DDG! I like how you roll! I once used 8# fluorocarbon fishing a fluke on a spinning rod in a pond with some pretty narly weed growth. It wasn't ideal but it sure was fun.

3 hours ago, stk44 said:

Does that perform well around pads? My concern would be 3-5 pound bass around the pads. 

Well I am not really sure as I have zero lakes around here with lily pads. I have fished pads before but it has been a good 7 or 8 years and those were some lakes up in MN. I was using a copoly as that was one of the better line choices back then before the braid and fluorocarbon craze took off.

I am not sure if I would change my approach if I fished them. When I read the title of your post and then the body of your post, I figured I would probably answer the question differently. 12 # fluorocarbon is my preferred line for fishing the lakes I frequent the most. Now to answer your question about pads I would probably answer it 2 ways. Fishing the edge of pads and outer pockets I would still use 12# fluorocarbon. However, If I was casting into a massive pad bed I would probably use straight braid as I am betting I would approach it the same way I would frogging heavy vegetation.

Hopefully that helps clear up my answer and I am sorry if I misread your question.

 

Berkley Trilene Big Game.

To answer the OP question. What is your choice of line for weightless Senkos? 

I'd go braid in Lilly pads. Its limp and if anything slows the fall leaving the bait in the zone longer to me. But Big Game mono has worked just fine in less covered waters. 

 

I'll be honest, I bought Big Game cause it was cheaper than buying that much line 300 yds per spool but its giving me fits. The memory is terrible. Almost every cast it loops around the top eye of my rod and drives me nuts. I've decided next year to go to either flouro or braid. Its gonna be more expensive but less hassle. 

20lb PP super slick, 10lb fluoro leader. 

15 lb yellow braid with a 12-15lb fluorocarbon leader . Daiwa lexa 7'2" ml rod.

10 hours ago, kickerfish1 said:

That is ballsy DDG! I like how you roll! I once used 8# fluorocarbon fishing a fluke on a spinning rod in a pond with some pretty narly weed growth. It wasn't ideal but it sure was fun.

Well I am not really sure as I have zero lakes around here with lily pads. I have fished pads before but it has been a good 7 or 8 years and those were some lakes up in MN. I was using a copoly as that was one of the better line choices back then before the braid and fluorocarbon craze took off.

I am not sure if I would change my approach if I fished them. When I read the title of your post and then the body of your post, I figured I would probably answer the question differently. 12 # fluorocarbon is my preferred line for fishing the lakes I frequent the most. Now to answer your question about pads I would probably answer it 2 ways. Fishing the edge of pads and outer pockets I would still use 12# fluorocarbon. However, If I was casting into a massive pad bed I would probably use straight braid as I am betting I would approach it the same way I would frogging heavy vegetation.

Hopefully that helps clear up my answer and I am sorry if I misread your question.

 

Excellent answer. In this particular case I was fishing outside weed and pad edges from shore. Once I would set the hook, the fish would head straight to the pads. I would keep my rod high and many times while trying to skate them over the pads they would fall back down into the pads. It was hilarious seeing just a fish tail sticking out of a thick bed of pads. 

Most of my fishing from my kayak will be casting from a cleared spot to a weed/ pad edge so I think I'll be alright with 12 lb. if I need to hit little pockets I can just punch or fish weighless on my dobyns 705 

10 hours ago, Gundog said:

I'll be honest, I bought Big Game cause it was cheaper than buying that much line 300 yds per spool but its giving me fits. The memory is terrible. Almost every cast it loops around the top eye of my rod and drives me nuts. I've decided next year to go to either flouro or braid. Its gonna be more expensive but less hassle. 

Really?  I use it on almost all my rods and know of numerous others that fish with it all the time and none of us have issues with horrible memory or constant problems like it looping the top eye. Maybe you got a bad spool?

7 minutes ago, S. Sass said:

Really?  I use it on almost all my rods and know of numerous others that fish with it all the time and none of us have issues with horrible memory or constant problems like it looping the top eye. Maybe you got a bad spool?

Maybe I did get a bad spool but I'm not buying it again. I have used Berkely Trilene on 330 yd spools and haven't had a problem. I might continue to use it. I know its the same product but maybe the fact that its spooled larger or maybe it sits on the shelf longer. I don't know.