What type of line do you use when you fish swimbaits? I want to stick with 20 lb for mono, copoly or fluoro and 65 lb braid.

I'm not sure which line to use.

What are you using and poundage?

Copolymer, 20lb

I have used monos, copolys, and braids and I have stuck to 80lb braid.  Never had a cast off in over 2 years with braid.  Had many castoffs with mono and copoly.  Not using braid with swimbaits is a myth.  

I heard the arguments against braid (namely cast offs and the braid cutting into the plastic) when I first started out with swimbaits this year. I decided to go with 20lb CXX and while it works well I think I am going to try braid (probably 65 or 80lb) next year. 

80lb braid for top water and A-Rigs, 12lb CXX for glide baits, and 20lb Big Game for everything else. I don't go heavier than 6oz though.

What's a cast off?

I've fished all my swimbaits on 40-50lb braid with 20-25lb mono leader (approx 8ft) .  Normally it is 40lb braid with 20lb mono and 50lb braid with 25lb mono.  I have used 30lb braid to 20 mono or FC (for smaller 6" size swimbaits) without any issues as well.   No need for anything heavier IMO.  But that's my preference and what I'm comfortable with.

I fish my mid sized swimbaits (1-3oz) on 30lb braid with 20lb mono leader.

1 hour ago, ghost said:

What's a cast off?

Basically you go to cast and the lure sails away without your line on it, and you watch in disbelief as it sinks. Now ideally this will never happen...but errors on your part can cause it. These heavy swimbaits have a lot of momentum when being casted, so if you have a nick in the line, or you backlash, or knot in the line catches on a rod guide, you have the potential of the lure snapping off in mid air. Mono is going to have much more give than braid and can be more forgiving if you backlash with a heavy lure. The line has stretch to slow the lure down instead of an instantaneous stop with braid. 

8 hours ago, ghost said:

What's a cast off?

What MassYak85 said.  I once made the mistake of using braid with a leader once with swimbaits, and the leader knot caught on the guide mid-cast and my swimbait flew off.  I again re-learned this mistake last weekend while using a vision 110 tied to braided line, the braid tangled around a guide mid-cast and the braid didn't have any stretch to absorb the shock, so I again learned an expensive lesson on why I don't use braid with heavy or expensive lures.

Assuming you're asking about hollow body paddle tail's...I've been useing 30# braid for years down here and have no reason to change. 

 

Mike 

My swimbait reels all have 25 lb Sunline Armillo Diefer Nylon line. I fish Hudds, rats, wakes, glides, BD's, etc, between 2 to 7 oz . Anything under 1 1/2 oz I use 12 lb Big Game or 14 lb Sunline FC using my jig or H crankbait rod.  Tried braid and don't like it for swimbaits.

Tom

Does anyone on here like fishing braid for swimbaits over copoly/mono? I know there are some swimbait guys that do use braid most of the time (matt allen being one), but it seems the general consensus is against it.

7 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Does anyone on here like fishing braid for swimbaits over copoly/mono? I know there are some swimbait guys that do use braid most of the time (matt allen being one), but it seems the general consensus is against it.

See my post above

 

 

Mike

One thing I learned the hard way with braid it can break at the leader knot using FC leader with heavy swimbaits when making repeated long casts. Another expensive lesson is the braid cutting into the swimbait or tip wrapping the rod and cutting the tip rod tip off.

Braid helps to get a solid hook set at a long distance, it also tends to pop out treble hooks near the boat. With mono, coploy or braid you get good hook sets because the fish tends to engulf a swimbait head first. Like a top water lure you need to learn the timing when to set the hook, after the bass has it in it's mouth, then hook sets are equal with whatever line you use.

Tom

7 hours ago, Mike L said:

See my post above

 

 

Mike

Sorry I wasn't clear, I meant larger swimbaits like 8" hudds and Deps 250's. 

It depends on the type of swimbaits and size. Braid for topwater cxx for soft stuff like huds ect and tatsu for glide and jointed stuff. Braid is 50-65 and 12-20 for anything else.