I hear a lot of guys mention that they throw 15 lb. fluoro and others say they throw 20 lb. I am looking at using it to throw spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, medium sized jigs and swim jigs, and some topwaters. Would 17 lb. be a good middle of the road line size for balancing power and line diameter for casting distance or should I spool up with the other two sizes I mentioned? ( I will be using Seaguar Invisx in case you were wondering what line it might be for diameter)

Yeah I like a premium 15-17lb Fluoro for those applications you listed, line diameter to me is more important, with the higher end lines like Shooter and Invizx you can get 17lb test with a diameter closer to .145-.15.  Both are great.   

 

Pline ultimate Fluoro has amazing abrasion resistance and overall strength compared to higher priced stuff like the ones I listed above, but also have a bigger line diameter for same line class.    If you aren't limited with a shallow spool, no reason not to go with it as well.   

 

You can't go wrong with quality fluoro on modern baitcasters, and that sweet spot has always been in the 14-17lb range.   

 

edit:  Right now I have a 8lb Invizx on my all around spinning setup, 12lb Red label on my finesse jerkbait/squarebills/shakeyhead rod, 15lb Pline ultimate on my pitching T-Rig rod, 16lb Shooter on my Chatterbait rod, and 20lb shooter on my big swimbait rig.

15lb InvizX is what I like as a do it all MH line.  Its really manageable and thin enough to get a somewhat natural fall on a weightless senko, but has enough strength and durability to land a fish after rubbing against the inside of a piling pulling him out.  As long as the line isnt damaged you shouldnt have breakage issues.  Just try to make checking the line for damage, a habit.

14 lb sniper.  I save 16 lb for H rods and 20 for pitching jigs on H jig rod.  No line conditioner.

topwater ?

 

15lb should be good. I wouldn't go much lighter than that though.  Like dodgeguy questioned, the lighter the line in FC the faster it will sink, making some topwater problematic with a long cast.

 

I have used 15lb FC for topwater without much issue. 

Just curious what the advantage is of straight fluoro, I use braid to leader, never once had a knot fail and like braids manageability. Am I missing some advantage? This forum has provided a ton of insight for me and I appreciate it. 

Fluoro is less bouyant.  Helps get the crankbaits down.  I only use braid on topwater baits, worms, jigs, and frogs.

Don’t throw your topwater on fluoro unless is a constant reeling bait like buzzer 

16 minutes ago, gunsinger said:

Fluoro is less bouyant.  Helps get the crankbaits down.  I only use braid on topwater baits, worms, jigs, and frogs.

I don’t fish anywhere where I need every inch of dive a bait needs I just adjust the bait per depth. I’d gladly trade a foot of depth for the versatility tying on a leader of various needs. That’s just me though, thanks for the point of view

I use 12# to 20# on a MH/F and XF. 
Sunline Sniper on the low end and Shooter on the high end

 

 

 

 

Mike

Cover matters a lot. I have a bunch of gnarly stuff in texas, and after going from 15 to 20 (tatsu) I've settled on 17 as my best all-around line. I'm moving back to 20 on a couple of heavy rods, but it's 1:10:1 (couple at 15, most at 17, couple at 20). 

 

As a bonus the 17lb is often significantly less expensive. $52.00 for 600 yards of invisx on amazon.