I just started fishing this lake that has zebra mussels. For those of you that deal with lakes with zebras, what kind of line do you use ? I hooked three and broke three off only to have ticked off smallies still jumping trying to shake my lure. I just quit fishing because I thought it was fruitless. I was using mono in 6lb test. Will braid work ?

Braid works or try a flouro and check for nicks a lot.

ive always thought braid a poor choice for sharp rocks or zebra muscles.  i prefer a floro as heavy as i can get away with, although nothing is foolproof when dealing with zebra muscles.

matt

14-20lb FLOUROCARBON LINES WORK PRETTY GOOD.  YOU DO HAVE TO CHECK YOUR LINE MORE OFTEN WHEN FISHING AROUND ZEBRA MUSCLES.

Although I am not faced with zebra mussels, the Tennessee River is lined with the Rocks From Hell. I find Yo-Zuri Hybrid to be just as tough as Trilene XT and Big Game, but far more managable. Give it a try, it might solve your problem.

I use #20 braid with a pretty long 12 lb fluorocarbon leader.  Check your line and knot often.  

8-10 lb floro and as others have said, check your line often.

fish the upper mississippi - full of zebra mussels and have not had any problems using 20# power pro.

Zebra Mussels breaking your line ? Wow ! Those things must really pull ! Doh ! ;-)

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist :-)

Seriously though, braid "might" work great..... OR it might cut easier than mono. Braid is weird like that. You will just have to try it to find out. But if one braided spectra line works great, they all will. If one does not, none will.

You might also try a high quality fluorocarbon leader such as Seaguar. With fluorocarbon, abrasion resistence might vary from one brand to the next.

Peace,

Fish

Personally, I've never used braid in a rocky river, but from the way I've seen some braid fray, I wouldn't think I would even want to use it in sharp rocks much less zebra mussels--of course there's no harm in trying.

fish the river 99% of the time and use braid on all my rigs.

There is a reason you need a good pair scissors to cut braid.

Many times when cranking the wingdams for smallies i will reel in a big ball of zebs snaged on one of the tribles.

I think you will find braid will help.

Every lake I fish has zebra mussles.

There is no zebra mussle proof line. Power Pro has 100 fibres so you can nick some and still land fish all the fused products are 1 nick and done.

You didn't mention what presentation you were using so crig is real bad.

Checking line and retie often is just standard.

Drop shot keeps your bait off the bottom that helps but zebras stick to weeds also.

Go up on lb. test and retie often.

If the zebras just got in your lake they will be large and a pain after a few years the water will clear and the zebras will get smaller but still a pain.

Garnet

I love braid but the concer I have with it is the fish can see the line.  I'm starting to think the visibility of braid is starting to affect my fish-catching abilities.

Best recommendation I can think of is check your line alot.  I usually check from the lure up about 10 ft.

I had the same problem! I was using braid and 8lb. fluorocarbon leader and loosing fish because of the zebra mussels. I went up to a 14lb. leader and it helped alot but i still loose some fish due to mussels.

Thank god the mussels only seem to be in a few areas. And yes, check your line often especially after snags. I usually can loosen the snags caused by mussels and also have some stuck to the hooks but the line really suffers.

I always use 12-14 pound Gamma fluorocarbon. I use 6-8 whenever I am not around zebra mussels

I fish Erie a lot, ultra clear, lots a zebras and big mean smallies.

I'll be honest, I do break a few off, very few, when dragging tubes because of zebras. I use 8-10lb P-line Floroclear and Trilene XL. Yo-zuri Hybrid and ultra soft would also be an option.  what you need to do is check you line often. Feel the smallest flaw, strip some off and retie. I have tried 6lb and even 4 lb up there and they don't see, to work well. cut too easy.

I would say braid might be OK, but if its clear water and you use a leader. Well, you might as well use that line that the leader is for the main line. since zebras are on the bottom, the line near the lure is what is in contact with them.

I use braid all of the time in the Saint Lawrence and a zebra mussel has never broke my line, fluoro and mono line gets cut very easy

Your situation is unique.

 

Zebras will cut braid just as easy as mono. Fishing above them or light baits that don't crash into the bottom and check your line a lot. You're still going to get "zebra'd", as I call it. 

I fish bottom finesse all the time in MI where we have tons of zebra mussels and break offs from them is seldom a problem.  I think 6 pound test mono is simply too fragile for this kind of fishing.  I usually use 15 pound test braid with an approx 4 foot 15 pound test FC leader.  The leader is leader material, not FC leftover mainline.  It seems stiffer and harder than  mainline grade FC.  

 

I doubt if the braid is actually contacting the mussels, at least when under tension it is not.