# best fishing line for kingfish



## john1970 (Jun 20, 2011)

what is best line for king fish i used shimano 3500 baitrunner with penn slammer rod spinning reel saltwater drift  fishing panama city  ps the last three times i went out on a party boat for  grouper  i take along my spinning pole  and have caught kingfish every time sizes ranges 10-to 25 pounds


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## shakey gizzard (Jun 20, 2011)

Its all good! what were ya usin for bait?


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## stev (Jun 21, 2011)

Braid with a wire attached as a leader .Or 50 pd momoi mono line with wire leader It all works .Personel preferance for some folks .We troll for most our kings with good success .6mph with 3 rods trolling .


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## john1970 (Jun 21, 2011)

shakey gizzard said:


> Its all good! what were ya usin for bait?


sardine dead same bait party boat use's for snapper


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## T-Boy (Jun 22, 2011)

On the piers most use 15lb mono with no more than 30lb wire leader. Big Game and Ande are favorites for many.

A friend I met on the pier handed me his rod when I walked up to the end of the pier with a king already hooked up. I fought the fish for 25 minutes before getting it to the gaff.

It weighed 28.5lbs and Mike later told me I was using 12lb Ande line. Set the drag loose and use a good rod and let the fish wear itself out.

Picture is the King.


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## robertyb (Jun 22, 2011)

That Big Game line works well also Terry.


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## T-Boy (Jun 22, 2011)

robertyb said:


> That Big Game line works well also Terry.



And that's one of your little ones Bob.


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## fishinmama (Jun 22, 2011)

We tried braided line with a fluoro leader, then a wire leader dragging cigar minnows with dusters in PCB last week. Use a planer on one rig, the other on top, drags set loose. It only took 20 minutes for both lines to be snapped and planer and all terminal tackle lost..... stripping the braid off and going back to mono... We never lost a fish like that until we used the braided line. $120 bucks down the drain... just my two cents...


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## Rock-hard (Jun 24, 2011)

fishinmama said:


> We tried braided line with a fluoro leader, then a wire leader dragging cigar minnows with dusters in PCB last week. Use a planer on one rig, the other on top, drags set loose. It only took 20 minutes for both lines to be snapped and planer and all terminal tackle lost..... stripping the braid off and going back to mono... We never lost a fish like that until we used the braided line. $120 bucks down the drain... just my two cents...



Then you simply did something wrong. Don't blame it on the line. I have been fishing nothing but braid for over 10 years now on EVERY reel I have that covers freshwater to YFT fishing. My most recent trip to Venice we got 3 wahoos on straight braid to wire, and the drag set tight. NO MONO SHOCK LEADER. Just another knot to break. I just laugh at people who curse braid. Can I get all that from you if you are just going to throw it away? By the way, the reels and braid I caught those wahoo on, were 11 year old Penn 340 GTIs with the original 80lb braid I spooled on them out of the box. You never have to replace braid unless you lose it somehow.  Those wahoo did show me some line on the reels I haven't seen in 11 years.


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## pottydoc (Jun 25, 2011)

What Rock hard said. What knot are you using? Alot of the knots that work well with mono are not good with braid. Improved clinch would be an example.


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## fishinmama (Jun 26, 2011)

Try a uniknot with the braid, that's what we learned after the fact.


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## FishinMech (Jun 27, 2011)

MONO MONO MONO dont be a braid hero. In less you are catching poon stay away from braid. I hate that stuff. I use 17lb mono and a 27lb sevenstrand leader thats all you need. I mean look at bob and his tiny fish.


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## fishinmama (Jun 27, 2011)

As far as the braid that I'm stripping off my reels... burn baby burn....


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## pottydoc (Jun 27, 2011)

If you guys are losing fish on braid, it's because you're doing something wrong, with bad or improper knots being the most likely. We use it for everything from trout to swords, and I know we lose less fish than we used to on mono. The only thing I don't use straight braid on is my trolling gear. I use a 50-100 yard top shot on that to have some stretch in the line when a fish eats a bait moving at 10 or more knots. You will pull some hooks using straight braid trolling. Under the top shot is all braid, though.


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## Rock-hard (Jun 27, 2011)

pottydoc said:


> If you guys are losing fish on braid, it's because you're doing something wrong, with bad or improper knots being the most likely. We use it for everything from trout to swords, and I know we lose less fish than we used to on mono. The only thing I don't use straight braid on is my trolling gear. I use a 50-100 yard top shot on that to have some stretch in the line when a fish eats a bait moving at 10 or more knots. You will pull some hooks using straight braid trolling. Under the top shot is all braid, though.



Hey Potty, call it luck or whatever but my most recent trip to Venice, LA yielded 3 wahoo 55-65 & 2 25 lb black fins on wire to braid using a coast lock snap swivel. I don't like the stretch. I use 80 lb braid so it is going to take a monster to bust it. I caught those hoos on  stretch red snapper( a tremendous load on reel,line, & rod) and 2 different rattle traps. That same Stretch Snapper yielded a 25 lb dolphin on wire off Charleston. So maybe I am lucky, but I rarely use a top shot unless Tuna fishing.


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## Rock-hard (Jun 27, 2011)

fishinmama said:


> As far as the braid that I'm stripping off my reels... burn baby burn....



That is a shame, I would have given you some of your money back. Learn some knots and you will save money should you ever try braid again.


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## fishinmama (Jun 27, 2011)

Well, I will say that we did not lose any more terminal tackle after a kind hearted fisherman explained that the braid was cutting itself with the knots we had tied. After demonstration by him and our return demonstration of the uniknot, we did not break off any more tackle, but we did still lose fish quite quickly. Tried setting the drag a little looser, and that helped some, but still didn't get the results that we had been getting with mono. Heck, maybe it was the moon. I don't know. I still have the braid on the reels and am headed to Mexico Beach next week.


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## FishinMech (Jun 29, 2011)

No the reason I am many guys that fish the piers dont use braid on the pier is if you get tangled it easier to bite mono. But on a boat that is a different story I would much rather use braid. For big fish but kings ill still use mono.


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## pottydoc (Jun 29, 2011)

You (as in anyone) will lose alot of kingfish using any kind of line if you fish a tight drag. Kingfish have soft mouths (albeit full of teeth) that hooks pull out of easily.

RH, Venice is my favorite place to fish. I got a trip planned for September with Mike Ellis. Hope the yellows are eating, but if not, we'll settle for killing a bunch of mangos and AJ's. I keep saying I'm gonna try the inshore stuff when I'm there, but never have been able to turn down another day offshore to catch trout and reds. Even though I love catching them.


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## Rock-hard (Jul 4, 2011)

pottydoc said:


> You (as in anyone) will lose alot of kingfish using any kind of line if you fish a tight drag. Kingfish have soft mouths (albeit full of teeth) that hooks pull out of easily.
> 
> RH, Venice is my favorite place to fish. I got a trip planned for September with Mike Ellis. Hope the yellows are eating, but if not, we'll settle for killing a bunch of mangos and AJ's. I keep saying I'm gonna try the inshore stuff when I'm there, but never have been able to turn down another day offshore to catch trout and reds. Even though I love catching them.



On those rough days, I just go right of of South pass or tiger pass, nad catch those 30 to 40 lb reds. I love that when all else fails. September should be great on the YFT, Mahi, and Wahoo. Good luck.


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## T-Boy (Jul 8, 2011)

*Braid vs Mono*

From what I see if you are fishing with several other people on the pier braid can easily get in a tangled mess.
Been there done that.

Mono handles better and untangles much easier. Also if you have to handline a fish up to the pier goodluck with braid.

If you have your finger on braid when a King hits, you best move it fast.

I use braid to increase spool capacity on some reels and top off the spool with at least a 100 yards of mono.

If I was on the pier with just a couple people I would like to use 20lb Power Pro mainly for casting distance.

In a crowd I like mono. On a boat braid is fine.


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## Rock-hard (Jul 8, 2011)

T-Boy, you are right on about that braid and fingers. I fishing in the Venice FLW KM tournament in 06 I think it was. I had my braid filled reels. I had just put my first hard tail in the water and was thumbing the reel. You know what happened? A 42 lb king hit the hardtail maybe 5 ft from the boat. I could not have burnt my thumb with a torch any worse. For some reason I just couldn't get my thumb off the reel. LOL. It blistered the carp out of my thumb. Handling braid should only be done with gloves when lifting a fish or something along those lines. That stuff will cut you.


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