Weekend warriors are well aware of the frequency with which professional bass anglers change their fishing line. But many wonder whether the pros' daily investment in stripping and respooling delivers real or imagined advantages. After all, does a day of fishing really destroy high-quality mono or fluorocarbon?
Two-tour pro David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn. is an unabashed advocate for the fresh-line cause. He said the advantages the daily chore provides far outweigh the time and money required to keep new line on his reels.
Even After Bad Days
We caught him when his tail was dragging a little after a tough day 1 at the Beaver FLW. Walker paused in the midst of – you guessed it – changing his lines to comment on the reasons he goes the extra mile.
"Yeah, it's easy not to bother with respooling after a bad day," he said. "But even when you aren't catching much, your line gets worked over. The repeated dragging through the rod guides causes the line to wear.
"When the line gets worn, it not only gets weaker, it also tangles more. It's hard to manage because it twists in the reel. And it just doesn't lay right when it's twisted and it's surface is scratched up."
He said the twists and inconsistencies in the line's surface can result in break-offs, but equally as irksome are other problems created by line wear, such as backlashes. "Old line can result in more bird's nests. You can get serious backlashes with worn line. And who wants to pick those out all day?"
His general rule of thumb is if a rod and reel gets more than an hour or two of use during the day, he'll change the line before the next tournament day.
Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
"Respooling is really important," he said. "A lot of people think they'll save a few bucks if they don't change it. But how aggravating is it to break off a nice fish or pick out backlashes? It's really worth it in the long run."
Walker noted he can sense problems developing in his line. "You can hear it coming through the guides," he said. "It makes a scratchy sound. Or you can see line wear when it starts to look milky, not clear and shiny like when it was new."
Worn line's extra bit of friction in the line guides also reduces distance in casting and pitching.
"When it gets harder to pitch a lure the same distance you normally would, or when you have to really whip a crankbait to get the distance, it's time to change the line."
Line Choices
"I flip with Berkley Big Game and cast with (Berkley) Vanish Transition (fluorocarbon)," he said. "I was never too keen about fluorocarbon because it's harder to cast, but I'm really impressed with Vanish. Other guys flip with fluorocarbon, but I think Big Game is more shock-resistant on a short line."
He's also been using more braid recently for flipping. "It gives a lighter bait more action. If I'm using a little jig, for example, I'll go with braid because it's limp and the jig dances better than on heavy mono. I'll still go with 30-pound mono when I'm using a 1-ounce sinker, though."
His lure-to-line knot of choice is the Palomar. "If I'm really scuffing a jig around a lot and the knot is going to get abused, I'll add four or five wraps before I cinch it down. That's mostly for jigs."
The Strip Tease
Walker keeps all of his lines in a duffel bag to make it easy to find what he needs when he's ready to strip and respool.
"Today I'm changing out just my flipping and cranking outfits because that's all I used," he said. "On the flipping reel, I stripped down to the spool and wound on new 25-pound-test. I stripped off half the 10-pound line on the cranking reel."
To splice lines, he uses a simple square knot. "I don't worry about knot strength because I'll never cast down to where I can see the knot."
He also keeps a bottle of Reel Magic handy. "If I'm really working a reel hard and I start to hear the line in the guides or notice it's not running as freely, I'll give it a few squirts and it's good to go for the rest of the day."
