Line

There are several different types of line on the market nowadays. And each has it’s own unique characteristics. While I have tried braid, monofilament, and even flourocarbon…I have found mono to be the best for catfishing by far. Some people will still tell you that they prefer braid, but I dislike braid for several reasons.
One, it is difficult to work with. You must put a mono backing on your reels and tie the braid to it. Otherwise, your braided line will slip on the spool and you will not be able to reel a fish in. Also, when tying knots be sure to triple check them, because braid has a bad habit of slipping if not tied perfectly. And If you cast in windy conditions with braid, you will likely get the dreaded wind knot! And good luck getting it out as braided line is very difficult to work with. Braided line also has very little abrasion resistance in my experience. If you fish in heavy structure and use braid, you better be checking your line and retying frequently! Furthermore, braid has no stretch. This makes it sensitive to a fault. With monofilament, the line stretches a bit and acts as a bit of a shock absorber when casting or fighting a fish. A little bit of stretch is also very helpful when setting a circle hook! With braided line, you will usually end up pulling the hook out of the fishes mouth because the line doesn’t give at all. And I can’t forget about the fact that braid has a tiny diameter! This may seem like a good thing at first, but when you get hung up and have to break it, it becomes quite the task. Braided line when stretched tight, can cut you like a knife.
So now that we’ve established that mono is better than braid 🙂 what size line should you use? For the kind of fishing I do, I prefer 25-30 pound test for my main line. If you are fishing for smaller channel catfish, 15-20 pound test would likely suffice. If you are fishing in extreme current or heavy structure, you may want to step up to 40. For a leader, I use 30-50 pound test. Some people ask why I use a heavier line for the leader? The leader is the business end of the line. This means that it takes most of the abuse, from getting snagged on structure to being rubbed against the fishes teeth during a fight. It is important to check your leader frequently! Run your fingers up and down it, feeling for nicks or cuts. Give it a pull and make sure your knots are still holding up well. It also never hurts to check the first few feet of your mainline as well. It’s alot easier to tie a new knot than it is to lose a big fish because your line broke!