Hey guys, just wondering what pound test ya'll use on your reels for bass fishin'. I fish philpott and just starting buggs this year, as of right now, using 6 on the spinning reel and 10 on the baitcaster, but I got to thinking about it, and especially with the ultra clear water at philpott, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to downsize the line to like 4 pound. Do ya'll think this would increase the amount of bites I get?? Thanks in advance for all advice.

come on guys, you're looking, why can't u give an opinion?? Not looking for a dead right answer, just wanted some opinions.

Thanks

Kevin not an expert on the line I usually use a little heavierier line down at buggs like 14 or 12 pound line. Also I seen that you fish phillpott do u ever have any luck their. I go on the weekends most I done caught in a day is two bass. What do you use at philpott. I went their today seen about twenty fish in a cove and they wouldn't bite anything. I just caught one on a watermelon tube. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Line size is important for most factors such as getting a crank to run its deepest keeping a jig from hanging in a snaggy bottom muscleing big fish out of bushes and deep finesse fishing my rule of thumb is use the biggest I can get away with I use 10lb for deep cranks 14lb for shallow cranks and jerkbaits 17lb for smaller spinnerbaits(up to 3/8) 20lb for bigger spinnerbaits(3/8-1 1/2)17lb for finesse jigs,flukes,and senkos 20-30 for bigger jigs and flipping 20 lb for topwaters no matter the size 20lb for swimbaits and carolina rig main line if i have to go to finesse fishing I normally use 20-30lb power pro braid with a 10 or 12lb fluorocarbon leader.this light line for more bites was what a friend of mine always thought but after getting his tail handed to him in every tournament we fished last year he decided he had to take notes.I fish smith mtn. quite a bit mostly on the lower end and dont have a problem catching fish.From my experience the fish key in on the bait not the line. rarely have I been on a pattern where the fish shyed away from the bait because of the line size, normally the color of the bait is the reason the fish shy away hope this helps because I have been using the same rule of thumb for over 10 years and rarely has it let me down and when it did I should have gone to a bigger size than my standards

Just a lillte curious about the 4lb. line, are yo sreious?? I know it can be done but man , imagine a big ole 5-6 pounder in the bushes on 4 lb. line. NOT TO GOOD !!! Been there done that. Personally I like 8 lb. P-Line CXX on my spinning reels texas rigging . However if I am fishing heavy cover I go with my old stanby, 15 lb. green trilene big game, It'll hold up about as good as any and cost way less than a lot of the super lines. Fished Leesville last year with a friend and we found a bedded fish, finally got her to take a jig. Set the hook with about 10-15 feet of line out, cranked her to the boat and threw her in the boat using 15 pound big game, 6 pounds and change. Something about that green line fish don't seem to be bothered by it, but Buggs is always a little off colored, on clear water I like berkley vanish 12-14 pound works good. The best I have used over the last few years for rigging is p-line cxx. It is flat out tough, I use 20 pound main line 14 pund leader and can straighten gamakatsu hooks all day.

i use 15-20 lb florocarbon on my baitcasters for bass. but have a couple with 10-12 mono for cranks. on spinnin reels i like trilene XL (8-10) an fireline (10-14) . got 4 lb excel on my crappie rod. if ya use 4lb on philpott, you'll get it an ya heart broke a lot. RCC is correct IMHO, use the biggest ya can get by with.

Andre, if you caught two, I'd consider that a good day at philpott. Great lake, and there's some big fish in their, but they just don't bite much from my experience. I don't claim to be good by any means, but I try. Everyone tells me a white spinnerbait, which is pretty much for any lake, but that and soft plastics, rubber worms and lizards, stuff like that seems to produce the best. Personally I like pumpkinseed color, but I dunno. I realize I need to take notes on how to fish the lake, but the only problem is I can't find anybody that's willing to help. I'm hoping eventually I'll figure it out, but yeah, basically, what I've had the best luck with is carolina rigged soft plastics, hitting the banks and dragging back towards the boat. Thanks for the advice on the line, I just don't really know what to do, I don't seem to ever get any bites and I'm willing to do anything to pick up some strikes. Good luck to all, and if anyone has any advice please feel free to throw it at me. If u don't want to list it on this board, I'll give u my email address or AIM screenname if u want it. Thanks again

Lake Moomaw (way up in yonder hills if you know what I mean) is crystal clear. We use everything from 4 to 12 pound stren mono. No problems as far as the fish seeing it.

WHEN FISHING CLEAR WATER LIKE AT PHILPOTT I USE P LINE FLUOROCARBON. IT IS NOT GOOD IF YOU ARE A LINE WATCHER. I USE GREEN LINE ON MY BAITCASTERS FOR C-RIGS BUT ALWAYS USE A FLUOROCARBON LEADER. I USE 15 POUND TEST FLUOROCARBON ON EVERYTHING ELSE FOR BASS. WITH CLEAR WATER,YOUR POOR RESULTS COULD BE YOU ARE FISHING TO SHALLOW. IN CLEAR WATER FISH WILL MOVE DEEPER TO ESCAPE THE SUN, I BELIEVE. I AM NO AUTHORITY ON PHILPOTT AS I HAVE ONLY FISHED IT A FEW TIMES BUT WHAT WORKS AT MAYO'S CLEAR WATER WORKS THERE FOR ME.
ABE

Kevin, I knew a guy that fished the smith river (what comes out of Philpott)alot. He used to dye his line green to match the water color. He claimed it doubled his catch on those native browns. Something to think about.