Understanding line poundage

[HawkesburyParadise]

Hi Guys

I am wanting to understand the effects of line poundage specifically for mono.

What's the difference between 4lb and 10lb other than strength? Is it to target heavier fish or can you use 10lb for other purposes. Is it the difference between using bait and lures?

If I want to target small to medium fish with bait and lures, what lb line should I look at? 

Cheers

HP

 

[BigHorse]

If small to medium fish is small inshore snapper, trevally and flathead, 12lb line should be fine. but if you want to target smaller fish 8lb or 10lb will be fine.

There isnt really much difference between 4lb and 10lb line other the diameter of the line and strength. 

Hope this was some help.

 

 

[lastworm]

The idea of going as light as you can get away with is to ensure the fish don’t see or sense the line, especially in a bait fishing scenario. Also, you lose bite sensitivity the heavier you go. 

[Yowie]

All depends where you are fishing - rocky areas, fish with big teeth, deeper water, etc.

Some brands of line are thinner in diameter for their breaking strength than others, so if you wanted to fish 4 pound, you could pick a brand that is 6 pound but the same diameter as the 4 pound. For not so experienced fishos, the extra 2 pound makes a bit of difference to busting the line and hanging on to the fish.

For my handline fishing, I don't worry about line diameter, only the breaking strain and a good brand of mono.

For rod and reel, I look for a thinner diameter mono to aid in distance casting.

If you are experienced, you can fish at 4 pound. For the not so experienced, 4 pound mono can mean more bust-offs due to a minor mistake leading to more pressure on the line (drag too heavy on the reel, or, tightening the drag near the boat - a mistake made and written about on Fishraider a number of times)

Find a brand of line that is of much smaller diameter than the average (such as Exage, Sufix, Platypus) and you can increase the breaking strain a little more and it will not affect your casting/catching ability.

For you H.P., I would suggest 6 to 8 pound mono, even 10 if  you are looking at some agro fish like larger flatties, as their head shakes can break the finer line.

[campr]

Generally you will cast further with lighter lines, but they are more susceptible to being cut by sharp rocks, oysters and teeth.  I fish much lighter but for general fishing for bream,whiting,sqid and flathead etc I think 8lb is a good alternative.   You can always use a heavyer trace for toothy critters or a lighter one for wary fish.  Most importantly you can catch big fish on light lines if you have your drag set correctly.  Don't worry too much about all the advice you get, you'll have it all sorted in 30 or 40 years.   Ron