# best line for turning good sized catfish?



## autogyroenthusiast (Oct 25, 2007)

going to target laydowns and log jams more this year. had some good luck drawing them out to bite last year, but lost a couple nice ones that made it back into the wood. any particular line better than others or other tips you can offer? I try to fish upstream or upwind and keep the bait out farther from the wood while letting the scent travel into the wood with the water movement. Right now I use Trilene Mono which I always use because I like it and get stuck in my ways. But wondering if a different line would have helped bring those couple bigger ones to the net. Thanks.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Need more info. What is a &#8220;nice one&#8221;? What size line are you using? Are the fish coming off or is the line breaking? The answer may be as simple as using heavier line. Some people believe that braided line is more abrasion resistant, but I haven&#8217;t found that to always be the case.


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## autogyroenthusiast (Oct 25, 2007)

Using 20lb test. Nice size is 30+ I'd say. Not breaking or coming off, they just raced back into the wood pile and I couldn't get them back out. Hung up. I set the hook quickly but I still lost ground. Thinking I may need to get a beefier reel but still curious if a different line type would be better to muscle them out away from the logjam. Using a Catmaxx combo now. Thanks.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I use Vicious line and have not had a problem with it. Berkley Big Game is also a good choice. If you are fishing around a lot of wood I would try and go up in the line weight. I use 30 pound Vicious Offshore down on the Ohio river and I have not had a fish break off and never have a problem turing a fish.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I'm not sure line is the culprit. Sounds like maybe a stiffer action rod could help. Which Catmaxx are you using?


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## Joey209 (Oct 17, 2007)

I use 30 lb big game and I rarely have trouble turning a 30 lber. They start really fighting once you get em towards shallower water. If your fishing around wood and stuff like that I would lock down my drag a litter more and get to my pole quicker. Dont worry that much bout lockin your drag down mono has a lot of stretch and is very forgiving. I horsed a 50 lber out of a downed tree a couple yrs ago usin 30lb test and all I had was a couple freys and kinks in my line


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Fishing around submerged timber increases your odds of getting bit by flathead. With this also comes the risk of getting hung up or having fish get hung in brush.

It doesn't much matter what line you have if your rig gets hung into 800 lb or larger log. We often take small boats over the hung up fish in attempts to get flathead. We land about half of them.

The best you can do is adjust drags as heavily as you dare and try to power flathead away from brush quickly and then ease off to fight the cats to net.

On a good day a hung up flathead will pull itself clear of snags.


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## AkronCATS (Nov 5, 2008)

best time to get good channels is from ice out until when the ice comes back. Flathead, I would say from may-oct. Blues will bite year round in the river. In summary, I would say the best time to catch big cats is ANYTIME!!


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