What Pound Test Line to Use for Bass Fishing

Three choices set the number: the type of line (monofilament, fluorocarbon or braid), the bait, and the cover the fish live in. A 12 lb mono and a 12 lb braid are very different lines, so the type comes first.

This guide explains what the rating measures, gives ranges by technique from named makers, pros and magazines, and shows why line thickness can matter more than the label. Every range here is one source’s view, not a rule, and the sources disagree in places.

What “pound test” measures

Berkley, a line maker, defines it this way: “Fishing line strength, often referred to as the test and measured in lbs., refers to how much weight the line can handle before breaking.” So a 12 lb line is rated to break at about 12 lb of pull. It is not a limit on the size of fish you can land. Berkley’s own example is a 2 lb mono on a largemouth: “Fishing a 2lb test monofilament line for a largemouth bass may get you bit”, but landing the fish around timber or vegetation is a different matter.

Related guide: Braided vs Mono Fishing Line: Which to Use and When

Anglers name a line by its material and its test, such as “12 lb fluoro” or “30 lb braid”. The three materials are monofilament (“mono”), fluorocarbon (“fluoro”) and braid.

The number is a rating, not a measurement of every spool. Sport Fishing magazine tested 101 lines rated 30 lb on a tensile-testing machine and reported that “one 30-pound line broke as high as 66.8 pounds” while “some broke at less than 27 pounds”. Seaguar, a line maker, prints this caution on its product pages: “The advertised product break strength is based on manufacturer’s regular testing results and is not intended to guarantee or warranty actual performance.”

The same number can also mean different thickness. Seaguar writes that “the diameters vary widely from brand to brand”, which is why its pros talk about diameter first (see the diameter section below).

Mono, fluorocarbon and braid at a glance

Monofilament, as Berkley describes it, is a single-strand line made primarily from nylon. Fluorocarbon is made from PVDF, and braid is woven from polyethylene strands. The table uses Berkley’s line guide for the material, the usual test range and visibility.

Line	Made of	Usual test range (Berkley)	Visibility	Floats or sinks
Monofilament	Nylon	2 to 25 lb	Low to medium	Floats or sinks slowly; Berkley’s pages describe it both ways
Fluorocarbon	PVDF	6 to 20 lb	Low	Sinks
Braid	Polyethylene strands	20 to 100 lb	High	Floats

Berkley’s ranges are for fishing in general, and bass anglers run lighter braid than that on spinning gear (Wired2Fish suggests 10 to 20 lb below).

Stretch is the other big difference. In Sport Fishing’s tests, “mono and fluoro stretching typically 20 to more than 30 percent before snapping, and braid stretching minimally, from less than 3 to a bit more than 5 percent”. Berkley says mono’s stretch is forgiving on treble hooks, and that fluorocarbon and braid are the better choices when you need to feel light bites.

Related guide: How to Set Fishing Drag and When to Change It in a Fight

Pound test by bass technique

Wired2Fish, a bass-fishing publication, lists a line for each technique. The chart is by Jason Sealock, a former editor-in-chief of FLW Outdoors Magazines. These are the rows for common baits.

Bait or technique	Pound test	Line type
Frogs over matted grass	65	Braid
Pitching to heavy cover	20 or 65	Fluorocarbon or braid
Football jigs	15 to 20	Fluorocarbon
Casting jig	8 to 12	Fluorocarbon
Topwaters	15 or 30	Monofilament or braid
Shallow crankbaits	10 to 17	Monofilament
Deep-diving crankbaits	8 to 15	Fluorocarbon or monofilament
Cold-water jerkbaits	8 to 12	Fluorocarbon or monofilament
Shaky head	8 to 10	Fluorocarbon
Drop shot	4 to 10 leader on 10 to 20 braid	Fluorocarbon leader on braid

Wired2Fish’s full chart has 23 rows, including swimbaits, spoons, spinnerbaits and umbrella rigs; see its line guide for the rest.

Other named anglers land close to those numbers and sometimes differ:

• Cranking. Shaye Baker, writing on the blog of Anglr, a fishing-app maker, uses 10 to 15 lb fluorocarbon for a deep diver.
• Frogs and mats. Baker uses 40 lb braid in open water and loose cover, 50 lb in moderate cover and 65 lb in dense cover such as mats. Wired2Fish lists 65 lb for frogs over matted grass.
• Finesse on spinning gear. Sealock of Wired2Fish writes “I use 10 to 20-pound braid on all my spinning reels” and says an 8 to 12 lb leader is typical for that braid-to-fluorocarbon setup. Baker pairs 10 to 15 lb braid with 6 to 12 lb fluorocarbon for drop shot, shaky head and similar rigs.
• Topwaters. Sealock of Wired2Fish writes “I typically tie a monofilament leader when throwing a topwater lure or a Carolina rig”, because the mono leader keeps the line from sinking and keeps hooks out of the braid. Our bass topwater lures roundup covers the baits themselves.

Where sources differ, treat the table as a starting point and move up or down for the fish and the cover.

Match the line to your rod and reel

Wired2Fish says “Most anglers will stick with 4 to 10-pound mono on spinning reels and 10 to 25-pound mono on baitcasting reels.” Berkley’s guide adds that “The line size should match the reel and rod size”.

The rod itself prints a line rating, and it is the simplest limit to follow. In our baitcasting rod roundup for bass, St. Croix lists one model as “rated for 12-20 lb line”. In our bass spinning rod roundup, St. Croix lists another as “rated for 6-20 lb line”. Our spinning reel size guide shows how a reel’s size relates to the line it holds.

Why diameter can matter more than the number

Because makers’ diameters differ, Seaguar argues that “the true test of a line is the actual measured diameters of each size and line type”. Wired2Fish gives the effect on lures: “A lighter line will also sink faster and cut through the water faster so a lure like a crankbait will run much deeper on 8-pound line than it will on 20-pound line.”

Matt Becker, a Bass Pro Tour pro quoted by Seaguar, gives a rule of thumb for jerkbaits: “As a general rule, every five pounds of line size will affect the diving distance of your jerkbait by approximately one foot.” Wired2Fish’s sentence above gives the direction: heavier line runs shallower. Brandon Palaniuk, a Bassmaster Elite Series pro quoted by Seaguar, advises anglers trying Seaguar’s thin PEX8 braid to “start with a diameter that is the closest match to what you are fishing now” and scale down from there.

This table shows one maker’s diameters. All three columns are Seaguar lines, so the rows compare like with like. Other brands differ, so check the box.

Rated test	Mono (Seaguar BRAWLR, a new line)	Fluorocarbon (Seaguar Red Label)	Braid (Seaguar Smackdown)
8 lb	0.010 in (0.26 mm)	0.009 in (0.235 mm)	not listed
10 lb	0.012 in (0.31 mm)	0.010 in (0.26 mm)	0.008 in (0.205 mm)
12 lb	0.013 in (0.33 mm)	0.012 in (0.31 mm)	not listed
20 lb	0.016 in (0.405 mm)	0.016 in (0.405 mm)	0.010 in (0.26 mm)
30 lb	0.020 in (0.52 mm)	not listed	0.011 in (0.285 mm)

In every row where Seaguar lists both, the fluorocarbon is thinner than or equal to the mono, and where it lists braid, the braid is thinner than both. “Not listed” means that size is not on Seaguar’s page for that line. This is also a braid size chart for Smackdown: 10 lb is 0.008 in, and the thickness rises slowly with strength.

Where the weight goes on the line

Weights depend on the rig, and the line passes through or ties to them in different ways. These descriptions come from Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine and Kevin VanDam’s Bassmaster column.

• Texas rig. “Slide a bullet or flipping weight on your line and tie on a hook”, and the weight “slides freely on the line”. The magazine adds a rubber bobber stop between the weight and the hook to protect the knot. In heavy cover it suggests you “peg the weight” so it cannot slide and snag.
• Carolina rig. The weight also slides on the line, but “there is a barrel swivel between the weight and lure”. The main line ends at the swivel, and the part closest to the lure can be a lighter line. A longer leader suits clearer or more pressured water.
• Drop shot. The weight sits below the hook. VanDam writes that “The distance between the sinker and hook is determined by how far off the bottom the fish are positioned”. He notes that casting an 18-inch leader into 10 feet of water leaves the bait only 4 or 5 inches off the bottom, because of the angle of the line.

Choosing by cover, clarity and bait

Wired2Fish says “Cover and water clarity are often your two biggest factors when deciding what kind of line to throw.” Berkley lists three: “your lure or hook choice, the water clarity, and any cover or obstructions”.

Situation	Lean toward	Source
Thick, matted grass or heavy cover	Braid; Berkley says anglers who flip, pitch or punch heavy cover often opt for braid testing 50 lb and more	Berkley
Clear water	A more transparent, thinner line; Berkley calls fluorocarbon nearly invisible and braid the most visible	Wired2Fish, Berkley
Floating topwaters	Mono, or braid with a mono leader	Berkley, Wired2Fish
Treble-hook baits where stretch helps	Mono	Berkley
Finesse baits on spinning gear	Braid with a fluorocarbon leader	Wired2Fish

Line colour is a smaller choice. Berkley says mono comes in “stealthy, low-visibility options such as green, blue or clear” as well as high-visibility shades for watching the line. It adds that “generally invisible or multi-colored lines that blend into their surroundings are less likely to spook any cautious fish”. Berkley’s pages do not rank green against clear.

How long fishing line lasts

Berkley says “prolonged exposure to UV light can weaken mono, although it may take hundreds of hours to incur appreciable damage”, and recommends changing nylon mono “at least once a year”. Its line guide says once or twice a year for the average angler, and lists dryness, fraying, too much memory and reduced casting distance as signs to replace line.

For unused line, the Tackle Room, a tackle retailer that sells its own line, says “Unopened mono and fluoro stored in a cool, dark place last 3-5 years”, while mono on a reel in sun and heat degrades within 6 to 12 months. That is one retailer’s view, so check the maker’s site for its own guidance.

What this guide leaves out

Saltwater, surf and fly lines are different jobs with their own sources. Fly line is sold by a weight number, not by pound test. Our fly rod size guide quotes Field & Stream: “Line weight is a name, not a breaking strength”. Crimp sleeve sizing is a leader-building topic and is not covered here. Regional advice, such as Florida’s grass lakes, is not covered either; the cover rows above apply wherever the cover is the same.

Frequently Asked Questions

It sits inside several of Wired2Fish’s rows, including 10 to 17 lb for shallow crankbaits, 8 to 12 lb for cold-water jerkbaits and 8 to 12 lb for a casting jig. The chart starts football jigs and pitching at 15 to 20 lb, though. A 12 lb line also falls inside rows of the full chart such as lipless crankbaits (12 to 20 lb). Whether either is enough depends on the bait, the cover and your rod’s rating.

Wired2Fish lists 4 to 10 lb for a drop-shot fluorocarbon leader and, in its full chart, 6 to 8 lb for a spy bait. Berkley says the lightest tests (2 to 4 lb) suit smaller fish such as panfish and crappie, and that landing a largemouth on 2 lb mono is unlikely when the fish run into timber or heavy vegetation.

The rating is the line’s breaking strength, which Berkley describes as how much weight the line can handle before breaking. Sport Fishing’s lab results show real lines break above and below the rating, and Seaguar says its figure is not a guarantee.

Davos Tackle, an Australian retailer, says “Dacron is a type of braided line that is slightly thicker than braided fishing line” and is mainly used as filler, backing or wind-on line. Sport Fishing says modern superbraids use “either Dyneema (made by DSM in the Netherlands) or Spectra (made by Honeywell in the United States)”.

One retailer, the Tackle Room, puts it at 3 to 5 years unopened in a cool, dark place. On a reel, Berkley recommends changing mono at least once a year.

Berkley lists green, blue and clear together as low-visibility mono colours and does not rank them. Wired2Fish and Berkley treat water clarity and cover as the bigger factors.

No. The sources here are freshwater bass sources. Fly lines use a weight number, which Field & Stream says is “a name, not a breaking strength”.

Sources (14)

• Wired2Fish, How to Choose Bass Fishing Line
• Berkley, A Complete Fishing Line Guide
• Berkley, The Right Line: Easier Than You Think
• Berkley, Why Use Monofilament
• Seaguar, Let Line Diameter Maximize Bait Performance
• Seaguar, Red Label fluorocarbon
• Seaguar, Smackdown Flash Green braid
• Seaguar, BRAWLR monofilament
• Sport Fishing, 30-Pound Fishing Line Strength Test
• Anglr, Selecting the Right Bass Fishing Line
• Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, Texas Rigs and Carolina Rigs
• Bassmaster, Rigging considerations for drop shotting
• Davos Tackle, The Dacron Fishing Line Buyers Guide
• The Tackle Room, How to Store and Maintain Fishing Line