JK School of Higher Fishing Education Presents: Bass Fishing Basic Course 100: The 4 Line Choices for Bass Part 4: Co-Polymer

JK School of Higher Fishing Education Presents:
Bass Fishing Basic Course 100
Today’s Class is on:
The 4 line choices for Bass Fishing part 4 Co-Polymer

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to hit the last portion of this class; Co-Polymer or poly for short. Poly is a mixture of mono and floro, but it is not a 50/50 split and we will discuss this in detail later. This is a line that has a spot in the lineup, but special consideration and experimentation is key to being successful with it.

Poly as mentioned earlier is a mix of mono and floro, but the major thing to know is that not all are created equal. Now do not take the end of the last statement and believe that the quality is low, and the opposite is true. Poly is made with a braided monofilament at its core, but, there are newer versions that are not only coated in floro like sealer giving them the stretch of mono but the clearness and feel of mono, but some are now being made from new technology that is similar to braid braiding two strands of material together to make an extremely thin line that is a mix of braids strength, monos stretch, but having floro clarity, sink and sensitivity.(this line is not out in the markets yet, but is used in military applications as thread for certain pieces of gear where space, and weight need a super strong connection as well as line for survival kits where one line is needed for numerous uses and one spool can fill all roles that may be needed)

Most poly out on the market is going to have many of the characteristics of mono, and many of our higher end monos out there are really poly lines, but with certain companies that make the higher end poly you will find they have more floro characteristics then others. Therefore, earlier I mentioned experimentation is needed. When I buy poly, I take 10 ft. of line off the spool before I put it on the reel and test it. Even though it might say it sinks, I test it first. So, with the 10 ft. of line off the spool I go ahead and tie on a jig head and drop the jig head into the lake at the boat ramp so I can see the line, and watch what the line does without putting tension, just drop the line with the jig, if it floats then I know I have a mono line, if it sinks then it has the characteristics of floro with the stretch of mono. This is where the inherent risk is with poly, if you are needing line that floats, and you buy a spool and find it has the floro sink, then your hosed, and vice versa.

Now here is something that makes poly awesome, abrasion resistance and knot strength. Knots when using poly are downright foolproof. This professor has tested this in the past where I went ahead and purposefully tied bad knots (not enough wraps or uneven wraps, keeping the knot loose i.e. unfinished, tied a granny knot and tied a couple of half hitches in the line once) and went fishing, out of that day I only lost 1 fish and 2 lures out of over 20 fish. That’s pretty good and what was discovered is that poly wants to cinch down and tighten around itself. What was also realized is the poly doesn’t cut into itself like floro will or even some mono’s, making poly an insightful choice for those just getting into fishing and are not proficient in knot tying or for those that have difficulty tying complex knots due to physical limitations.

Abrasion resistance with poly is downright scary, again this professor had an experience where I was fishing on a lake that was infested with zebra mussels, or as I like to call them lure collectors as many mussel beds are covered in broken off lures. But I was using a poly that day and was catching small mouths all day and didn’t lose a single fish due to zebra mussels. There were a few fish that I could feel would wrap up around a piece of structure covered in mussels and didn’t lose a single fish because of it! Now the line was shredded after landing the fish in those conditions, and impressed me greatly, but I went thru a ton of line during that trip and even had to respool halfway thru because I was running low on the spool.

(This is one of the few large mouths caught during that day, and as you can see the rocky structure was prime habitat for bass and zebra mussels)

Poly is a great line, with some research and experimentation you can have the best of mono and floro. The higher end poly is not cheap, and is comparable to higher end braid and floro. Poly is a “specific” line, meaning that it is one that excels in specific situations, but for many it’s the only line for them and that’s the remarkable thing about bass fishing, even though this class broke down the pros and cons of each line, there will always be one or two fishermen that fish the line completely opposite and make it work. All right class that will wrap up todays instruction, take what you have learned and apply it to catching more bass! Class Dismissed!