Use what works for you...
 

I did something really stupid. I caught a load of bass on 10 pound test Trilene Xl ..just off my head counting last years..

1 nine pounder

About five 8 pounders

About five 7 pounders

And about 20 five and 6 pounders

Nearly all off of 10 pound test...Last week i got broken off ...so i go home and strip off 3 reels with 10 and put 12 pound Trilene XT ...i got one micro hit all day long..So...i went back to the store..you guessed it to put the 10 back on..total goof up..15.00 ..That 12 is too bright..i know the fish can see it..a reaction shoreline bite..maybe. But our fish are not there any longer unless you want a dink...Bottom line..use what you have confidence in..Period..i have tons of confidence with 10 pound..is it risky..yes it is But at least i get hits with it..and only 2 break offs in two seasons..one was a quick run..the other a wrap up..not bad.

Chuck with the luck you've had using 10# test, i'm wondering if your line (that broke) had a lot of exposure to sunlight or had been stretched many times, i know the sun is horrible on mono and have heard that "stretched" mono breaking strenght is greatly reduced....and there is ALWAYS the chance of getting a bad spool of line that has spent the summer before in a blistering hot warehouse or otherwise been improperly stored:eek2:

Well...here's what i'm going to do..i have 2 more reels i still have 10 pound on..i'm going to go 3 more times..drift a 12 and 10 pound line side by side..and see which one gets the most hits..everything else will be the same...Keith, the biggest difference we have between Gunter and here..we have almost no structure here..the vegetation has been sprayed and killed..so a decent angler can boat a good fish on less poundage line..Where you fish, it would be insane to use 10 ...When we had the hydrilla..i'd use nothing less than 20 braid...but it's different now..

And you are correct..just 5 hours of pitching can weaken your line..even with a straight trick worm..i still get some kinks. And an honest confession needs to be made..i believe the weakness was me pinching on the split shot ...i may need to go back with toothpick pegged bullet sinker..that was the first thing that popped in my head..i had just reclamped it down with those 15.99 Channel Lock Needle Nosed Pliers...)-;

:s12: the good news is hopefully you have ID'd the reason for the line breakage, and it won't happen again when you hook into your next double digit fish:wink: and it'll happen:happy0001:

I have 5 baitcasters..I have kept the 3 with 12 still...on..I bought the 10 pound spool but will leave it be until I do my experiment..

I use to do stuff like this a lot when I first moved to Fl..Once I went to an awesome small pit..I made the rounds off sure casting the 12 pound line..got about 2 hits..immediately after I made the same round using 10 pound and got about 9

Once I drifted side by side 10 pound test versus 20 pound braid..the 10 pound got 3-1 more hits..

So..I will do an all morning experiment on a breezy day with 10 versus 12..I still have 2 reels with 10 on them..

Matt challengened me the other day using a dull gray bullet sinker to my red spit shots..He was correct..it made no difference..On the shoreline..it's pretty much reaction.

I like doing experiments like this .
A. Line poundage hits.
B. Worm Color
C. best top water lure
D. FLuke versus Worm
E. Tube versus worm
F.Jig versus worm.

I believe worm will always win ..hands down

lot's of fun ways to fish {-;