Light Line for Kings

[Flyboy]

How many of you have tried light line techniques as described in Dan Keatings books? Thinking about giving it a shot this year, any thoughts? Would be as described in Dans book, shorter, 7' Medium action rod and 12lb test line off one of the riggers.

[Priority1]

The lightest line I ever run in the late Summer or Fall was 17# Trilene XT. I think the lighter line has it's merits especially in the Spring. In the Fall there are a lot of Big staging Kings. Your hook ups may be slightly greater with lighter line but darn a big King can give you enough of a workout on 20#. BTW I run 20# Ande now. It's all a personal preference thing with pros and cons to both set ups. This is just the way my old eyes see it.

[mattmishler]

I did on grandpas boat when i was just fun fishing, really puts a new level of a big kings. On charters with first time salmon fisherman i dont want to take my chances. High sun i usually have SWRs on riggers.

[Nailer]

I was glad we had the 20# on last year when the big boys where around.

[KJ pluggin]

I have a couple 15# setups on our boat that I use for running spoons, but I not fully convinced that it is worth it. Personally I don't think kings are very line shy, but I don't doubt that the lighter line gives the spoons better action. The better spoon action may trigger more hits but you also going to loose some fish and equipment at the back of the boat when they get into your divers or rigger lines. It is defiantly a lot of fun to fight a big king on light line though, good luck.

[miltcop]

That king was caught on 12lb. stren in my avatar. 180 feet down last fall over 240 feet of water. I got dan's books and try to charter with him yearly. I am a believer in his program.

[Hotdog71]

I run a #12 rig almost all the time. You have to make sure your reel has a smooth drag. Any hick-up and your losing something. Our big fish this last year was a #16 king. Lots of fun bringing that one in. It has worked well for us. Make sure your swivel is on the small size too.

[sherman51]

we tried 8# one year in the spring, it was great on the coho, but when we got a king on, even a spring king. it was a real kicker, we had to clear the riggers and it took forever to get them in the boat. the next trip we were back to 17#. it just took up to much fishing time getting a king in the boat. good luck with the light line.

sherman

[mattmishler]

Fun fishing on the big boat this year im putting a fly reel with 12 pound mono on one corner rigger and the other will have 10 ft spinning reel with 12 pound test.

[wild at heart]

when the sun comes up, if it slows down, which it usually does, we always put out a 12# rigger. Then we fight over who gets it because its just plain fun compared to copper/lead/braid. We get to yank in all the fish we want. Some days its the best mid morning rod. We use it in tournaments a lot too just because it works. Yes you will lose some fish, but better to have a chance than to stare at rods from 10 to 1. Dont even go there with out premium line and a great reel.

[Consummate Sportsman]

I donated enought tackle last year on my 20lb rigs. No way am I going to downsize. I'll just stick to my swr, and coppers with floro leaders for stealth.

[adrenalin]

I think it's a waste of time and doesn't produce any better results. I used to do it for years and the only thing I have noticed when switching to all 20# mono is more fish in the boat. A lot less break offs on angry kings. Like someone else said Line diameter doesn't really matter to kings. Walleyes maybe?

[DarkBlue]

Up till June everything I run is 12 lb. rigs. After that everything is 20 lb. Ande. If I want stealth I go to copper and SWR rigs.

Chris

[UBDSLO1]

Another 20lb. P-Line CXX user here. With tackle prices that keep rising, it's not worth it to me to fish lite line. Double glows are approching 9 bucks a pop, I want to keep that spoon or plug on my line, and not hear that sickening "POP"... Oh, and the price of Sampo swivels...

[Blaze]

I too read "Keating on Kings" and had to try the riggers with 12lb test. I spooled two reels with the 12lb line but have not caught anything on the light line yet. I run clean spoons on them but as of yet no fish on the light line. I ran them last year, maybe this year will be the year. I will continue to run them, as I think they will catch fish. Just my two cents worth. Not much help I know......

[Fishme00]

biggest king i ever boated on ontario was a 35lb August beauty and it was on 8lb trilene XT. Had to clear the rods but would have anyways because it was big. For some reason we had rods on the boat that came out from spring planerboard fishing with that light stuff on it (i think it was my fault, i was only 14 at the time and wasnt paying attention). Caught a few kings that weekend on the light line. checking the line for knicks is a must. I think the benefit of less drag on the thin line helps and if you have the drags set right you are ok...nobody said it would be easy, just that it would get fish on the line!

[Yankee Troller]

We've got a light line set-up we put out on occasion. Its a 9' ML Fish 307 rod with a Daiwa 27H loaded with 10lb test. Biggest fish it's taken was about 15 pounds, and it was a blast!