Line for Sockeye?

[nuprofessor]

A post earlier today reminded me of a question I planned to ask about line choice for Sockeye fishing. My wife & I will be Sockeye fishing the last 10 days of July this year. We will have the following reel types available for possible use: Fly Rods, Spincast, & Spinning.

QUESTION: Which line should I fill my reels with to use for Sockeye? Braid? Mono? Line Test?

I know I will hear alot of differant recommendations, just want to see what most use.

Thanks Guys & Gals!

[Raptor_1]

I use a 9wt for the fly rod with 25# mono leaders. Works great. I spool my bait casters up with 30# power pro. I don't use spinning rigs for sockeye, but anything in 20-30# would be fine. If I were you, I'd concentrate on the fly rig for sockeye. Haven't been able to figure out exactly why (I have my theories) but I land A LOT more fish, and snag a lot less fish, with the fly rig than I ever did with my bait casters. Make sure you have at least a couple feet between your weight and fly (by law in fly fishing only waters it has to be at least 18" from the fly) and adjust accordingly if you are not catching fish or snagging to many. Generally if you're snagging a lot of fish you need to put more distance between the fly and weight. Adjust weight size so you're just ticking the tops of the rocks. A lot guys use both mono and braid. I prefer braid. Both will work though.

[Bernard R Rosenberg]

Spinner guys who short fish use the lift/thumb/and plop technique. The bail remains closed. Line test is traditionally limp mono @20 lbs. test...

Rosenberg/Florida

[BrownBear]

I refuse to combat fish, so I'm not in the crowds and have no need to "tuna" my salmon to the beach. With room to play 10# line on spinning reels or for fly leaders is plenty. But if you're going to be following the crowd to find your fish, most guys I know use 20# and I know some that use 30# on either type of rod. Not for me, but if you wade into a lineup and think you're going to "play" your fish and let it run, be ready for grief from your neighbors and lots of it. When in Rome, do like the Romans.

[Raptor_1]

There is plenty of room for solitude on the Russian. You just have to be willing to walk a little.

[Fishtheroad]

I would only use braid if you're also using a long, mono leader. If you want to see the most irate angler ever, just let your braided line get tangling with theirs. If you follow Raptor's advice on weight amount and placement, you'll out fish everyone around you. Flipping for reds is a technique that starts with accurate weight placement, and his description is about dead on (the only thing I would add is, I want my fly to travel through the water at the same pace as the current. One sign you're doing this correctly is "ticking the tops" I generally fish with lighter line. I've never had an issue with my line breaking, even in combat, at 15lb test. If you go down there, I'm sure you'll see a huge population with 7' rebar and metal cable as fishing tackle. :P

[kgpcr]

It depends on the water you are fishing. I was on the Kenai last July and was loosing 40% of my reds with 20lb. The current was just to strong. I had to bump it up. I fished 40lb there. Take out the swift current and 20 is fine