Pro bass anglers depend heavily on fluorocarbon lines, changing it out frequently to maintain suppleness and minimize memory. They also frequently use braided lines for heavy cover, or on a braid-to-fluorocarbon rig for finesse. Some still use monofilament and copolymers, but the percentage is rapidly decreasing.

While heavy cover is where braid found its niche, its expanded to every corner of bass fishing. Whether you're throwing a walking topwater like a Spook for suspended fish, or dropshotting 50 feet deep in a clear reservoir, braid will improve your catch rate. The line is extremely responsive, even over great distance.

Smaller fish like river trout, walleye, perch, bluegill, pompano, and smallmouth bass can use the thinnest and lightest braided line. A 10 lb test line will work for them. Slightly larger crappie, bonefish, and flounder need around a 15-20 lb braid.

General Rules for Braid Because it is so much thinner and lighter than monofilament, anglers typically use a much higher lb test. For freshwater, you should go with a 10 or 15 lb test. For saltwater, 30 or 50 lb test is standard.

The SpiderWire Stealth Blue Camo-Braid and Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon take the top spots for their maximum strength. While the 20-lb SpiderWire line we tested takes the cake for the toughest fishing line, proving to be nearly impossible to break, the Berkley Trilene Big Game also ranks high in this category.

Best Overall Fluorocarbon: Seaguar Tatsu This is the finest fluorocarbon you can buy, bar none. It uses the highest materials sourced by the originators of fluorocarbon fishing line. Small diameters, incredible sensitivity, castability and sensitivity in one low stretch fishing line.

Top 6 Braided Fishing Lines

• Power Pro Braid.
• KastKing SuperPower Braided.
• Spiderwire Braided Stealth Superline.
• Reaction Tackle High Performance Braid.
• Sufix 832 Braid.
• Berkley Fused Crystal Fireline.

Best Braid for Baitcasters: Berkley X9 Braid 65-pound The Berkley X9 Braid is some of the best casting braid in big pound tests which makes it a nice offering for anglers throwing big topwaters, frogs, flipping grass and heaving big swimbaits on baitcasting gear.

In terms of casting ability/spool length, 20# braid roughly = 6# mono, so depending on your rod/reel, you may be on the light end. For most applications, you'll be more than fine. It might be "overkill" in terms of test for the fish you'll catch, but you'll keep a LOT more lures that you drag through weeds/cover.

If you plan on fishing close to mangroves or docks for big snook or redfish, this is an ideal setup. I would recommend using anywhere between 30 and 50-lb braided line on a 3500-size spinning reel.

Like camouflage, the green line blends into its surroundings and makes a good choice for anglers looking to keep their line invisible to fish. On the other hand, green may be more visible than clear in very clear water. Overall, green is a good line color choice for many different situations.

The SpiderWire Stealth Blue Camo-Braid fishing line earned top marks in our testing, boasting a perfect combo of feel, strength, and low visibility when cast in the water. We tested a 20 lb line, but it has a fine diameter and felt more like an 8 lb test mono line.

Like camouflage, the green line blends into its surroundings and makes a good choice for anglers looking to keep their line invisible to fish. On the other hand, green may be more visible than clear in very clear water. Overall, green is a good line color choice for many different situations.

OUR TOP PICKS

• Yo-Zuri Superbraid Braided Line – Buy from Basspro.
• Daiwa J-Braid Grand 8x Braided Line – Buy from Basspro.
• Strike King Contra Braided Line – Buy from Tacklewarehouse.
• Sunline Xplasma Asegai Braided Line – Buy from Tacklewarehouse.
• Power Pro Spectra Braided Line – Buy from Basspro.
• Braided Line Comparison Chart.