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I'm about to purchase a spinning rod, i'll be targeting pike, what strength line should i load on my reel?

also i'm thinking of upgrading my reel, any suggestions on which reel is best suited for spinning?

Public Comments

1. 12 lb to 16 lb good quality mono (trilene/stren) it will give a little better for those pike that follow the lure to the boat....and go with shimano reel (stradic is good) but be sure to look for a high gear ratio 5.2 to 1 or higher.....faster retrieves sometimes are better for pike...now also consider a rod with a sturdy tip strong enough to do figure 8's at the boat for those pike that follow the lure in......if you like to use live bait more often consider a shimano bait runner series reel... and before you buy consider going to a fishing show(this is fishing show season) and you will have the ability to talk to some tackle manufacturers directly and they probably have better info than I can throw out....
2. for pike i would use bradi rather than mono, you get much more of a feel of whats going on under the water, beacuse it has less stretch, because braid is so thin compeared to mono you could get away with using stuff up to 40lb bs, however it is expensive. mono however i would suggest between 10 - 15lb, it depends on the size of fish you are after and what conditions youll be fishing in, ie, snaggy or open water. as for reels theres only one brand to use really. thats SHIMANO, any of the baitrunners are good or the stradic gtm (bit pricy tho) but, as they say, you get what you pay for. shimano are very respectable and i use nothing but shimano for my carp nd predator fishing! hope this helps tight lines :):):)
3. If you are casting a lot of lures the only way to go is Shimano Reels, Symetre model or better with sizes ranging from the 2500 to 4000. Anything under the 2500 series is too lite while anything over 4000 is over kill. 10lb. or 12lb. fishing line seems to work best. Pike seem to hit less when I use 15lb. or heavier lines while lines under 10lbs will definitely break when they strike. Pike are one of the hardest hitting and fastest fish on the initial strike so set your drag a little lighter then you do for bass and should keep your line from snapping. As for a fishing pole you need a length of 6'6" to 8' Medium-Light to Heavy weight will handle any size pike with no problem.
4. For mono I use 12 to 14 lb test with a length of mono leader in 20 to 40 lb test flourocarbon or you can use steel and titanium ones.Also heavy cover fishing you may want to use any good braid! For the reel check out the Okuma Epixor EB series! EB-50 Spinning 275/10 9+1 5.0:1 is a good pike reel!
5. 10lb mono or 30lb braid. Pike aren't the strongest of fish. They'll give you a run for your money but with a good drag 10lb mono will land even a trophy. They are hardy so no worries about prolonging the fight too much or exhausting the fish. Braided line is good unless you are fishing in cold weather, it tends to freeze up or stiffen up. Always use a leader, either heavy flourocarbon (over 80lb) or steel.
6. i think about 20lb