Thread: JDM lines relating to panfish

Back in the late 60's I was stationed in Germany. We had base ponds for fishing but all they stocked was trout. I had a Mitchell 308 on a Mitchell 3206 rod and used 4# line to fish with. Found some stuff in the base exchange called Crystal sewing thread and tried it out, being stupid, and the stuff worked on the smaller fish. Try selling the hook on a 10" to 12" fish and you'd break the line. Had a lot of fun with that stuff over there but have not looked for it here. My favorite crappie rod is a very small Ocuma UL on a 5' Ocuma UL rod rated for 1/32 to 3/16oz lure's and have SOS 2# line on it. Took a long time to find the line. Had to go to the valley to find it, 150mi one way! The rod is rated for 1-4# line but I have never seen 1# line other than that Crystal thread.

Originally Posted by DonF

Back in the late 60's I was stationed in Germany. We had base ponds for fishing but all they stocked was trout. I had a Mitchell 308 on a Mitchell 3206 rod and used 4# line to fish with. Found some stuff in the base exchange called Crystal sewing thread and tried it out, being stupid, and the stuff worked on the smaller fish. Try selling the hook on a 10" to 12" fish and you'd break the line. Had a lot of fun with that stuff over there but have not looked for it here. My favorite crappie rod is a very small Ocuma UL on a 5' Ocuma UL rod rated for 1/32 to 3/16oz lure's and have SOS 2# line on it. Took a long time to find the line. Had to go to the valley to find it, 150mi one way! The rod is rated for 1-4# line but I have never seen 1# line other than that Crystal thread.

You can get all the true 1# test line you want out of Japan. I’m all about UL
angling and I fish with true 2# test line but going down to 1# is really not practical. I tried using 1.5# test but it really did not work out.

Regards


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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

You can get all the true 1# test line you want out of Japan. I’m all about UL
angling and I fish with true 2# test line but going down to 1# is really not practical. I tried using 1.5# test but it really did not work out.

Regards


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Thank you for sharing that! I have found myself looking at the 1lb line before and talked myself out of it. 2lb seems just strong enough to make catching large panfish and small bass challenging. I have really enjoyed 2lb line and think it is my favorite. Aside from JDM, I think I also saw some 1lb or 1.5lb line made by sufix in their ice fishing series. It’s high vis, also. Haven’t tried it, and probably won’t. Just sharing for anyone looking. I’m thinking the lines lighter than 2lb must be for “Micro Fishing”? I think that style of fishing is popular in Japan? I’ve watched some on YouTube where they catch tiny fish the size of your thumb. It’s neat to watch.

While stationed I Germany I fished rod and gun club lakes with my old 308 Mitchel and crystal sewing thread I got at the base exchange. It was a hoot but easy to break the line if I set the hook a bit to hard. Seems using a fish scale it tested out right at one pound. Love my 2# test today!

I put some JDM lines up FS in the classifieds section.


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Just diving into the JDM world. Purchased an Eradicator 6'7 and fixing to order a Vanford 2000 reel. What line would you recommend from Varivas for crappie fishing / bluegill, bass, trout? 1/32 to 1/8 jig heads using plastics almost always casting and twitching trout magnet, keitech or bobby garland. Currently I'm using 6lb braid to 4lb fluorocarbon. Thanks in advance for replies.

Originally Posted by gixxer420

Just diving into the JDM world. Purchased an Eradicator 6'7 and fixing to order a Vanford 2000 reel. What line would you recommend from Varivas for crappie fishing / bluegill, bass, trout? 1/32 to 1/8 jig heads using plastics almost always casting and twitching trout magnet, keitech or bobby garland. Currently I'm using 6lb braid to 4lb fluorocarbon. Thanks in advance for replies.

I don't know what JDM is. Sounds like rods. As for line for crappie bass and trout. I use UL rod and reels on crappie and trout but seldom ever fish for trout anymore. when id do, same setup almost as for crappie but use 4# line. For crappie I have 2#line i found at Cabellas, don't remember the brans and don't bother me. 2# line is
really hard to find here. I also have three rods set up for bull heads. two are low profile Kast King casting reels on Shakespere Ugly stick rods. Excuse me, I have three rods set up about like this. The third is a Daiwa low profile on a Daiwa strike force rod. All three have 6# Ande line on them, bull heads don't often get that big and the 6# line works better on casting rods for me. Normally if I have on monofilament line it is Ande line except for the 2# stuff, Ande doesn't make it. Well found the spool for my 2" line. It's called trout SOS. While stationed in Germany only had trout to fish for oon the gun club lakes and found some sewing thread that tested out at 1# I used on a UL reel, stuff was great so long as the fish wasn't to big and I didn't set the hook to hard. Can't remember the name of it anymore but It will come back the moment I see it. Probably will never get it again so long as I can get 2# for the UL's. On most my casting rods I went to 20# braid, just whatever I could find. Then use 10# Ande for my leader's.

I think there are a lot of good lines out there anymore, just buy stuff one roll at a time and see what you think of it. This answer is worth exactly what you paid for it. Old saying, different strokes for different folks. We all tend to buy product's that have worked well for us. As for buying different stuff, I have those Kast King reels because I read a really awful report on them. Didn't figure anything could be that bad so bought a Rover 40 round reel just to see. It was around $40 on Amazon and sold me on Kast King. Don't get me wrong I am an ABU round reel fan but they are pricing me out of their reels!

I think there's a lot of guys like me. I buy what i like to look at, what feels good to me and made normally by a well known manufacturer. If I don't like how it looks and feels I figure its junk!

Gix. Welcome to JDM gear. I would use varivas infinity braid, 3lb varivas twitch master, or 3lb varivas trout advance. Just depends if you prefer braid or mono. You could also get the 3lb varivas blue moon if you like fluorocarbon a lot. Lots of choices. I myself prefer 3lb lines over the 2lb esters a lot prefer. It always seemed to me if I hung up a Japanese jighead on 2lb I had virtually no chance of getting it back without breaking the line. Just keep in mind 3lb JDM lines will be smaller than most us domestic 2lb line.