Just getting into Crappie fishing and have a question. For jig fishing I’ve been using 10# braid with a 6# fluorocarbon leader. What line do you guys recommend when fishing with a cork with shiners? Can you get away with a little heavier line or not? Thanks for your replies.

20# braid and 10/12# mono,...I like something I can pull out of brush,...

This is just me, but I fish straight 20lb braid on jigs. With a cork I usually fish 8 or 10lb test mono. I have found 10lb braid to be too "stringy" and get wrapped around everything as well as dig into the spool too much.

10 pound K9 Flouro for me. I used to fish braid alot but the wrapping around the tip and fraying just drove me crazy.

Absolutely despise braid. I don’t using anything heavier than 4 lb line for anything, including striper, walleye, crappie, bass, and sandbass. I recommend 4lb mr crappie hi vis for the main line, and if the water is even slightly clear I use a 4lb fluoro leader just to be safe. Clear water fish of any species are often line shy.

I break 4 pound tying knots,...

And I cut my fingers tying knots with braid and catch rate will go down significantly even bumping up to 6 lb. I set my drag right and catch 10 lb hybrids on 4lb line and a 7’ ultralight in raging currents. Do it every spring. Crappie you never need more than 4lb.

I've been using mono 2lb line on an ultra light rod. Really makes the fights feel fun.

I use 15 lb braid and 8 lb mono. I started with 4 lb mono but upsized and didn't see any change in catch rate.

I always fish with a swivel and 1/8 oz bullet sinker with a 1.5 - 2 ft leader. This allows me to see my rig on livescope easier and gets my jig down to the spot fast even when I'm fishing a 1/32 oz jig on a 20 FOW pile.

The size of line might make a difference in really shallow water or maybe when shooting docks but fishing piles in 8 - 20 FOW it doesn't seem to have any impact on catch rate. I know this because I actually track it using an app. For 2022, my average catch rate is 9.9 fish per hour using that same setup.

I do have a love/hate relationship braid -- I love the sensitivity and the lack of stretch helps sling bigger fish into the boat. BUT, it gets wrapped around everything. Once every couple of months it will get so tangled I'll have to cut everything and start over. My guest rod, however, just has 8lb mono on it because I don't want a guest dealing with braid for the first time.

Welcome to the crappie forum! Fork is a great crappie lake and hope you get addicted. I don't have much experience crappie fishing with a slip cork.

You'll get some more expert opinions here. Remember that not all mono/fluro/braids are created equal! some brands are much better!

4lb Mr.crappie hi-viz tied straight to my jig. I fish extremely clear water.

I use 6lb clear blue Stren and K9 floro on my casting and dock shooting rods and 10-12lb K9 on my 11’ rods. I’ll use 15-20lb braid in winter but I’m not a big braid fan.

like braid for fishing straight down, night or day..10lb power pro, 2lb diameter

for trolling like 4lb and 6lb clear blue Stren, depending on the lake (one of my lakes 4lb., the other 6lb.)

6# mono for me. Yellow for my older eyes normally (deeper and stained water). Clear or clear blue for shallow and clean water.

6-8 lb Vicious Yellow for me. Stuff is stout enough to straighten a hook out and limp enough for great castability and great for shooting docks.