What is the heaviest line weight that would be necessary? Is 8 pound test enough or would 20 pound be better? Recommendations?

I use 6# or 8# mono for jigging and 12# for trolling or casting.

8# mono and 15# powerpro. My 11 year old son caught this northern on 8# mono, no leader, last summer.

Nice fish and what a happy smile on your son.

quote Jackfish: "I use 6# or 8# mono for jigging and 12# for trolling or casting. "

+1

Yes I agree 8 is a great pound test that will handle a ton of fish. Personally I use 8lb camo line by tripple fish, it's a perlon line made in Germany. It's hard to see in water cause it's 4 different colors but more importantly pound for pound stronger than any mono or fluro ( but not a braided line) on the market hands down.

6 pound. Every reel. Year-round. With the right rod and a good reel, you can handle every fish in this area with 6 lb. Larger diameter might allow landing bigger fish, but smaller diameter means that more will bite. Last night, mixed in with the walleye(!), was a 20 lb carp, tail-hooked. Man, did that drag sing for the 10-minute tussle!

Spinning 6/casting 12

8 lb xl

6lb xl on my reel. 8 lb xl on my spare spool. I'm almost exclusively a walleye guy, and mostly jigging. I agree that a good rod, a good reel, and a little practice makes a big difference.

I also use 6 and 8.

I only bring one rod with - it's spooled with 6lb stren.

One more vote for 8lb... (6lb would be my second choice)

The only time I'd really go heavier would be if I was fishing larger than normal lures (oversized Lake Trout jigs and big Pike Lure). You can catch plenty of Pike and Trout on lures that work on 8lb test too - but if you want to fish oversized lures heavier line will help. The heaviest I'd ever use out of a canoe would probably be 12 test (maybe 15lb). 20lb would be overkill for all canoe situations IMO

quote kanoes: "8 lb xl"

+1

Thanks everyone for your input. I will be bringing two 8 pound spooled reels, one fluorocarbon and one mono. Usually I use fly rods but I wanted a couple of spinning rods along.

i use magnathin #8 - #10 for jigging/casting and #16 magnathin for deadbait shore fishing.

Line really depends on your lure size and what you are fishing for. Hard to pick 1 line as a do everything line. But if I had to it would probably be an 8 or 10 pound fire line. I have 2 rods and reels. One set up for jigs and swim baits that will be used to catch walleyes and small mouth bass. The other is my heavy outfit for large pike where I will be throwing big spinner baits, large daredevils and large Rapalas. I like the newer super lines like Fireline and Suffix. You get a lot of extra line strength but a small diameter. I think the 14 pound Fireline has the same diameter as 6 pound mono. For my light set up I went with 6 pound Suffix 832. For my heavy set up I have it set up with 12 pound Fireline but I could have gone heavier. These lines are much more expensive than mono but if you think about how often you replace your line I think they are worth the extra cost.

I have only used 6 and 8# mono in the BW. Of late, though, I have been using 14# braided line for trolling in California, Oregon and YT. Its small diameter (same as 6# mono) allows the line to travel deep while exhibiting less stretch and being much stronger. The less stretch comes in handy for long lining and deep jigging.