What Type of Line Should You Use for Grouper?

Grouper are a large, tasty fish primarily fished for in Florida and a some in Texas. You need to have the right line when you go to fishing for grouper to ensure you make it home with your catch. 

You will need a braided line in the 30-to-80-pound range for the majority of grouper with at least 100 feet or more of line. On a 50- or 65-pound monofilament line you can reliably pull in 20-pound grouper without much problem if you are not running very deep to catch them. If you are running deep you will want to do an 80-pound braided line and up to 100-pound line if you are going down into wrecks.

You will also want to topshot with monofilament onto braided as your main in general. Topshoting will allow you to have a situation where you will not lose more fish than if you had decided to go with monofilament only. If you are going for some trophy level fish and want to make sure you get a big grouper on the line and don’t lose it having topshot works well in this situation. If you are using braided line only you need to think about some considerations in terms of what will happen when the grouper hits. You want the line to give as little as possible in this situation if you get a big one on the line so the braided line is beneficial, because they could try and head back into the rocks, coral, wreck, or wherever they were hiding. 

How much line is appropriate

The next consideration on the line is how much you are going to need. Groupers tend to be found in deeper water so you are going to need a lot of line in general, and you should use a fish finder if you do not already know the levels of how deep you are going so you can make sure and get on the bottom, and still have enough line your reel to be able to keep going if the bottom levels vary where you are. You also want to have back up line with you in case you must cut off what you have gotten and do not want to have to go back to shore for more.  The bottom of the ocean floor can vary so dramatically across different sections is why it is important to use a fish finder and have ample line available in your reel. 

Advantages to using only braided line

• Braided line is a synthetic material that have a high level of strength compared to a natural fiber. 
• The type of material allows it to be cast further and last longer, because it does not stretch. 
• The line abrasion level is lower with braided line.  
• With its strength level it is good for all different types of knots for  
• Is a smaller diameter line which allows it to sink faster and go deeper quicker  with less water resistance with weights on the line 
• Sensitive when a grouper gets on the line because it does not stretch 
• Does not have line memory

Disadvantages of braided line

• Much more expensive than monofilament line. 
• Can be hard to almost impossible to break if you get caught which can lead to damage to your equipment, and losing a lot of line
• Usually visible to fish in the water
• Sometimes even difficult to cut

Advantages to using only monofilament line 

• More forgiving that braided line 
• Lower cost in general 
• Has more color availability than other types of line due to the material type it is made of 
• The line should be able to handle the pull of a fish when you are trying to reel it in 
• Generally less expensive than other types of line in the market 
• Can easily tie knots with it 

Disadvantages of monofilament line

• Line memory is as issue
• Does not last that long so you will have to replace it more often
• Will not sink very fast, and lead to longer times to get down to grouper

Other considerations of line

• If you are fishing in shallower waters, say around 20 feet,  you probably don’t want to be topshoting you want to just stick to braided line, because you do not want to have you line breaking on rocks as you are going. The strength of the braided line will help you out in these situations. 
• You’ve got to think about the type of knot you are using in conjunction with the line to make sure you are putting on a proper knot you can tie consistently that will keep the fish on when you hook them.  
• If you are topshoting another reason for it is to gain more line capacity. This can be advantageous so you can let the line go further out from where you are and gain a larger space in which to fish for grouper. This also helps you to be able to cut off line and keep fishing without having to respool as often. Here is a good video on how to tie a Bimini twist into a surgeons knot to do a top shot. They do a top shot of braided from mono though. 
• You don’t want to have much drag, if any, when fishing with grouper to make sure your line doesn’t break when they hit too.

Good luck on your grouper outings and make sure and look for a good grouper rod and reel when you go out.