Fishing Line tested to 30 lbs. may i use it to catch 100 lbs fish?

Answer 1

Set your drag so that the fish can run with the line with enough tension to gradually wear him down but not break the line. Be sure you have plenty of line cause a 100 pound fish will do lots of running. In theory, a fish 1/2 the size of your pound test weight can break it if the tension is too tight. Be patient and do not hoist the fish in immediately.

Answer 2

You can, but it's not easy, and it depends on the fish.

The line strength comes into play not due to the weight of the fish, but more due to the strength it can swim with. You use the reel's drag to let line slip out before the strain reaches the breaking point of the line. Pulling line out against the drag tires out a fish to the point where you can work it up beside the boat.

However, if you're going to stand on a nonmoving boat and fish for tuna, a 100 pounder will spool you more often than not (30 pound line on a standard 3/0 size reel like a Penn 500). (It's happened to me more than once.)

If the boat can move after the fish, it makes the open water fish easier. I once landed a 120 pound marlin on 20 pound line, but the boat followed the fish a mile or so during the fight.

A 100 pound fish of a more sedentary nature (halibut, giant sea bass or grouper, etc.) won't spool you; however the bass or grouper will likely try to get into a snag, and the halibut (unlike most other fish) is denser than the water, so you do have to lift the weight, rather than just "coaxing" a tired fish to the boat. This can be a challenge, but it's possible. A buddy of mine caught a 355 pound halibut once on 50 pound line (it was a world record for about a year.)

Answer 3

You can catch 100 Lb fish on 12 LB line IF you are a "savy" angler, have an excellent drag system on your reel, and aren't in the vicinity of any structure that will cut you off.

Make sure you use at least a 50-80 LB leader.

Make sure you use "ball-bearing" swivels.

Good luck!

Answer 4

It's all about the drag. Yes, even 100 lbs plus. I know a charter boat captain who landed a 942-pound bluefin tuna on 130-pound test line. After a while you learn the feel of properly setting your drag. You don't want the drag to be too tight or too loose. So if you are going for 100-pound fish, needless to say, you don't want your drag to tight, because your line will snap, or too loose, because it could take you a long time to reel the fish in, and if the fish is not solidly hooked, it will spit the hook.

Answer 5

You certainly can.
Fishing out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, with 16-lb. test line and an Owner "Mutu" circle hook, lady angler Fariba Zand of Santa Monica, California, took not one, but two IGFA line class world record catches. The first was a 19-pound Pacific Cod, which miraculously, she used as bait on her Owner hook the next day to catch this monster 222-pound Pacific halibut - a fish that bested the men's record by 57 pounds.

If you will click on this link and look on the left side of page about half way down you will find a picture of this fish:
http://www.ownerhooks.com/pages/photogallery2.htm

Answer 6

Yes, the pound test is only a rating that they use nowadays for the record books. If you catch a 100 lb fish, hold on to your hat....

Answer 7

Easily. The line is only part of the equation. You or whoever is reeling the fish in has to play the fish correctly and not just horse the fish to the boat. Let it run until it tires out then land it.