Zebra Mussels and Break Offs....

[Skipper]

Hey everbody!!

I have been doing a ton of catfishing in the Mississippi river at a spot I have not frequented in many years. To my horror, it is now severely infested with zebra mussels. They seem to cut super lines like razor blades and beat mono up in a hurry...

I prefer to use Spiderwire Stealth is heavy current because of it's small diameter to break test ratio, but I can see that it is a no go around these dang things. My go-to line for snaggy stuff and rocks has always been Trilene XT, but these mussels beat that up too and the diameter his humungous to use in this current.

Have you guys found a line that will hold up on zebra mussel encrusted rocks? Are there any tricks to have less break offs?

I get a bite, and the line goes slack with the hook set. When I inspect the end, it looks cut cleanly....

I need to keep the diameter under that of 25lb mono, anything larger pulls HARD in this current. I also need to make some monster casts. The final foil is that it must be reasonably manageable, I don't want to deal with stiff line and birds nests in the dark. Virtually all of my catfishing is done from dusk through 2am.....

I hate zebra mussels! Please help prevent the spread of invasives!!!!

Thanks

[Drifter_016]

Run a section of good flourocarbon leader material (such as seaguar).
You will still need to check it frequently but it is the most abraison resistant stuff out there.
I use 40# as pike leader material and on a recent trip to Ontario I caught hundreds of pike on one leader!!!! 

[bigredfishing]

super lines are uselss against zebes as you found.

We fish the hudson for cats.  Most every inch of rock has Zebes on it.   

20lb big game has not failed us yet. 

Another thing we do is make sure we are anchored in areas of similar depth or deeper than we are fishing, that way there is no way for the line to drag over the rocks.   We had problems breaking off when we were anchoring up shallow, and having to pull our line over ledges to get back to the boat.

[Irish Jigger]

My suggestion is basicly a combo of both tips already mentioned. Here on Erie the zebra musscles are horrible, a flourocarbon leader and a presentation as verticle as possible are a must or you'll just have to be content with retieing after every cast. Another trick if you're shorebound is a slipbobber with a 3way rig. I know it can be a tough method in moving water but a large enough bobber and weight can sometimes work well in current that isn't to fast. We use that method in the Alleghany River for pike and muskie in the eddys and on current edges of the bays.

[Skipper]

Thanks guys.

I can definitely work with these ideas!

I am thinking maybe I need a 6 to 8 foot heavy fluoro leader tied to a mono backing with a uni to uni knot. I could even make whole rigs that way and just change them at the splice. The KISS principle is critical at night. If things get to complicated, I get grey hair!!

I would rather find a way to eradicate the little buggers though!!!  

I will either give Trilene Big Game or Ande Premium a shot. They are both supposed to be able to take a ton of abuse. I already have a bunch of GAMMA fluoro leader material in my stuff somewhere...