I am re-outfitting. All new rods and reels. Should I go all braid on the reels? What braid is the best? I’ve bought two of everything. Should I put braid on one and mono on the other? Everything from 6lb ultralight, to 80lb deep drop bottom fishing! All Penn reels. Battle II 1000 & 2000. Spinfisher Vi 4500, 5500, 6500 7500 & 9500. Braid (What Kind), or Mono???
you just spent some money, so you should definitely finish it off right.
I could write a book on this, but the short answer is braid. here’s a medium-sized answer that i hope is helpful:
the last reels that i converted to braid were my ultralights, mostly because it’s hard to slip cork on super thin, slippery line, and there’s nothing knockdown or dragout about my UL fishing. it is truly superior in almost every way, and vastly so for offshore bottom fishing, inshore artificials, and many other niches. i even like 5lb powerpro on my bream rigs now. IMO most folks use heavier braid than they need for 2 reasons: they think it feels too thin to use the equivalent of mono, and/or they are tired of wind knots. the first is fallacy, the second has mostly been dealt with by manufacturers modifying spools, rod guides, etc.
why braid:
thinner
-far greater sensitivity
-far greater line capacity
-far less drag in the water
no memory
-no need to respool each year or two
-reverse remaining 100+yds onto another spool backwards = new line
no stretch
-critical for vertical/bottom fishing, i no longer feel 100’ of line stretching as i set the hook on a solid fish
-can break if jerked on very hard and suddenly, see below re: trolling
better UV resistance
typically tests at higher than rated strength
cons: wind knots, can dig into spool if not packed tightly (i now occasionally hold the line and reel my slack in tightly onto the spool), can break with sudden force
why mono:
fill half of each spool so you don’t spend tons of money on braid. when are you going to need more than 150 yards of braid before you hit your backing? I typically buy 300 yard spools of braid and get 2 reels out of them
clear (but all my leaders are fluoro now and I don’t topshot anything because i don’t troll offshore)
stretch (trolling)
I have went back & forth many times because both have advantages & disadvantages but in the end braid is the way to go.
Anything I cork fish with or cast like soft plastics i tip it with mono. Carolina rig or other bottom fishing i do straight to braid.
[navy]Sportsman Masters 207 Yamaha F150[/navy]
Barbawang has given you some very good information & reasons to use braid. I use it on both spinning and casting gear, but also still use some mono types line too, particularly on ultralight spinning gear.
Years ago, I tried using 15 lb braid on ultralight, which is about the diameter of 4 lb mono, and even with all the advantages, the disadvantages took me back to using mono. I’ve been using Ande in 6 lb, and recently had been snagged a few times, so breaking off wasn’t a problem with the mono. I wouldn’t be as comfortable doing that with braid, and of course the mono costs less. Besides, I don’t need braid to catch panfish, or small bass, which is what I catch with the ultralight tackle.
On heavier gear, I still use some Yozuri Hybrid, and mainly because it does have some stretch. I like it for tossing crankbaits, instead of braid, because for one reason, braid tends to cause hooks to pull loose on crankbaits, and trebles always seem to find that braid and get tangled more often than with a mono type line.
I have no issue with using braid for most any other application
some straight up good info from barbawing.
Disadvantages of braid in freshwater, I’ve had bass fishermen say it can spook fish as it rubs across vegetation creating noise. That may or may not be true? Wind knots on open water with a strong breeze has kept me away from braid. but you sure can’t beat it if you need to straighten out a hook on some caught up real estate.
I always over do it on lb test. Like Big Jim said on ultra light, it can be a bugger to break off.
I started using braid on some of our spinning reels a few years ago. Daughter gets better hook sets, no tangles while casting. Even use it on her Zebco 33 for the same reason. I use 40 pound braid on my spinner bait rods so I can make longer casts, and still set the hook well.
The cost isn’t that much when you can get multiple years of use from it, as opposed to re-spooling mono 3 or 4 times a year.
Can any of you fellas recommend a good reel that works well with braid? I’m gonna be using for trout.tia I have trouble with wind knots,maybe I’m putting too much line on? The trouts are voracious by the way,we even got stump’s spotail with no spots,haha,and we turned him back.
I like braid with a topshot of mono or floruo in almost every application I fish.
Best results for me personally have been flouro inshore and mono offshore, here’s why.
You need the stretch with bigger fish when offshore bottom fishing, the elasticity always lessens hook pulls and straightened hooks. Take some mono (any weight really) and tie it to something solid and yank on it,feel the stretch and retraction? Thats a good thing.
For Inshore, flouro seems to hide better for smaller line-shy fish in my opinion, no stretch needed if your drag is set right and your rod tip is up.
Learn the sebile knot and do away with a ton of terminal tackle too.
Thats my 2cents. Just remember, advice is generally worth what you pay for it.
slightly different version of the FG knot.
Basically Chinese handcuff.
I always use a couple feet of fluorocarbon attached with FG knot
I am fragile. Not like a flower. But like a bomb.
22 life’s a day
I like whatever mono Wally World has in stock. Big spools of pretty good line are alot cheaper than most places. Braid is overated…IMO( In my opinion for Pea Pad).
The ENTER-NET Fisherman
I use braid on all my rods but that thick ole Wally World mono is what I use for all my leaders! If you’re going to run braid you gotta have a leader if you’re around oysters or the fish are skiddish in my opinion.
F/V Tinny will live forever
Braid for almost everything except inwater finesse fishing, then light flouro carbon. Light flouro carbon gets way more bites then. Power pro is pretty reliable, strong and easy to get. Trolling you want a topshot, wind on leader, most other things a short casting leader works.
On heavier gear, I still use some Yozuri Hybrid, and mainly because it does have some stretch. I like it for tossing crankbaits, instead of braid, because for one reason, braid tends to cause hooks to pull loose on crankbaits,EMPTY HAND CASTER (107 / 108 / 109) - HCASTER-XXX</font id=“blue”> and trebles always seem to find that braid and get tangled more often than with a mono type line.