Braid rocks ! ( and how I use it )

C
cobias
Its been a slow change but....i will be using braid on EVERYTHING except my side drifting rod ( fish hook themselves on sidedrifting ). After trying braid for running plugs, drift fishing and throwing spinners it is my new choice of line. After doing the mono stretch experiment i will never go back. Its amazing all the fish we have all hooked on mono with its low sensitivity and very poor hookseting ability. The one thing i do so i dont leave braid on the bottom is tie a 5-8' piece of mono "tippet" to the end with an albright not. Not only does it help you break off easier, but if you want your plugs to run higher in the water column you can tie a heavier piece of leader on. Some people say that its floating ability makes it bad for tossing spinners ???? The ammount of boyancy of a half a spool of 65lb braid wouldnt even float a size #3 spinner...its just a wives tale. The larger diameter of a mono would be far worse for a spinners presentation then the bouancy of braid. Also i was worming ( texas rigged plastic worm ) for bass last night and i could use the bouancy of the braid for a visual strike indicator...also while worming i am pretty sure i felt a strike with my line SLACKED !?! I set the hook and fish on! AMAZING ! The only drawback is if you are throwing light stuff ( plugs, small spinners ) you can get wind nots. I only have gotten them on 30lb power pro so...Dont know if its that brand or not. I like spiderwire stealth the best so far. The only thing to remember is...once you tie it to the spool, put one wrap of black electrical tape over it or you will have major problems when fighting a big fish. Another bonus is the fact that when your fighting a fish you can feel every nuance of headshakes, runs, deathrolls ect. If you tape your spools, use a lighter mono tip and be carefull when casting lighter stuff you will have less problems with braid then you would straight mono ! TRY IT !
 
C
cobias
Oh and the mono test...Tie a long piece ( 20-30' ) of 15lb mono off to something, then at 4' 8' 10' ect wrap it on a stout stick or chunk of dowel and do a stretch test...at 8-10' feet youll be amazed...more than that you will wonder how you ever hooked fish on it. And thats 15lb line ! And most average casts/drifts are arround 30'- 40' feet or more. Thats a lot of stretch! And if you go down in poundage the stretch is even WORSE ! A couple of safety tips...If you are using heavy braid and heavy leader...be carefull breaking off. A guy was breaking off 40lb leader with 80lb braid and the barrel swivle shot back and went clear through his hand ! Also never grab the line with your hand while fighting landing a big fish or breaking off....it will cut you bad. Again always use a mono tip to avoid problems...6-8 mono for trout panfish,10-12 for steel ,14-20 for bass springers, 30 for fall nooks. I dont use a mono tip for bobber fishing fall nooks in tidewater...you almost never hang up and you use a mono leader to your hook/rig.
 
T
Thuggin4Life
I might be making the switch here soon. it will be slow going to get braid on all my rods but think as time goes on will eventually get done.
 
C
cobias
Trolling too...

Trolling too...

@Thuggin, i know you do a lot of lake trolling and i havent used braid for that but i imagine it would be great for that as well....I dont know if you use heavy gang trolls like ford fenders but i used to use a 10-12lb mono mainline....i would then have to use heavier weight to get down deep....with a 20lb braid ( 6lb mono diameter ) you could use half the weight to get down. If you use downriggers it would be good to because the smaller diameter wouldnt trip your release from trolling drag....so you could really fine tune your trip release.With kokanee though i dont know....you may have to use two rubber snubbers.Otherwise, Braid is the stuff....I have the same problem though...I have to refill all my reels. One of my plug rods had like 5 pieces of braid spliced together. Wont be changing out all until i have more $$$ though.
 
S
steelhead_stalkers
We use braid on most of our rods! Works great for pretty much everything. :D
 
N
ninja2010
congrats on discovering the many advantages of braid... and so glad you posted all that, cobias. i've been fishing braid exclusively and would never imagine going back to anything else.

if you're trolling for big fish, then you must have a shock leader (10' and longer) to add the stretch back into the line, or the fish will hit your lure, turn, and rip the hook right out or straighten it.

one more thing to remember (and make it a habit to break) is on the hookset. no more samurai swing, or you'll be ripping lips - usually a raised rod tip would do the trick.
 
B
beaverfan
From what I've seen braid sucks and doesn't work nearly as well for the type of fishing I typically do. If I'm fishing for Sturgeon or something it works great but if I'm trying to fish with spinners or something the last thing I want is line that floats!
 
D
Drew9870
Soak your spool in water with a few drops of dishsoap mixed in, it will stop the braid from floating. (Thank Topbloke for this info)

Braid is awesome, but it has it's purposes, when float fishing across rivers you should consider Braid your only option.
 
S
steelhead_stalkers
beaverfan said:
From what I've seen braid sucks and doesn't work nearly as well for the type of fishing I typically do. If I'm fishing for Sturgeon or something it works great but if I'm trying to fish with spinners or something the last thing I want is line that floats!

Have you tried it? I does not float when there is any weight on the end of the line. It floats when you are float fishing because it has a float holding it up, the rest of the line goes strait down to your bait or jig. We fish jerkbaits for brown trout that need to get down with it along with spinners all summer, drift fish with it in the winter and bottom fish for trout even. :D When drift fishing it has less drag under the water than mono so it actually stays and drifts more consistently than larger diameter mono.
 
T
Thuggin4Life
I think the braid will work for all my applications.
 
C
cobias
And yes it does work great for throwing trout spinners. You can use 15-20 lb braid ( 6-8lb mono diameter eqivelent ) and even tie on a 10lb florocarbon tip just in case you hook a steely. I have noticed with mono that even when a fiesty trout hits, sometimes it just feels like your rod is loading up from moss or a snag....especially from the belly/stretch in your line. Obviously downstream bellys happen no matter what line but with braid you can actually feel the "tick" of them hitting. My next step is to try one of those E21 carrot stick rods with braid. A guy that was reviewing one of those rods said that those rods actually make sounds when you have contact with the bottom or get a bite !
 
J
joesnuffy
A downside to Braid that nobody has mentioned yet is cold weather. Not the "chilly weather" that you get on the coast and valley. I'm talking about the "cold weather" that we get over here on the east side of the state. Braid freezes fast and the ice buildup is terrible. When the temps are 34F and lower, you really should be using mono.

Having said that, just this summer I rigged up 2 rods with braid that drops down to a mono tippet. I've got extra spools rigged with nothing but mono for the cold weather.
 

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