Braid Or Fluro For Finesse

[Bk4]

I'm debating if I should use fireline 8lb braid with leader or use 8lb berkley vanish flurocarbon for finesse type fishing drop shot ... t rig ... and split shot on a spinning rod 6'6  or what do you guys suggest?

[War Eagle 44]

#1 don't use Vanish whatever you do, it's widely known as VERY low quality line. Berkley 100% Fluoro is good stuff on the other hand. All I use is P-Line.

 

Now on to the second part, I started using braid with a fluoro leader sometime last year on my spinning tackle and love it. That's the direction I would suggest. I usually go with 20# braid and a 15# fluoro leader. I don't seem to have any trouble getting bites with that big a leader but you could always drop down if you were having problems. 10# is about the lowest I'd go for a leader but the lakes I fish have at least a slight green stain year round so take that into consideration. If where you fish is super clear then you'll have to drop down. 

[kickerfish1]

100% floro with NO braid involved. For 90% of my finesse fishing I am running 8# sunline sniper or seagar invisix.

[WhiteMike1018]

Braid will come off the spool a lot faster than fluro, so you could beable to make longer casts with the lighter baits. That being said, your line will not be invisible which is the great benefit for fluro. Also fluro will sink faster. Its pretty much just personal preference. Experiment with both and find out what works for you

 

gl -wm

[War Eagle 44]

Braid will come off the spool a lot faster than fluro, so you could beable to make longer casts with the lighter baits. That being said, your line will not be invisible which is the great benefit for fluro. Also fluro will sink faster. Its pretty much just personal preference. Experiment with both and find out what works for you

 

gl -wm

 

Yes I meant to include that part in my first post but forgot, braid casts much farther than straight fluoro and it cuts down on line twist problems greatly. I find I can skip my baits under docks and other cover much better with braid main line as well. I do this a lot in the summer, skipping cover, that's also another reason I use such a high pound test leader. I want to have the best possible chance to get them out.   

[skeletor6]

100% floro with NO braid involved. For 90% of my finesse fishing I am running 8# sunline sniper or seagar invisix.

Go this route unless you enjoy watching your line float as your light bait slowly pulls it down. Belly becomes a far worse problem while finesse fishing with braid. Also, if its windy...good luck.

How often is the line tight while finesse fishing? Its a prudent question because if its not you won't feel a thing.

Line twist is easily avoided by closing the bail by hand. Never had a problem with it myself.

[War Eagle 44]

Go this route unless you enjoy watching your line float as your light bait slowly pulls it down. Belly becomes a far worse problem while finesse fishing with braid. Also, if its windy...good luck.

How often is the line tight while finesse fishing? Its a prudent question because if its not you won't feel a thing.

Line twist is easily avoided by closing the bail by hand. Never had a problem with it myself.

 

All line twist can't be avoided simply by closing the bail by hand.

 

I also disagree that you can't feel bites if using braid while finesse fishing. I can detect them just fine with a little slack in the line.

 

I would be very interested to see a controlled test done just to see how much faster your bait would sink when using fluoro compared to braid, all other things being equal. My money is on not much.

[skeletor6]

All line twist can't be avoided simply by closing the bail by hand.

I also disagree that you can't feel bites if using braid while finesse fishing. I can detect them just fine with a little slack in the line.

I would be very interested to see a controlled test done just to see how much faster your bait would sink when using fluoro compared to braid, all other things being equal. My money is on not much.

To me its not about how fast it sinks it is about the belly that is created from the line floating on top of the water as your bait drops. It causes a number of issues.

The more linear your line is to the bait the greater the feel. A sinking line creates less slack, thus more feel. Also, as the line is floating it is subjective to be blown around by the wind which creates even more slack than a sinking line would.

Braid performs poorly under slack line conditions. Such statement is agreed upon by most anglers. The degree to which a line bellys is much less noticeable while casting heavier baits.

Braid hands down wins when the line is tight, but while finesse fishing there is a larger degree of time spent in semi slack conditions. This presentation heavily favors fluorocarbon or a different sinking line from my experience.

[JigMe]

To me its not about how fast it sinks it is about the belly that is created from the line floating on top of the water as your bait drops. It causes a number of issues.

The more linear your line is to the bait the greater the feel. A sinking line creates less slack, thus more feel. Also, as the line is floating it is subjective to be blown around by the wind which creates even more slack than a sinking line would.

Braid performs poorly under slack line conditions. Such statement is agreed upon by most anglers. The degree to which a line bellys is much less noticeable while casting heavier baits.

Braid hands down wins when the line is tight, but while finesse fishing there is a larger degree of time spent in semi slack conditions. This presentation heavily favors fluorocarbon or a different sinking line from my experience.

 

What's the problem with braid performs poorly under slack line? I mean, I have been using braided line with Fluro leader and didn't seem to have any issues. On the other hand, my hookup ratio went up. Maybe, I am missing something or not noticing it.

[Felix77]

IMO both is the best.  I use 10lb Power Pro braid with a Seaguar Invizx Leader 8lb.  Great combination and it has caught me some good size fish.  The key is trusting in your knot (Albright, Alberto or Double Uni).  I'm partial to the Double Uni.  Have used it with great success.

[Darren.]

IMO both is the best.  I use 10lb Power Pro braid with a Seaguar Invizx Leader 8lb.  Great combination and it has caught me some good size fish.  The key is trusting in your knot (Albright, Alberto or Double Uni).  I'm partial to the Double Uni.  Have used it with great success.

 

x2 Braid + Leader.

 

And I've never had slack line issues with braid + leader. 10lb braid jumps at the slightest twitch...but in windy conditions, weights needed.

[BradH]

I switched from braid with a leader to all fluorocarbon for finesse, other than drop shotting and vertical jigging with a spinning rod, still running braid and a fluoro leader there.  Thank you BR!  I got the idea here.  I get a better feel when there is slack in the line fishing weighless or lightly weighted soft plastics by running 100% fluoro and I have seen a dramatic reduction in bite offs from toothy fish.  I tried Vanish at one time but after trying different brands I switched to other fluorocarbon lines.  The Berkley 100% in the gold box is good but I'm fishing ML casting rods with 50e reels so I have no idea how it would perform on a spinning rig.

[Lasher]

I use P Line for 95% of my fishing.  Braid for the rest,  the lakes I fish don't need braid that much. 

[Fishes in trees]

I use Fireline more than braid, but to relate to this thread, I like fishing braid on a slack line, especially the Fireline crystal.  For the most part, Fireline reacts very similar to braid.  The whitish color stands out very well against the water, and with the minimal stretch, for me it works like a strike indicator, like trout fishermen use.   My line twitches a little, I tighten up and set the hook, more often than not the hookup is there.  Just saying, for me, as soon as I move the bait, I want my line to go kinda slack.  For me that is when bites happen.

[War Eagle 44]

To me its not about how fast it sinks it is about the belly that is created from the line floating on top of the water as your bait drops. It causes a number of issues.

The more linear your line is to the bait the greater the feel. A sinking line creates less slack, thus more feel. Also, as the line is floating it is subjective to be blown around by the wind which creates even more slack than a sinking line would.

Braid performs poorly under slack line conditions. Such statement is agreed upon by most anglers. The degree to which a line bellys is much less noticeable while casting heavier baits.

Braid hands down wins when the line is tight, but while finesse fishing there is a larger degree of time spent in semi slack conditions. This presentation heavily favors fluorocarbon or a different sinking line from my experience.

Ok, I respect your opinion on this subject. I don't do a ton of "finesse" fishing I guess. It all depends maybe on your definition of the term. I've not experienced the poor performance on slack line with braid as you have so we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

 

 

x2 Braid + Leader.

 

And I've never had slack line issues with braid + leader. 10lb braid jumps at the slightest twitch...but in windy conditions, weights needed.

This is more along the lines of what I'm experiencing. Maybe it's that the strikes I'm getting are "hard" and not the kind where the fish just gently takes the bait making it very difficult to feel.

[Jrob78]

This is sort of a, "if a tree fell in the woods" scenario but would you necessarily know if you were having slack line issues with braid?  You don't always know you had a bite when you don't feel it.  Unless of course, your plastic is balled up or your line has swam off.

 

For the record, I like braid on spinning gear, just thinking out loud.

[skeletor6]

This is sort of a, "if a tree fell in the woods" scenario but would you necessarily know if you were having slack line issues with braid? You don't always know you had a bite when you don't feel it. Unless of course, your plastic is balled up or your line has swam off.

For the record, I like braid on spinning gear, just thinking out loud.

Very true. Slack line performance with braid is poor. One could very well have a solid hook up ratio on fish they feel, but miss all the bites they had that they could not feel.

I feel the lack of sensitivity in slack line situations with braid causes users to watch their line for irregular movement as opposed to being able to feel the strikes. That is fine, some may actually prefer watching the floating line on top moving.

I use high end rods with high end line, so the sensitivity and performance I experience with FC may be different from others. I feel one of braids biggest strengths for spinning reels is that it has 0 memory and does not coil.

[JigMe]

This is sort of a, "if a tree fell in the woods" scenario but would you necessarily know if you were having slack line issues with braid?  You don't always know you had a bite when you don't feel it.  Unless of course, your plastic is balled up or your line has swam off.

 

For the record, I like braid on spinning gear, just thinking out loud.

 

If I were fishing senko or other soft plastics, I am more a line watcher than "feel" the bite kinda guy. If the line moves side ways, or sink much faster than usually then reel in the slack and set the hook. 

[BassThumb]

This is a personal preference situation. Try it out for yourself.

 

Personally, I find braid/leader to be the lesser of two evils.