On The Fence About Line

[ENG28INE]

Quick background, I fish the Upper Potomac river in Maryland. I fish mainly with soft plastics, either Texas rigged or a drop shot rig. Also fish shakey head worms. All fishing done on medium weight spinning gear. I always fished with monofilament but lately have considered switching to fluorocarbon. The more I read I hear more and more folks using braid with a fluorocarbon leader, and it sounds rather convincing. Is this gonna be the right set-up for me???????

[EvanT123]

You're the one that needs to decide if it's worth it to you. For 10-15 bucks, alittle time to learn a new knot or two, and understanding the differences between various types of line; what's the downside?

That said I favor ten pound braid with a leader but am thinking about putting 6-8 pound mono or copolamor on a reel and testing it out agin. So who knows if your don't give it a shot.

[Darren.]

Quick background, I fish the Upper Potomac river in Maryland. I fish mainly with soft plastics, either Texas rigged or a drop shot rig. Also fish shakey head worms. All fishing done on medium weight spinning gear. I always fished with monofilament but lately have considered switching to fluorocarbon. The more I read I hear more and more folks using braid with a fluorocarbon leader, and it sounds rather convincing. Is this gonna be the right set-up for me???????

 

Yes. Or at least it is for me, and I pretty much fish the same as you. Medium gear, and everything is braid mainline + leader ranging anywhere from 6 to 15 pound test, and either P-Line Floroclear/Yo-Zuri Hybrid, or pure fluorocarbon.

[Tywithay]

I was always a mono guy, but I've recently started using fluoro for some applications. Can't stand braid because it's noisy through the guides and offers no slack line sensitivity. For spinning gear I like a good 6lb or 8lb fluoro like Tatsu, or Sniper. I tend to stay away from the cheaper lines because they don't last as long and they usually have memory issues. I definitely have noticed better feel over the mono on some techniques.

[ThypeBassin]

I fish the Potomac also and live in the northern Va region, but fish competitively and have been on The Florida chains and a few rivers, the fishing on most parts of the Potomac are identical to Florida fishing. Just times of year differ. But anyways fishing in Florida and spending a week with a guy who has been to the classic braid is only used for frogs and punching mats strictly by his standards. I am an all around fluorocarbon guy line is less visible more bites, less stretch than mono better hook up ratio. If your fishing shakey heads go fluorocarbon and you will see why. Drop shotting is an absolute for fluorocarbon line. A braid to Fluro leader is a good choice. But I stick usually to just 100% Fluro no leader. Every line has it's ups and downs but if it had to be one that stands out it's Fluro. These are just my opinions hope I could help good luck this year. And if your in Maryland seems like the only fishing we'll be doing here is ice fishing, way to cold. Good luck catch some Potomac hawgs

[SirSnookalot]

You're the one that needs to decide if it's worth it to you. For 10-15 bucks, alittle time to learn a new knot or two, and understanding the differences between various types of line; what's the downside?

 

You never know until you try something whether you like it or not.  Don't rely on opinions of others, decide for yourself.

[fishingman88]

Line truly does come down to personal preference.  I would give braid a shot and see if you like it or not.  Also try fluro out as well. 

 

For me personally, I like to use Yozuri Hybrid in certain applications, but braid (Sufix 832) and a fluoro leader is my go to personally. 

[ww2farmer]

Idk if braid with a flouro leader is going to be right for you, but it's what I do on all my rods (casting and spinning). I hated straight flouro on spinning gear, even in 6,8, and 10lb test sizes it liked to twist, and got down right unruly at times to manage. I switched about 3 years ago to braid/flouro leader and have no plans on going back.

[Rangerphil]

If you like mono and are successful using it then stick with it! Try some other stuff out but don't think you have to use fluro or braid. Good luck!

[thehooligan]

Idk if braid with a flouro leader is going to be right for you, but it's what I do on all my rods (casting and spinning). I hated straight flouro on spinning gear, even in 6,8, and 10lb test sizes it liked to twist, and got down right unruly at times to manage. I switched about 3 years ago to braid/flouro leader and have no plans on going back.

 

X2

 

I started with full mono, then tried flouro. Mono stretches too much, fluoro is too uncontrollable, All my reels are spooled with braid and copoly leaders when needed... 

[WIGuide]

That choice is for you to make. Personally, I like straight fluoro. It gives me a better feel and better hook sets than mono does and personally, I like the feel better than braid. If you do go the straight fluoro path, be sure to buy a good quality line such as Berkley 100% fluorocarbon. It was developed to be slightly limper than a standard fluoro and was made specifically for use on spinning reels.

[dam0007]

6-10# InvizX on Spinning gear here. Braid to Fluoro is cool too but personally I hate the knot going through the guides.

[ENG28INE]

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. After pondering on it all day I think im going to try braid with a flouro leader. I read some nice things about the Power Pro Super Slick braid. Does anyone have a pros or cons about this particular brand. Also what lb. test should I go with(Medium weight spinning gear) Most fish are average in size, nothing too huge. Do you guys feel that the 10 lb. test will be enough?

[ENG28INE]

Also, I want my braid and my flouro leader to be almost the same diameter. Correct???????

[EvanT123]

I think you should be fine with powerpro. I use that without any problems. Guys like sufix 832, fireline and others but powerpro is a good place to start.

Like I said before I use 10 and find it more than strong enough for my river fishing needs. It has a 2lb mono diameter so I think you might have trouble finding a flouro with a similar diameter. Don't sweat it. I use between 6-12 test with the power pro and do not have any problems.

There are few knots you can use to join the lines. Albright, modified Albright, and uni knots. I like to use the modified Albright as it was developed by a striper fisherman and my thoughts are if it's good enough for stripers it will be fine for smallies. Good Luck and let us know how it works out for you!

[AQUA VELVA]

The line choices on the market today are mind boggling to say the least. I've tried just about everything through the years and always end up coming back to Berkley Trilene and Big Game. Line choice is a personal preference type of thing usually arrived at through trial and error. In my case, my line does everything that I need it to do to catch fish at a fair price and thats good enough for me. So, by all means, experiment, listen to what other people have to say and you will find what works for you.

[livetofish28]

I think you should be fine with powerpro. I use that without any problems. Guys like sufix 832, fireline and others but powerpro is a good place to start.

Like I said before I use 10 and find it more than strong enough for my river fishing needs. It has a 2lb mono diameter so I think you might have trouble finding a flouro with a similar diameter. Don't sweat it. I use between 6-12 test with the power pro and do not have any problems.

There are few knots you can use to join the lines. Albright, modified Albright, and uni knots. I like to use the modified Albright as it was developed by a striper fisherman and my thoughts are if it's good enough for stripers it will be fine for smallies. Good Luck and let us know how it works out for you!

I use braid with a leader for all of my spinning rods and feel it works best for me the modified Albright he's talking about is the Alberto knot it's very small and reliable

Tight lines

Andrew