Braid good or bad

[twocast]

I have tried braided line fishing crainbaits,top water. but always find myself going back to floro or mono. I like the feel of braid,but loose baits,used different knots,line seems to break. watching television shows,I see them using 65lb braid and 20lb leaders. fishing heavy cover. can someone tell me what the advantage is doing that? wouldnt the leader break long before the braid .I use   17lb cajuan red lightning.or advantage.( red cast seems very easy to break) I rarely break off.while fishing heavy nasty cover

[PitchinJigz]

Well, my friend, to understand the art of fine fishing line, you must first discontinue your use of Cajun line. 

[papajoe222]

6 hours ago, twocast said:

 watching television shows,I see them using 65lb braid and 20lb leaders. fishing heavy cover. can someone tell me what the advantage is doing that? wouldnt the leader break long before the braid .

That is the advantage of using a stronger main line, the leader will break before it does. The other advantage is line visibility. A leader added to braid, whether fluorocarbon, mono, or copolymer, is less visible than the braid.

As far as your breakage issue with braid; Where is the line breaking?  One reason I use braid is so I DON'T  loose baits.  Braid does frey and in the lower lb. tests that can be a big concern.

[moguy1973]

What knots are you using?  What size and type of braid are you using?  If you are using 20# or more braid using a simple Palomar knot it shouldn't be breaking unless you are fishing in lakes that have zebra mussels or something like that which will cut up your line.

[alzun664]

Are you sure its the line breaking and not the knots slipping? You should be using a Palomar Knot for braid, other knots will tend to slip because braids are so slick compared to mono/flouro.

Another tip I can think of is to leave a bit of tag end on your Palomar knots. Braid is a no stretch line and that can be both good and bad. On the bad end if a fish really nails your bait and pulls hard in the other direction you will almost always lose your lure because there is no stretch. Especially if you clip the tag on your palomar knot too short. This is why you will want to tie a mono or flouro leader to give it some stretch.

Another advantage of a leader with a braided main line is so the fish don't see your line. You'll want to get into the habit of doing this anytime you are using braid, especially in clear water. You can catch fish without a leader if they're aggressive enough or if the water is muddy enough, but I always have one tied on unless im frogging.

I use a uni-uni knot for my braid to leader connections. 

[Bluebasser86]

Something else going on here, you shouldn't just be breaking braid left and right.

[bonzai22]

I usually keep an eye on the line when I'm throwing braid. It starts out really strong but after awhile it gets weaker. It usually starts getting frayed and turns a different color when this happens I just cut off some line until it looks fresh again.

[blckshirt98]

Palomar knots with braid have been indestructable for me.  I've pulled on snagged lures where the braid is almost cutting through the skin on my fingers that I've wrapped in my shirt.  I use 12-15# braid(PowerPro or Sufix 832) for most of my freshwater bass rigs and that stuff should absolutely not be breaking like that. Even braid that has frayed/fuzzed up at the end of a fishing session has held up well for me.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

There are pluses and minuses for everything. Braid is strong and sensitive but had poor shock resistance and can fray. A backlash can send a heavy bait sailing never to be seen again . A leader in wood cover or dragging over zebra mussels  addresses fraying concerns. Visibility is the least of my concerns except for maybe gin clear open water. 

[WIGuide]

You flat out shouldn't be breaking off with braid, unless as DVT noted that if you get a backlash with a heavier bait it's prone to snap. The only time I've had issues with braid breaking is when it gets in a northern's teeth and they go through it like a hot knife through butter. If you're breaking off there's a weak link in the chain somewhere and you need to find where that is. Take a look at your line when it breaks. You should be able to tell if it's at a knot, or if it's in the middle of the line. You also need to look at the line around the break to find out if it's frayed. 

[aprilbass101]

I have to agree with WIGuide! You need to examine the break on your braid 1st & 2nd you probably need to up grade the leader to a better FC but honestly, it sounds like you need a better knot to connect the 2 lines most of all! There are many threads on here to help you tie a better knot. Practice makes perfect. Good Luck!

[Fishinthefish]

One thing no one mentioned, how old is the braid on your reel? If it's old, say three or more years and depending on the quality of the company, and the storage this could be another big problem. Line goes back just like everything else. Other than that the rest of the posts are spot on. You either have something in your water cutting your line be it fish, rocks, or mussels. Or you have a weak link in the chain, first check your line age, second examine your knots, do research and relearn to tie them, and third tie on a leader of flouro or hybrid. Do those three things and your problems will go away.

[Bankbeater]

Have you checked your line guides?  Has the braid cut into them making a sharp spot?

[twocast]

I use a palomar. knot. I might try some braid again

 

On 2/7/2016 at 4:30 PM, PitchinJigz said:

Well, my friend, to understand the art of fine fishing line, you must first discontinue your use of Cajun line. 

I have used many manufactures of fishing line.as I stated in my post the red cast is not a favorite.usually use suffix,but for pitching and flipping red lightning,advantage is some strong line.

[Hookem Hank]

On 2/7/2016 at 2:30 PM, PitchinJigz said:

Well, my friend, to understand the art of fine fishing line, you must first discontinue your use of Cajun line. 

I cannot agree more with this statement, I lost the biggest fish of my life because of that garbage! I was much younger then, I am much older and wiser and now. I use Seagaur Fluorocarbon, Power Pro braid, Izorline Co-polymer.

 

On 2/7/2016 at 1:52 PM, twocast said:

I have tried braided line fishing crainbaits,top water. but always find myself going back to floro or mono. I like the feel of braid,but loose baits,used different knots,line seems to break. watching television shows,I see them using 65lb braid and 20lb leaders. fishing heavy cover. can someone tell me what the advantage is doing that? wouldnt the leader break long before the braid .I use   17lb cajuan red lightning.or advantage.( red cast seems very easy to break) I rarely break off.while fishing heavy nasty cover

As far as using a leader, I say fish with what you are confident in. I do believe that there are application where braid should be used over fluorocarbon or co-polymer but fishing with a leader is not necessary if you do not feel confident fishing it. BassResource has an awesome YouTube channel and has videos covering these exact topics. Good luck hope this helps. 

[Further North]

I have decided to begin braiding mono for my fishing line.

It is time consuming, but I feel it will have all of the disadvantages of mono with none of the advantages of braid.

[Evan K]

6 minutes ago, Further North said:

I have decided to begin braiding mono for my fishing line.

It is time consuming, but I feel it will have all of the disadvantages of mono with none of the advantages of braid.

I love this.

[Further North]

Winter is long up here...I am easily amused by February....

[A-Jay]

27 minutes ago, Further North said:

I have decided to begin braiding mono for my fishing line.

It is time consuming, but I feel it will have all of the disadvantages of mono with none of the advantages of braid.

Thanks for that  ~  and here I was thinking I was the only one  . . . . . .

A-Jay  

That one made my night ! 

[Further North]

We might wanna do a double check on the whole braiding monofilament thing...it's a son-of-a-gun to get through the eyelets of jigs....

[S. Sass]

I don't get some of this "knowledge" that gets put out on the web. You want braid for example for all of its properties when say flippin. So why in the world would you stick some stinking leader on it to get rid of the very properties you selected braid for to start with. Some of these posts have me doing a lot of head scratching. If I want a stretchy line I would not put braid on, and if I want clear line with a good feel I would load fluorocarbon. But I sure am not ruining my good braid sticking some other crud on the end that is holding my fish. 

I agree with most here if braid is breaking off often you have a issue somewhere else. I use strait braid almost 100% of the time, tie with a palomar knot, leave a little 3/16" to 1/4" tag, and I absolutely cant tell you the last time I lost a lure from "breaking off".

I use the KISS method less knots (leader) = less problems. No leader = more time to fish. Put the line on you want to use don't be making some concoction complicating things. If that bass is so smart he wouldn't be looking at your stupid plastic bait considering eating it anyway. 

Use fresh quality name brand line. Double check every place the line comes in contact with your rod and reel. Be extra cautious to make sure you wet the braid before you seat the palomar knot. Leave a small tag as described above.   

[Further North]

4 minutes ago, S. Sass said:

I don't get some of this "knowledge" that gets put out on the web. You want braid for example for all of its properties when say flippin. So why in the world would you stick some stinking leader on it to get rid of the very properties you selected braid for to start with. Some of these posts have me doing a lot of head scratching. If I want a stretchy line I would not put braid on, and if I want clear line with a good feel I would load fluorocarbon. But I sure am not ruining my good braid sticking some other crud on the end that is holding my fish.

Short answer: a short (say 4ft. - 8 ft.) mono or fluorocarbon leader tied onto the end of braid doesn't have much effect on why ost folks pick braid (no stretch, very sensitive to feeling your way through whatever cover you're in), but they have two distinct advantages:

1. If the fish are touchy about seeing the line, it'll take that out of the equation.
2. Both are more durable around sharp rocks.

I often tie in a couple of feet of tieable stainless steel leader when I'm in toothy fish water...braid won't last 5 seconds when a pike or a musky hits it...mono or fluorocarbon won't last much longer.

I'm sure not going to spool my whole reel with that...not that I'm suggesting you were saying I should.

[S. Sass]

I totally get the steel leader. 

As far as the other points. If I am going to fish a lake where like you say is known to have sharp rocks I probably am not taking a reel full of braid. I will just spool my reel with the appropriate fluorocarbon and be done with it. No messing with extra knots no time wasted when I am out fishing if it gets broke off. I don't have to sit there and re rig the entire leader. I am tying my bait on and back to fishing that quick.

  I have read some talk of fish being touchy about seeing the line. I call BS on that one but hey what ever makes someone feel better. Like I said I fish 100% braid and have no problem getting fish. Maybe the fish here in Texas are just blind.  

[Further North]

I've seen line spook fish maybe three or four times...and two of those were while fly fishing for trout.

The other two were on crystal clear Canadian lakes.

I leave all my reels rigged with braid because it's stronger at any given diameter, and it lasts longer than mono or fluro.  It takes maybe a minute to tie in a fluro leader if I get into some nasty rocks and it saves me having to have more rods on board.

That's just how I do it, your system works great too.

[0119]

Why stop using mono if you are happy with it?  I hate superline/braid. I see nothing useful in it and  a hundred drawbacks. If your happy with your red mono, keep using it. Screw what others use or think or what some alleged expert/writer/pro thinks or says.  Enjoy your mono that cuts easy without fancy tools, takes any simple knot and is more abrasion resistant than a line made of fuzzy strands of stronger than iron sewing cloth.