Braid for square bills?

[Nolanbassmaster]

I was wondering if I can use braid for square bills in clear water ?

[Dorado]

Since the square bill is a reaction type lure, I don't see why braid wouldn't hurt in clear water. The finesse game is all about FC or light hybrid  line in clearer water

 

Im curious what others will say because I don't like using braided line with anything with a treble hook. I like a little stretch in my line or leader when my rod loads. 

[38 Super Fan]

Yes. For me personally, a square bill is one those baits that I'm not too picky about line choice with.

[ww2farmer]

I have been fishing crankbaits...squarebills, lip-less, deep divers etc... on braid (with non cranking specific rods) for 10+ years. The 1000's of bass I have caught in both clear and dirty water, with little to no issues, would have me believe that the conventional wisdom of using a stretchy line and cranking rods is WAY WAY over blown. That being said, there are some slight adjustments to be made to make the system work, and work as good or better than a mono/flouro and cranking rod set up. Some of those adjustments are:

 

Don't have your drag locked down

 

Use M or MH graphite power rods with a little "tip"...I'm not talking full blown moderate or parabolic actions, but don't use a pool que. As a bonus, rods that are good for cranking with braid, are also good for other things, like moderate cover worming and jigging, chatterbaits/swimjigs, etc....Cranking specific rods, not so much.

 

Switch lighter wire, crappy stock hooks (I'm talking to you Strike King) to heavier wire premium hooks. Pretty much every crank bait on the market now-a-days is built so a hook swap to heavier hooks doesn't screw up it's action, and in many cases enhances the baits abilities.

 

Use 20 or 30lb braid for max casting distance and diving depth. If your smooth and fluent with your casting, and let the rod tip assist you,  you can absolutely launch a crank much much further on braid. With today's modern braids, the digging in of lighter, thinner braids on a casting reel is a non-issue. A backlash on braid can be harder to pick out, but it also doesn't weaken the heck out of the line like it would if you got a kink in mono or flouro.

 

The feel around grass is second to none. I have cranked grass with high $$$ cranking rods, and premium mono and flouro. It's a joke compared to the feel you get with braid and a $50 graphite rod. 

 

Braids abrasion resistance is not great, but if you crank rock and wood, adding a flouro leader solves that issue.

 

Hook sets cranking with braid are not that much different than with a stretchy line. Don't crack them. Let them load the rod up, and pull back. Remember we have switched to heavier wire hooks, so leaning ont hem a little and having zero stretch is not much of an issue.

 

Fishing seeing the line is bogus. Many of the same people who tell you you need fluoro for it's reduced light refraction, wont think twice about a throwing an A-rig with 38 wires, 6000 pieces of terminal tackle hanging off it, and making a commotion akin to dropping a MOAB  in the lake.

 

The last issue to talk about is, lots of people will say the feel with braid is too great, and they pull cranks away from fish when using it. Well...I don't know where this is coming from, because in my exp. it's a non issue. My hook up and landing % of the bites I get is very very high.

 

So, that's what I do. I have also converted several people locally into braid crankers. Will it work for you?? Maybe, maybe not. It may not be as "idiot proof" as the old ways of stretchy line/whippy rods, and I have no idea how adept you are, or will be at making the  adjustments I described. But know this.....any one who tells you that "you can't crank with braid" is pretty much an ignorant fool just spouting off decades old rehashed garbage. If people don't like to crank with braid...fine, more power to them. We all like what we like. 

[Comfortably Numb]

I use 15# braid with a 12# three foot flouro leader. Quamtum Tour KVD medium lite crankin rod. Awesome combo and I can feel every little tick, weed, leaf and wobble

[Cgolf]

Like farmer, I feel that the whole bass line shy thing is bogus. I have  fished clear water enough with 50 lb power pro on cranks and 10 or 20 lb fireline for plastics, both with no leader, to convince myself. I did try a flouro leader for awhile and didn't notice a difference in catch rate. 

 

I did try yo Zuri hybrid line this summer and didn't mind it, except that I had so much less feel I thought that the crank had picked up some weeds. It is amazing how much more feel you get with braid which is very handy in weeds to tell if the crank is fouled up or not. 

[NHBull]

I am all  10 lb braid for CB.....832 because it sinks or Gamma because is is thinner.

 

I soften up on the drag, as I real set and light sweep most of the time for the set

[r83srock]

8 hours ago, ww2farmer said:

I have been fishing crankbaits...squarebills, lip-less, deep divers etc... on braid (with non cranking specific rods) for 10+ years. The 1000's of bass I have caught in both clear and dirty water, with little to no issues, would have me believe that the conventional wisdom of using a stretchy line and cranking rods is WAY WAY over blown. That being said, there are some slight adjustments to be made to make the system work, and work as good or better than a mono/flouro and cranking rod set up. Some of those adjustments are:

 

Don't have your drag locked down

 

Use M or MH graphite power rods with a little "tip"...I'm not talking full blown moderate or parabolic actions, but don't use a pool que. As a bonus, rods that are good for cranking with braid, are also good for other things, like moderate cover worming and jigging, chatterbaits/swimjigs, etc....Cranking specific rods, not so much.

 

Switch lighter wire, crappy stock hooks (I'm talking to you Strike King) to heavier wire premium hooks. Pretty much every crank bait on the market now-a-days is built so a hook swap to heavier hooks doesn't screw up it's action, and in many cases enhances the baits abilities.

 

Use 20 or 30lb braid for max casting distance and diving depth. If your smooth and fluent with your casting, and let the rod tip assist you,  you can absolutely launch a crank much much further on braid. With today's modern braids, the digging in of lighter, thinner braids on a casting reel is a non-issue. A backlash on braid can be harder to pick out, but it also doesn't weaken the heck out of the line like it would if you got a kink in mono or flouro.

 

The feel around grass is second to none. I have cranked grass with high $$$ cranking rods, and premium mono and flouro. It's a joke compared to the feel you get with braid and a $50 graphite rod. 

 

Braids abrasion resistance is not great, but if you crank rock and wood, adding a flouro leader solves that issue.

 

Hook sets cranking with braid are not that much different than with a stretchy line. Don't crack them. Let them load the rod up, and pull back. Remember we have switched to heavier wire hooks, so leaning ont hem a little and having zero stretch is not much of an issue.

 

Fishing seeing the line is bogus. Many of the same people who tell you you need fluoro for it's reduced light refraction, wont think twice about a throwing an A-rig with 38 wires, 6000 pieces of terminal tackle hanging off it, and making a commotion akin to dropping a MOAB  in the lake.

 

The last issue to talk about is, lots of people will say the feel with braid is too great, and they pull cranks away from fish when using it. Well...I don't know where this is coming from, because in my exp. it's a non issue. My hook up and landing % of the bites I get is very very high.

 

So, that's what I do. I have also converted several people locally into braid crankers. Will it work for you?? Maybe, maybe not. It may not be as "idiot proof" as the old ways of stretchy line/whippy rods, and I have no idea how adept you are, or will be at making the  adjustments I described. But know this.....any one who tells you that "you can't crank with braid" is pretty much an ignorant fool just spouting off decades old rehashed garbage. If people don't like to crank with braid...fine, more power to them. We all like what we like. 

Lol, I thought I was the only one fish cranks on braid. Guess not!

[Gundog]

The only problem I would see is if you were fishing from shore. Snags happen with cranks and retrieving them would be tough, not to mention all the braid lost. With braids lack of stretch it makes snags all that more tough to get out. I can't tell you how many yards of braid I've fished out of rivers and lakes with lures attached. 

[Cgolf]

55 minutes ago, Gundog said:

The only problem I would see is if you were fishing from shore. Snags happen with cranks and retrieving them would be tough, not to mention all the braid lost. With braids lack of stretch it makes snags all that more tough to get out. I can't tell you how many yards of braid I've fished out of rivers and lakes with lures attached. 

 

I have actually seen the opposite. It seems that power pro and fireline tend to fail at the knot whenever I have broken off on a snag. With 50lb power pro I have actually cut my hand breaking off a snag. What I see almost exclusively on the river is mono, which when I used it, find it breaks somewhere between the lure and the rod tip. When I am able to get the mono to shore, there is always a decent amount. To be fair I did pull in braid once, but I would guess over ten years on the river it has been 50 to 1 mono over braid. Have never snagged anybody's line on a lake, maybe I have been lucky in that regard. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Yep, I use 20 or 30lb power pro tied right to a square bill.

[YoTone]

only problem would be with the braid is that its so supple that it often wraps around the treble hooks. a leader would solve that issue.

[Jerryj33]

I do like cranking braid when I'm ripping lipless or square bills out of grass, but most of the time I'm cranking supernatural mono or yo-zuri hybrid because I really like the extra "bounce" you get when you deflect off of hard cover with a stretchier line. 

[Grim_Reaver]

Good info @ww2farmer. Will be testing different rod actions to see what works best for me.

[Deleted account]

On 9/10/2017 at 12:44 AM, Nolanbassmaster said:

I was wondering if I can use braid for square bills in clear water ?

If you are asking will fish not bite it because of the braid being more visible, then that's not a thing. I don't use braid on anything with trebles because braid tangles on hooks, ( in clear water just as bad as in dirty water). I don't see an advantage with braid for squarebill under most conditions. I throw squarebills on heavy mono most of the time.

[king fisher]

I prefer to use mono for square bills, but do use straight 40 pound braid on a couple lakes.  The lakes are full of old gill nets, and the strong braid saves me from loosing my baits to snags.  I catch plenty of fish with the straight braid.  

[Bluebasser86]

Hopefully the OP has done some field testing with squarebills on braid since asking the original question 5 years ago ?