Mono on a Baitcaster?

[thedilettantedad]

Bought my first bait caster yesterday and spooled it with 15lb Jawbone mono. Caught two fish today. I figure I will stick with mono until I am more confident in my casting.

[GReb]

I’m about to give McCoy a try. 

[Bluebasser86]

I have mono on several casting and spinning combos, even use it for stuff I'm not "suppose" to like jigs and shakyheads. 

[Hulkster]

I also use 12 Pound test sufix Siege on my curado 

[Boomstick]

On 9/27/2018 at 10:45 AM, J Francho said:

I prefer fluoro or copoly over braid on casting gear, by a long shot.

 

I too prefer mono, fluoro or copoly on a casting reel. I only use 40# braid on my MH/F rod because I fish hollow body frogs with it, and once I get a dedicated frogging rod, I will put 15 or 15lb fluorocarbon or mono on that. Straight mono or fluro is just easier and quicker to rig up.

 

I am Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon this year on my other casting rod and with a uni knot, I've not had any issues other than I fish mostly from shore which is shallower water and I tend to drag my baits along the bottom at times. It almost seems like mono would be a better choice as it would get me near the bottom, and occasionally hitting the bottom and then I could use topwater on the same rod too.

 

For mono, I would suggest Sufix Siege. It has less memory and is much more abrasion resistant than other mono lines I've used and I think it has a little less stretch to it as well. I find it easily worth the extra price imo as I used it a lot last year and have it on one of my kid's reels as well and we've had no issues at all.

[ratherbfishin1]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have mono on several casting and spinning combos, even use it for stuff I'm not "suppose" to like jigs and shakyheads. 

Exactly! There are times when I prefer to fish my m/xf with 12lb over any of the combos I have with braid.  People will say that’s not enough but I’ve never really had problems with it, if your getting a solid hookset from not too far away I think the whole “no stretch” thing is slightly overrated. Don’t get me wrong though, my designated jig rod has braid

[Mike F]

I learned to use casting reels with straight braid because i was told it was easier and more manageable but it was kind of a crutch looking back, I’ve been fishing 15# big game most of this summer and I had to learn to thumb the spool more, but now I prefer it to braid. I think if I’d learned with mono, switching to fluoro would’ve been easier, I had one bad experience with sniper early on and am hesitant to waste money on fluoro again bc of it.

[new2BC4bass]

On 9/27/2018 at 12:16 PM, Sam said:

In the past, before we had different types of lines to consider, the rule was mono for treble hook baits and fluorocarbon for all other baits.

 

Today, the rule is not followed. Pros throw braid, copoly, line with funny names, expensive line, and of course, fluorocarbon. I am sure there are a few who also use mono for specific presentations.

 

Mono is a good backing to use on your reels when you are using braid to stop line spin. Some still use mono for treble hook baits. Personal preference.

 

When you read the articles in the fishing publications, always pay attention to the line the pros say they are using and remember they are getting paid to hawk their sponsors' products. There is no proof they actually use the lines they are selling but it is interesting to read what they supposedly used.

 

And when I attended my last Bassmaster Classic the guy from Mississippi State showed me Berkley's test on line stretch. Would you believe the fluorocarbon had more stretch than the mono. I was surprised. But I still use fluorocarbon and copoly the most and sometimes mono for crankbaits.

 

Use whatever you have confidence.

Yes, I would believe this.  Not only from reading TT's comparisons, but from my own limited experience.  Naturally not all fluorocarbons are alike...just like not all monos are alike.  The fluoro I was using stretched like a rubber band.

On 9/28/2018 at 8:39 AM, Catt said:

 

One of the biggest complaints about Big Game is it "coils".

 

What I've personally experienced is the more often I go fishing the less it coils.

I have also found this to be true.  Let BG sit a few weeks on a reel and not only does it coil a lot, but gives me loose coils on the spool for the first few casts.  Siege coils like a slinky, but doesn't give me loose coils on the spool in the same circumstance.  Both behave well once good and wet.

On 9/30/2018 at 9:08 AM, ratherbfishin1 said:

Exactly! There are times when I prefer to fish my m/xf with 12lb over any of the combos I have with braid.  People will say that’s not enough but I’ve never really had problems with it, if your getting a solid hookset from not too far away I think the whole “no stretch” thing is slightly overrated. Don’t get me wrong though, my designated jig rod has braid

I fish a lot of 12# mono and co-polymer.  It takes more pressure to break with a steady pull than what I would ever exert with a rod.  As far as no stretch, I have to grin when I read fluoro has none.  I caught more fish during my teenage years than what I've caught since getting back into fishing in '09.  Trilene XL was the only line I used back then.  I've caught plenty of fish up to a little over 10 lbs. on 4# mono....35 lbs. on 8# mono.  No problem.  Salt water guys do even better. 

[J Francho]

18 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I've caught plenty of fish up to a little over 10 lbs. on 4# mono....35 lbs. on 8# mono.  No problem.  Salt water guys do even better.

Impressive line to weight ratios!  My best is a 22# brown trout on 8# mono (Siege) mainline and 4# (Seaguar Blue Label) leader.  There were five knots employed in the terminal rig, four Uni and one Palomar.

[new2BC4bass]

8 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Impressive line to weight ratios!  My best is a 22# brown trout on 8# mono (Siege) mainline and 4# (Seaguar Blue Label) leader.  There were five knots employed in the terminal rig, four Uni and one Palomar.

I am impressed with the number of knots.    That is some good tying.  Oh, and a great fish.

 

On 9/30/2018 at 9:08 AM, Boomstick said:

 

I too prefer mono, fluoro or copoly on a casting reel. I only use 40# braid on my MH/F rod because I fish hollow body frogs with it, and once I get a dedicated frogging rod, I will put 15 or 15lb fluorocarbon or mono on that. Straight mono or fluro is just easier and quicker to rig up.

 

I am Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon this year on my other casting rod and with a uni knot, I've not had any issues other than I fish mostly from shore which is shallower water and I tend to drag my baits along the bottom at times. It almost seems like mono would be a better choice as it would get me near the bottom, and occasionally hitting the bottom and then I could use topwater on the same rod too.

 

For mono, I would suggest Sufix Siege. It has less memory and is much more abrasion resistant than other mono lines I've used and I think it has a little less stretch to it as well. I find it easily worth the extra price imo as I used it a lot last year and have it on one of my kid's reels as well and we've had no issues at all.

Why would you say that?  Unless you always use a leader.  I don't and use a Uni Knot for everything so no difference in time rigging up.

[J Francho]

I have a theory about the number of knots.  Even if you are lowering the break strength by a certain amount, you're spreading the stress across more than just one knot, lowing the amount of stress on each knot.  Maybe that's wrong thinking, but it makes sense to me.  At any rate, catching large salmonoids on light line has taught me quite a bit about what line can take and what it can't.  It's a the sharp spikes in pressure that cause the failure most often, for example hook sets. 

[Choporoz]

19 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I have a theory about the number of knots.  Even if you are lowering the break strength by a certain amount, you're spreading the stress across more than just one knot, lowing the amount of stress on each knot. 

First time in over 30 years that I am sorry I failed Statics.   Logic seems flawed, but I can't begin to explain why.  However, when you consider the shock stress, vice steady pull, it sounds more plausible.  I'm sure there's more than a couple engineers standing by to set us straight.

[J Francho]

24 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I'm sure there's more than a couple engineers standing by to set us straight.

Yeah, I think we need a "measurebator"

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Choporoz said:

However, when you consider the shock stress, vice steady pull, it sounds more plausible.  I'm sure there's more than a couple engineers standing by to set us straight

 

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

Yeah, I think we need a "measurebator"

 

That's the basic issue I have all these tests for stretch, knot strength, abrasion resistance. Every test done is with one end of the line attached to an immovable object & the other end attached to some mechanical device that applies for more pressure than my hook set.

 

When I set hook that bass moves either towards me or away from me. The Big Game starts to stretch at the same time my rod is starting to flex.

 

It all works in unison ?

 

Like @J Francho stated I know 15# Berkley Big Game, I know how it'll react under pretty much any scenario.

[Tennessee Boy]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

I have a theory about the number of knots.  Even if you are lowering the break strength by a certain amount, you're spreading the stress across more than just one knot, lowing the amount of stress on each knot.  

So,  lets say you have a chain and you notice that one of the links in the chain is damaged and clearly weakned by the damage.  Would it help to damage some more links in the chain?

[Boomstick]

10 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

I am impressed with the number of knots.    That is some good tying.  Oh, and a great fish.

 

Why would you say that?  Unless you always use a leader.  I don't and use a Uni Knot for everything so no difference in time rigging up.

I use a uni knot for everything too except on braid where it'll be a uni or palomar depending what I feel like tying that day. What I should have said is for presentations like soft plastics where I'd always use a leader, it's easier to rig up.

[Eric J]

Great discussion and suggestions all. Thank you!