Is this situation "braid" worthy?

[jbmaine]

Last year I discovered Ned rigs and how well they worked on deep water smallies 20+ feet or more. I was using a Shimano Compri MF spinning rod with 6# yo zuri hybrid ultra soft line for this. I did well but never really felt exactly when the fish hit. It was more of a "feeling the line get heavy" kind of thing. I suspect there were a lot of hits I never felt.

 

Fast forward to today and I have a Avid AS69MLXF spinning rod coming my way, and think this would be a step up as a mostly Ned rig rod.

 

So, confession time. I am a total braid newby, have never used it. So my question is-- in the above situation-- would braid ( straight braid, no leader) give me a noticeably better feel for when a fish hits my Ned rig at depth? if so what kind, dia., etc. do you recommend? And if using braid, any downside to look out for?

                                                                                 Thanks

                                                                                          Jim

[Shimano_1]

I always use braid on my spinning gear.  I prefer spider wire stealth braid as it's cheap and has served me well. Easier to manage by a long shot and I will use the same spool of braid for 2 to 4 years vs every few months for any other line. If it were me I'd run 10 to 15 lb braid with a 6 foot or so leader of the line uve been using.  I prefer seaguar red label and have no clue about the yo zuri but if it's been working I'd keep using it. Yes it will absolutely let u detect more bites. Only thing to remember is it has no stretch or very little. I think ur on the right way of thinking and I'd at least give the braid a try. Good luck

[MickD]

Fishing as deep as you are, braid will make a very big difference in feeling bites, no matter what lure.  The length of the leader between a couple feet and 4-8 will not not diminish the sensitivity much, but will give a little stretch in the system which is good.  I use 4-5 feet of leader grade FC using double uni knots if the guides will allow, FG is they don't like the unis.  If you use too much leader it will end up on the reel, which often causes trouble.  Better to keep the knot out of the reel.

 

Regular line grade FC will work, but the leader grade is stiffer, tougher , and more abrasion resistant in my opinion.

[GeekOutdoors]

15# braid with 8 to 12# fluoro leader here for nedrig and dropshot.

[Scott F]

I use 8-10 lb braid with no leader. A ML rod has enough give that the little bit of stretch provided by a leader isn’t needed. Don’t overfill the spool. Line twist doesn’t show up as quickly with braid, but when it does, you’ll see the line wrap around the rod tip. When you get snagged, the no stretch makes it easier to pop your lure free. Hook sets are more sure with no stretch. I’m a big fan of light braid on all my spinning (and baitcast) rods

[Dwight Hottle]

I use 10 lb braid with a mono leader rather than fc to avoid the inherent problem of bad knots breaking. Use as light a leader as possible without creating problems with bigger fish. 6-12lb range should work well. Keep the leader on the short side like 18” to 24” if the leader knot hangs up in the tip or guides other wise you can use a leader up to the length of the rod. It’s good advise to keep the leader knot out of the reel. Like already mentioned the braid will greatly help you detect bites. You can use high visibility braid if your a line watcher. 

[d-camarena]

The walmart berkley solutions braid is really good, i was broke and bought it because it was cheap but its bee  just as good as any braid

[WRB]

Yo-Zuri Hybrid 6 lb line is .010 dia or equal to most brands 10 lb test. Line diameter matters with light weight jigs when trying to keepi touch, you lose contact if the line is too big in diameter. 

What weight jig are you using with a Ned worm? I wouldn't go over .008 dia with jigs 1/8 oz or lighter in water depths over 15'.

Braid it seems is popular but it floats creating a big belly in your line and you lose contact with the jig on the fall with our without a leader. The only advantage is it's small diameter to lb test. The disadvantage with a leader is 2 knots to fail.

I would go with straight 6 lb Seagar InvisX or Sunline Sniper FC line.

Tom

[GeekOutdoors]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Yo-Zuri Hybrid 6 lb line is .010 dia or equal to most brands 10 lb test. Line diameter matters with light weight jigs when trying to keepi touch, you lose contact if the line is too big in diameter. 

What weight jig are you using with a Ned worm? I wouldn't go over .008 dia with jigs 1/8 oz or lighter in water depths over 15'.

Braid it seems is popular but it floats creating a big belly in your line and you lose contact with the jig on the fall with our without a leader. The only advantage is it's small diameter to lb test. The disadvantage with a leader is 2 knots to fail.

I would go with straight 6 lb Seagar InvisX or Sunline Sniper FC line.

Tom

That makes sense ? Also, if you have an hard time running the line through the hook eye, its a good sign ! ?

[Jcj90]

I use 6lb trilene xl. I’ve also used 10-15lb braid but prefer mono.

[MickD]

21 pound test Hitena braid is .006 diameter.   If you want a low diameter braid.

[Lead Head]

Last I checked you could get kastking braid online for about $6 shipped. I use it on my spinning reel and while it's not the best, it definitely isn't trash. I suggest grabbing some and giving it a shot. If you don't like it, your only out $6. If you do you can keep fishing it or look into a more expensive 8 carrier line. I know you said no leader but if you watch videos on the FG knot and learn to tie it well, you will fail the knot to your lure before the FG gives.

 

I like 20lb but 10 or 15 will probably suit your needs better. I'm rarely fishing a ned that deep.

[jbmaine]

Thanks everyone,

 Really appreciate the great information.

                 Jim