Anyone use straight braid for everything?

[Boomstick]

I ran straight braid a couple of years ago with no issues, and occasionally tied on a leader.. The advantage is that you can fish things like a frog on your MH/F rod but the downside is you will want a medium moderate rod for cranking instead of a MH/MF, M/MF or maybe M/F to compensate for the lack of line stretch.

 

I still run straight braid on my H/F rod I use for frogs and jigs. It's actually a microguide rod so I can't tie on a leader, so I'm either running straight braid or in cases where a leader seems appropriate I just fish my other reel with 17lb fluorocarbon.

 

The only time I really would use a leader is more for presentation than worrying about the line being seen and around rocks when abrasion might become an issue (although rarely is) or in areas with fewer weeds.

[Dens228]

1 hour ago, BoatSquirrel said:

 

 

Do yall throw wacky senkos on straight braid?

I do.

[clemsondds]

I would love to find some studies where some guys go out and fish every day in same areas with same baits.  Rotating every other day between straight braid and braid/leader.  Do that for a week or two, and see if there's any differences.  anyone want to volunteer? haha

I would love to go straight braid...but as someone mentioned...confidence is key and I would always have that little doubt in the back of my head.  Thank you to all who have contributed so far!  Great thoughts! 

[Shimano_1]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

I would love to find some studies where some guys go out and fish every day in same areas with same baits.  Rotating every other day between straight braid and braid/leader.  Do that for a week or two, and see if there's any differences.  anyone want to volunteer? haha

I would love to go straight braid...but as someone mentioned...confidence is key and I would always have that little doubt in the back of my head.  Thank you to all who have contributed so far!  Great thoughts! 

Sounds to me like u have your doubts and I don't think any of us are going to remove that doubt. I would just use what you're confident in. Sometimes it's a pain but nothing worse than regret. Apparently it works for some and others like myself will never do it. 

[FrankN209]

straight braid for everything, except trout. 

[Dens228]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

I would love to find some studies where some guys go out and fish every day in same areas with same baits.  Rotating every other day between straight braid and braid/leader.  Do that for a week or two, and see if there's any differences.  anyone want to volunteer? haha

I would love to go straight braid...but as someone mentioned...confidence is key and I would always have that little doubt in the back of my head.  Thank you to all who have contributed so far!  Great thoughts! 

The beauty of fishing.  Use whatever you want!  No rules!

 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Use straight braid for all presentations(but not exclusively) wacky senko included. I also fish very clear waters 15+ visibility on the deeper lakes and can see bottom on lake I fish that only get 6-8 feet deep.

On the fishing braid against other person fishing FC wont work its not definitive test too many variables. I have fished side by side with both of us using FC and out fished that person and the other way around. I have used braid and out fished that person wasnt the line. 

I do fish the same lake day after day usually 35-40 hours a week ice out to ice on. Ill take braid only at times and FC only or a mix. Never have found a discernible difference in catch rate or size.

My most productive hour and 1/2 of fishing was with wacky senko and braid(well nanofil) one fish after another after another. With FC and wacky senko on same lake have not come close the the same catch rate.

 

[DINK WHISPERER]

I use braid on everything no leader. From 30lb on my top water setup to 65lb on my punching combo. 

[clemsondds]

so you guys that use it for everything, that includes finesse? (eg dropshot, ned rig...)  Again, just learning here...I know I have to choose for myself and have confidence...just trying to hear what everyone else is doing.  I have no friends that fish really...so this forum is the only way I get to bounce ideas of great fishermen... so thank you all for the advice and time! much appreciated! 

[PhishLI]

During reasonable weather above freezing I run straight braid on everything except big treble swimbait setups. Once I'm fishing near 32 degrees I switch to mono or copoly as it keeps the guides from freezing up for a bit longer because it doesn't hold water like braid does. I throw weedless wacky rigged stick baits on 30lb braid because my waters are super snaggy. I do just fine here. My son in law's home lake is super clear. He's only finesse fishes. He switched to braid last year and nothing changed with his numbers. Still has 15-20 bass days using regular PP 15lb green. I've had no problem catching there when fishing much heavier braid. Every now and then I'll spool up fluoro for it's feel with certain bottom baits, but that hasn't seemed to change much regarding outcome.

[LCG]

Use a leader most of the time. It's also about abrasion resistance and stretch factors too. Love the way braid behaves but also like a little stretch in the system. It's more of a personal preference thing. 

[DanielG]

I switched to braid last summer. So far so good. Probably won't go back. I don't use a leader. It doesn't seem to be an issue.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

so you guys that use it for everything, that includes finesse? (eg dropshot, ned rig...)  Again, just learning here...I know I have to choose for myself and have confidence...just trying to hear what everyone else is doing.  I have no friends that fish really...so this forum is the only way I get to bounce ideas of great fishermen... so thank you all for the advice and time! much appreciated! 

Yes braid or nanofil all I use for ned rigs, never have used FC.  In general choose braid for its sensitivity no stretch and way better line management over FC.

But you should always if possible try for yourself.

[Dens228]

10 hours ago, clemsondds said:

so you guys that use it for everything, that includes finesse? (eg dropshot, ned rig...)  Again, just learning here...I know I have to choose for myself and have confidence...just trying to hear what everyone else is doing.  I have no friends that fish really...so this forum is the only way I get to bounce ideas of great fishermen... so thank you all for the advice and time! much appreciated! 

I have only tried dropshotting a couple of times and used my cranking rod with 20 pound braid.  This upcoming season I'm going to use a spinning set up with 10 pound mono as I'm going to force myself to learn to dropshot.  I don't really have the patience for it but we'll see how it goes.  LOL

[Troy85]

I used straight braid until about 2 years ago, now I use leaders on everything except top water and punching rig.  I think I noticed an increase in catch rate, but at the same time I can't say if its at all related to the use of a leader, or if its just me improving in general.  My take on it is, I can see the braid in the water, so I know the bass can see the braid.  Whether or not the braid bothers the bass is a different story,I decide to play it safe and just tie on a fluro leader.  

 

The leader knot thru the guides is probably the worst part of the leader, and I'm terrible with knots so I've always been using the double uni.  I finally forced myself to learn the FG knot and the difference in night and day.  If you are going to use a leader, make yourself learn the FG knot, its by far the smoothest thru the guides.

[Dens228]

FWIW probably 80% of my fishing is in quarries where often you can see the bottom 10 feet down.  A while back I posted about using a jig in one, thinking I was snagged I paddled my yak over and saw I had hooked a bass that had wrapped my line around submerged roots of a tree stump about 8-10 feet down.  I was able to watch as I slowly applied pressure from right above and unwrapped it from around the snags and brought the bass in.  

 

The point of my story is that I was using straight 30 pound braid. This was in a quarry that many say is hard to fish but I have success there mainly due to fishing it a lot.   The visibility of braid certainly doesn't hurt my fishing there. 

[fin]

One reason I use a leader is in case I get hung up / snagged, I only leave behind a couple feet of line in the lake, as opposed to the hundreds of feet some of my fellow fishermen leave behind. I’ve seen line wrapped around herons, bald eagles, ospreys, ducks, etc. It’s a sad sight.

[Hook2Jaw]

Had a bass scoot off when my braid landed on top the water after I made a cast way past her.  Fish aren't line shy?  I disagree.  They don't get big by not being cautious and paranoid, I feel like half their brain says EAT and the other half is devoted to RUN.

 

I use braid for pitching, punching, and frogging.  Everything else is either mono, fluoro, copoly, or leadered with one of those.

[the reel ess]

I use straight 20# braid on both my spinning combos. I use 30# on my jig/T-rigs rod. I used to use a 15# mono leaders, but I started with straight braid in the heavy stuff and still caught big fish. So I'm trying to lose the belief that fish are really line shy. IDK, I may go back to a mono leader at some point. But I don't think you need 8' of it. A short one will do and it allows for easier retying. I've always used straight 50# on my frog rod.

 

I still use mono for my trebles, topwaters and spinner/buzzbaits.

[Columbia Craw]

Straight braid for three applications, punchin, swim jig and frogs.  Braid with a leader on all my spinning rods. I like the reduced line twist and small diameter.  Everything else is done with mono or floro.  

[Randy Price]

Straight braid.  No issues that I'm aware of. 

[Dens228]

33 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Had a bass scoot off when my braid landed on top the water after I made a cast way past her.  Fish aren't line shy?  I disagree.  They don't get big by not being cautious and paranoid, I feel like half their brain says EAT and the other half is devoted to RUN.

 

I use braid for pitching, punching, and frogging.  Everything else is either mono, fluoro, copoly, or leadered with one of those.

Scooted away because they saw the braid land on the surface or because the heard/felt the line slap hit the surface??

I don't know the answer but to play devils advocate braid, mono, flouro would have all caused the line slap on the surface. 

[WRB]

When braid is mentioned today it's super braid not Dacron braid that I learned to bass fish with. When monofilament line became popular for spinning reels and early free spool bait casters braid dissapeared from bass fishing for 20 years, everyone used mono.

When Spectra super small diameter braid hit the market bass anglers started using it, rod guides and reel level winds changed to accommodate braid to prevent cutting grooves. 

I tried super braid and disliked it for bass fishing and never really adopted it because of the need to add leaders using 2 knots. When I use braid it's direct, no leader.

Tom

[roadwarrior]

On 12/22/2019 at 9:02 AM, clemsondds said:

Just curious if anyone has switched to straight braid for all appliances with no leader.  

 

No, never...

 

I use  remnant Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leaders for three specific reasons:  I can break

it if necessary, abrasion resistance and visibility.

 

Note: If your knot is not PERFECT, it's not good enough.

 

 

  

[r3825]

15 rigs,  all straight braid,  and the 16th that's on it's way will be straight braid