Question for guys who fish straight floro/mono, why do you?

[The Maestro]

For the places and the ways that I like to fish, i run straight braid on everything. The odd time that I may be dropdropshotting is the only time I'll run a flouro leader.

[Mike L]

Braid...Punching, Frogging and on top

Flouro...Everything else

Mono...Hang pictures on the wall

Leaders...Only for salt water fishing
 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

All 3 line types have there place ?

 

Braid; frigging & punching 

Monofilament; everything else 

Fluorocarbon; trash can

 

Berkley Big Game 15# 

 

Frigging FC

[DitchPanda]

Only thing I personally like braid for is frogging... don't like the digging in\ casting issues with braid plus I fish a lot of rip rap and feel braid gets tore up bad around rock..if I fished more grass id use more braid..cranking and topwater I use mono...and use copoly for everything else...I'm not a fluoro guy either..I've also never done leaders for the reason of I've not needed to so why have another failure point

[crypt]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

When the bass exceed the line lb test of the line knots become an issue. Braid offers nothing in sensitivety and mono doesn't strecth under fishing pressure loads. Set your drag and trust your rod and reel to perform.

I have caught hundreds of DD bass using mono with jigs casting over 100' in water over 15' deep.

Bottom line is what you have confidence using.

Tom

Tom said it best..........confidence.....same reason I use mono..........

[TnRiver46]

Braid makes everything take longer, even without a leader. No need for knife or scissors with mono. Leaders take up time. No line lasts forever, if you are switching lures it all gets too short at the same rate. If I make a list of pros and cons, it's all cons for braid except no stretch for fishing heavy grass . All cons and only one pro, no thanks. 

[fissure_man]

I think the ‘2 knots’ argument against leaders is overblown. If you’re not confident that you can tie two knots in succession that will withstand the loads you put on them, you need to tie better knots or change your equipment (drag setting, line type/strength). Regardless of the number of knots you tie, breakoffs should be a very rare occurrence because there’s no need to test the absolute limit of the line/knot strength. I use leaders frequently and I don’t remember the last time I broke off a fish at the leader knot – almost all breakoffs for me (other than snags and pike bite-offs) happen when I’m using light line and being lazy, not retying frequently enough. On paper, my inclusion of a leader knot adds another potential point of failure, but if it’s never failing in practice, does it matter?

 

A hypothetical knot might achieve 70% of the line’s “un-knotted” strength, with a standard deviation of 10% (assume normal distribution). For 10 lb test, that would be 7 lb knot strength with a standard deviation of 1 lb.  If you tie one of these knots and then load it to 7 lb, you have a 50% chance of that knot failing.  If you tie two of those knots and apply the same load, you have a 75% chance of failure.  Adding the second knot in this case increased the odds of failure by a factor of 1.5 - not twice as likely, but certainly a considerable difference.

 

However alarming the above may seem, tying fewer knots is not an effective solution (even the single knot case failed 50% of the time). Instead, just use a strong enough line for your application and set your drag appropriately. Using the same example and parameters as above, if you change the maximum load to 3.5 lb (i.e. by setting your drag) the likelihood of failure drops to around 0.025% for 1 knot, 0.050% for 2 knots.  At this point our failure rates are differing by a factor of 2, but the magnitude of the difference is trivial (0.025%).  2 times as likely as something that is very rare…. is still very rare.  (i.e. buying two lottery tickets doubles your chances of winning, but I still wouldn't count on winning)

 

Bottom line for me – tie good knots, retie frequently (doesn’t matter how strong your knot is if you’ve abraded the line above it to a thread), know your weakest link, and don’t overload it. No issue with preferring mono or flouro mainlines for some applications; I do it myself.  But the justification shouldn’t be a fear of knot strength IMO.

[TnRiver46]

^theres another reason not to use braid/leader. Math and statistics are involved. If I have to consider standard deviation while fishing, then I'm doing it wrong 

[kayaking_kev]

Off topic a bit, but since we're talking about line. Is there a line that the T-Wing system from Daiwa likes or doesn't like before I spool them up? Thanks!

[RichF]

I use all types of lines depending on what the cover is and what bait I'm using.  I'm not a fan of leaders but do use them occasionally.  I found that running the leader knot through the guides of the rod over and over will eventually weaken it (especially under the strain of fighting a fish).  Yes, you should retie often, but I would rather not waste the time on the water so I either don't use them or make them short enough that they never reach the guides.

 

You can throw any lure on any type of line and it will "work", it may just not be the best/most efficient for the job.

[Tennessee Boy]

t = time required to tie a knot

2t = time required to tie two knots

2t > t

[OCdockskipper]

I like mono for many of my baitcasting applications, but am not locked into it.  However, for spinning applications, there is no comparison between braid or superlines and mono as far as ease of use, casting distance, etc.

 

For my spinning gear, I use Nanofil & FC leaders because I fish clear waters.  It does take more time to prep the night before having to tie leader knots, but my experience is it results in more bites (on my lake). 

 

I don't mind the extra time leaders cause me to have to fight & unhook fish.?

[J Francho]

For years, we used mono because that's all we had.  There were times when it wasn't the best.  For those times, we other choices.  For times when those other choices in line types aren't better, I keep using what always worked.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

The best use for mono is as backing for the better lines, braid & FC

 

[Fishes in trees]

Remembering the advice of my old grumpy shop teacher, "Use the right tool for the job!"  I sometimes use mono, sometimes braid and often fluorocarbon.   I don't always guess right, and there is something to be said for experimentation, so that is why I use all 3.  Explaining the "logic" (if that is what it is ) behind my various line choices for various applications, and why I might want to experiment, would make this post excessively long.

[ChrisD46]

For spinning I like Braid + Leader (usually FC or Co-Poly of #4lb. to #10 lb. line size)

Braid + Leader (mono) for topwater

Braid for punching / frogging

FC for jigs or bottom contact applications

Co-Poly or Mono for crank baits (most use FC line for cranks but I fish pretty cranks shallow so I get by without FC line).

[813basstard]

Moving baits get mono

Semi heavy stuff gets FC

Heavy stuff gets 65 Braid

 

No leader. No secret knots. 
Pair of pliers, jug of water and I’m good

[rdj735]

I like fluorocarbon for slow, bottom-contact lures, because I'm a line-watcher, and it seems as though its sinking properties give a more direct path from rod to lure vs braid or mono I've tried. That being said, I'm gonna try some co-polymer stuff this season to see if a different sinking line could offer that same advantage. I typically use mono when the lure is being reeled continuously. To answer the OP's question, I'm with others in that I don't like the second knot. Not only is it a weak point, but I just can't get over the sound of it going through the guides.

[Bluebasser86]

It's the best tool for the job for me. Braid sucks in the wind, something we have a ton of here. Combine heavy wind with a slack line presentation, it's terrible.

[Hammer 4]

I did the braid with leader thang some years ago, for about a year. What I found was, there was No improvement in my catching fish, what I did experience was a loss of a 20.00 lure from the fc snapping during a cast, which was likely my fault. After that day, no more leaders. 

 

Braid..froggin, flippin and punching.

I have 1 spinning rig with fc, and 1 baitcaster with fc,  for bottom work. All my other rigs are filled with mono. Once the fc wears out, those rigs will get spooled with ...you guessed it, Mono.

[Dvo509]

I use braid to fluoro on all my drop shot and Ned rig applications. I like straight fluoro for jig fishing,swimbaits, crankbaits, and chatterbaits. Straight braid for frogging, punching, and heavy duty jigs. I still use straight mono when deadsticking weightless senkos because I 100% watch my slack line and mono tends to float and give it a slower sink rate that has always worked for me. This is how I use my line but I am always up for changes and tweaks. 

[Glaucus]

Because there's only one knot and not everything works well with straight braid.

[4reelfishing]

I am braid to mono leader guy.  That being said I use straight mono on my crankbait/spinnerbait rod because braid to mono doesn't help in that situation.  Wacky rig I sometimes go straight mono as well.

 

Straight braid for frogging.   

[boostr]

When I'm bank fishing and only limited to bringing three rods I do the braid to flouro or mono. In my boat I have a rod for each specific technique I use so they have straight flouro, mono or braid the exception being my spinning rod that I use for Neko/Wacky/Ned/ hard jerk baits that will get braid to Flouro because for visibility and also cause the cover changes so much when I'm throwing Neko/Ned/Wacky from grass to rock to wood or all three at the same time. Especially when I'm skipping under docks.

[Jigsaw 2/8]

I shy away from braid to leader as much as I can. just an extra knot to break... I've blown the money on berkley #12nanofil to a #8sunline leader, but still was breaking off at the leader knot. I have never broke off fish with #6sunline straight fluoro.