Who Made The Switch To Mostly Braid On Bait Cast Reels ?

[ChrisD46]

Looking at my collection of Co-Poly , FC and Mono lines in different weights makes me think I could reduce  the number of bait cast reels I use if I switched to all braid main line + leaders (depending on the application) : #30 lb. braid : Top Water /  Treble Hook Lures , #40 lb. braid : T-Rigs , Football Jigs , Spinner / Chatter Baits , #50 lb. braid:  Pitching , Swim Jigs , Frogging . *Who has made the switch to mostly braid on their bait cast reels and is happy with the results  ? ... Any applications for bass where you absolutely hated braid  / braid + leader and went back to a non - braid main line ? Thanks in advance !

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Weird. I was that guy that had braid on every reel. Every lure, technique, everything was done using braid. I didn't hate it.

 

But I'm reverting back to multiple types of lines for various various presentations. Now I have mono, flouro, and braid. Theres just so many benefits to having different lines for different lures etc. For example cranking with 12lb flouro vs braid. Topwater with mono vs braid.

 

All braid isnt wrong, I've caught tons of fish. But with different line setups, I think you could catch more and after all, isnt that what we as bass fisherman are after, more and bigger bass?

 

[Dens228]

Being in a kayak and trying to limit my rods to 6-7 rods.........they are all braid.  Used to use leaders and didn't notice a difference. 

I do use a short mono leader on treble bait hooks because it's not as limp as braid and lessens hook fouling.   I even use braid on my only spinning reel that I use for wacky and dropshot. 

 

[Westcoast]

Im mostly braid to leader on all my outfits. But I do have a few reels with fluoro that I use for moving baits. Most of my leaders are mono as I like the way it ties knots and has that bit of stretch and I don’t think my fish care if they can see it or not. 

[Lmsmbassaddict]

I'm a braid + leader and fluorocarbon man myself. I haven't used mono other than to use for backing for a looong time. 

 

There are also so many advantages once you get confident using lighter braid then 65lb on casting gear. Maxcuatro is pretty small. I didn't realize how much smaller maxcuatro was and had to get used to it but what helped was it's a 4 carrier braid and doesn't tend to dig in. 

 

I use mostly casting gear and actually have to try to find rods with larger guides. .4 and higher give me more issues than .2. I've been using a long leader for a while now as well and the inertia seems to work out better. 

[ChrisD46]

7 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Weird. I was that guy that had braid on every reel. Every lure, technique, everything was done using braid. I didn't hate it.

 

But I'm reverting back to multiple types of lines for various various presentations. Now I have mono, flouro, and braid. Theres just so many benefits to having different lines for different lures etc. For example cranking with 12lb flouro vs braid. Topwater with mono vs braid.

 

All braid isnt wrong, I've caught tons of fish. But with different line setups, I think you could catch more and after all, isnt that what we as bass fisherman are after, more and bigger bass?

 

*Good reply - tell me a little bit more why you went back to mono for top water ? I ask because the trend is for more guys gong to braid for top water (i.e. ease of working baits / less tiring , better hook sets from a distance) .

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@ChrisD46 So for topwater, I still use braid on my frog rod. That's a given. But I have 2 topwater rods, 1 spooled with 15lb flouro, and the other spooled with 15lb big game mono.

 

The flouro rod is pretty much my buzzbait/fluke rod, it has a little stretch but not much and my topwater mono gets used for poppers, walking baits, ploppers, and prop baits. For me I always had an early hookset when it came to topwater and switching to a line with some stretch helped my hookup ratio tremendously.

 

If you can find it, it is totally worth watching. Mikey Balzz fishing on YouTube was explaining how he fishes topwater bites and alot of times when he gets a bite he completely stops and waits till he feels the fish. And he was throwing flouro or mono not sure, so I was like dang I need to try that. And i first swapped to the mono throwing prop baits and my hookup ratio was almost 1:1. No brainer for me. For me, it flat works

Also solved alot of my bent hook problems.

[Fin S]

I'm braid to leader on everything but my crankbait rod.

[Cgolf]

I do either straight braid or braid to leader on all my casting rods. I experimented with yo-zuri hybrid with the reel on my Avid X and I went from being able to tell the kind of weeds I was hung up on with braid by feel to the rod having less sensitivity than my ugly stick braid combo. That for me was enough to go back to braid, or spend less money on good rods;) For deep cranking weed edges knowing when you are starting to contact weed edges to keep from fouling the bait is helpful and I feel braid is needed for that.

 

That said if I ever crack the topwater code, I could see the yo-zuri hybrid being good for that, especially since you don't need the sensitivity to know you have been bit.

[Bird]

All moving baits see straight braid, baits like buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, ploppers etc.

Slow presentation baits and all finesse see a Flouro leader. 

 

I think where a person does most of their fishing can help persuade what line to use.

99.9 % of the lakes I fish are gin clear, I'm talking 20 ft visibility. 

 

Do bass see fishing line ? 

Is a heavily debated topic. Idk

 

Am I more confident if I can't see it ?

Yes

[DaubsNU1]

All my bait casters have has straight braid since the mid 1990's. Water pretty stained in this part of the country...visibility less than 3 feet. I still catch fish. 

 

I have one spinning rod with straight braid. Rest of my spinning rods have Trilene XL ranging from 6-10lb test.

 

Tried Floro on a spinning rod this summer...hate it. Holds memory, casts like crap. I might try a different brand. We will see. 

 

 

[Dens228]

6 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

All my bait casters have has straight braid since the mid 1990's. Water pretty stained in this part of the country...visibility less than 3 feet. I still catch fish. 

 

I have one spinning rod with straight braid. Rest of my spinning rods have Trilene XL ranging from 6-10lb test.

 

Tried Floro on a spinning rod this summer...hate it. Holds memory, casts like crap. I might try a different brand. We will see. 

 

 

I tried flouro on a couple of outings last year.  Couldn't stand it.  Maybe I would have liked it more if I spent more time with it but I couldn't find anything wrong with my braid to invest the time. 

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, Fin S said:

I'm braid to leader on everything but my crankbait rod.

I have jumped aboard this train, too!

Well, jerkbait rod, too.

 

[OnthePotomac]

I only have braid on my frog set up and it is 50lb Sufix 832 spooled on to a Curado 200I HG reel.  It works well.  No other of my reels has braid.

[Team9nine]

Didn't like braid on most any baitcast application except frogging and punching. Run fluoro on nearly all baitcasters, but braid on nearly all spinning outfits.

[swhit140]

I have 2 rods with mono then the rest are braid.

[sdsc357]

I fish the CA delta where the water is not the clearest. I am straight 50lb 832 braid for reaction baits (topwater, swimbait, lipless crankbait). I do use a 8 inch mono 12-15 lb big game leader for jerkbaits. I tried a mono leader for topwater for one season. Didn't notice any improvements to hook up ratio. Got tired of tying joining knots and went back to straight braid.

[J Francho]

I have braid loaded on as few setups as possible.  That means one spinning reel, and less than 6 casting reels.

[MN Fisher]

I only have braid on two of my BC rigs - none on any of my spinning rigs. So 2 of 10 rigs (13 if you include the shore-fishing rigs) have braid...rest are mono or hybrid.

[Big Hands]

I am in my experimental phase with braid, and the pendulum has definitely swung in that direction across the board with me. I have braid (with either fluoro or mono leaders; no straight braid at this time) on more outfits than straight fluoro and mono straight combined. So far, I like quite a bit about braid for most applications, especially on the spinning outfits. I'm pretty sure I'll stick to that for the long term, but not as sure with the baitcasters.

[Bankc]

I use braid on most of my rods.  The exception being fluoro on my crankbait rod and mono on my topwater.  Both of those need a bit more stretch to the line, and the stiffer line helps to keep the line from getting fouled up in the treble hooks.  For everything else, if I decide a mono or fluoro would be better, I tie on a leader.  Otherwise, I'm straight braid.

 

Also, I tend to prefer 15-30lb braid unless I'm fishing heavy cover.  

[suzuki2903]

Always been a braid user myself !  10lb on spinning outfits and 30 on bait casters but will use a 12 inch mono leader on treble hook applications to avoid the annoying hook tangle on the braid .  

[Big Rick]

Here's my $.02. And I'm sure that's all it's worth!  

 

I use flouro for crank bait. I use braid to leader on nearly everything else. I've tried all the combinations for the different techniques and have settled on this. 

 

Braid to flouro for my chatter baits, soft jerk baits, swim baits, and spinnerbaits

Braid to copolymer or mono for any topwater application other than frogging and buzz bait and that's straight braid. 

 

On topwater poppers and such I prefer to have a 3 ft leader of mono for the stretch and floating line. It also really helps with preventing the braid from tangling in the hooks on casts and walking actions, as already stated in a previous post. 

 

The most important factor I have learned is to have the right power and action in the rod for the technique I'm fishing. While line type does affect the bait action, depth and the ability to set the hooks, ultimately it's the parabolic bend of the rod that keeps fish hooked. The rod is also the most important factor on preventing bent/broken treble hooks. 

[waymont]

I'm all braid to leader on everything. I love it. I bring a bunch of filler spools of FC, Copoly, and mono and change leaders as needed, or go straight braid. Both spinning and casting.

[ChrisD46]

7 hours ago, Big Rick said:

Here's my $.02. And I'm sure that's all it's worth!  

 

I use flouro for crank bait. I use braid to leader on nearly everything else. I've tried all the combinations for the different techniques and have settled on this. 

 

Braid to flouro for my chatter baits, soft jerk baits, swim baits, and spinnerbaits

Braid to copolymer or mono for any topwater application other than frogging and buzz bait and that's straight braid. 

 

On topwater poppers and such I prefer to have a 3 ft leader of mono for the stretch and floating line. It also really helps with preventing the braid from tangling in the hooks on casts and walking actions, as already stated in a previous post. 

 

The most important factor I have learned is to have the right power and action in the rod for the technique I'm fishing. While line type does affect the bait action, depth and the ability to set the hooks, ultimately it's the parabolic bend of the rod that keeps fish hooked. The rod is also the most important factor on preventing bent/broken treble hooks. 

*So essentially you still favor FC line for crank baits - is that mainly to help get the crank baits down deeper , for better feel or both ?