Braid On Everything?

[dodgeguy]

2 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Hi, I'm Tim. Nice to meet you. 

Love it.

[GreenPig]

All spinning reels gets braid to leader and my frog rods are straight braid. Everything else is a mix of FC & mono. Not a fan of the knot clicking through the guides on my casting rods.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Hi, I'm Tim. Nice to meet you. 

Sorry I offended you, wasn't my goal.    That said, I've never met a serious Bass fisherman who used only braid.     I've also said many times on here there is no hard and fast rules to Bass fishing.   

 

I'm glad braid works for you

[LonnieP]

I only like braid for frogs.

[LCG]

Use to be braid to leader for the longest time. Last two years I have tried different lines and now have coploymer (p line c21 and yo Zuri hybrid) on my set ups. Think I have changed my preference to copolymer line in general. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

There isnt a right or wrong answer, it all comes down to preference.  PE lines alone really vary in how they handle and fish.  Then you have fusions and unifilaments that I think aren't technically braids but fall under that as a generalized term.  

I favor braid over FC 4:1 for spinning gear and I favor FC/mono over braid 4:1 for casting gear just because of where and how I fish.  If I were to fish larger deeper lakes, I would use more FC on spinning gear.  I like FC over braid for casting gear because I like a little give in the line and I feel like braid is louder in cover, especially wood.

[SproDD79]

I like braid to leader for most applications. When it comes to deep cranking, the entire spool has 10 or 12 lb Abraz X . 

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sorry I offended you, wasn't my goal.    That said, I've never met a serious Bass fisherman who used only braid.     I've also said many times on here there is no hard and fast rules to Bass fishing.   

 

I'm glad braid works for you

No offense taken, or intended. I was just clowning around, but also making the point that braid works well for a lot more than some would have us believe.

[Triptych]

I have straight braid on everything. I bought a 3000yd spool of 30lb chartreuse j-braid grand because it was on sale. Put it on all my reels. I used to black sharpie the last 3 feet or so but I have gotten lazy and have not been doing it and I still get bit.

 

My theory is that fish don't run away from strings lol (think about it... All the broken fishing line in the water, the hair algae, dead plant stems..it's all a part of their environment now.) The ones that want to bite will bite, the ones I gotta work for by using 6lb mono/fluoro aren't worth my time unless I'm not getting bit at all.

[APK62]

Two Cal guys Don Iovino (Maxmia)and Rick Tauber (Izorine) do very well with Mono and Co-poly.

[Motoboss]

Spectra Braid on everything. Soft as silk and limp as,,,,,,,,well you name it!

A flro leader on a drop shot and maybe on crystal clear water dead stick rigs is about it for me.

[new2BC4bass]

On 9/29/2022 at 11:39 AM, Jar11591 said:

Braid and treble hooks is an absolute no-go for me. Braid on spinning reels is also an absolute no-go. Frogs, flipping and pitching, spinnerbaits, and jigs are what I use braid for. These are just preferences. A lot of bass fishermen and members here use only braid. You may find that you like it. 

Kind of surprised as a lot of people swear by the benefits of braid on spinning reels.

On 9/29/2022 at 11:48 AM, Jar11591 said:

I think I’m definitely in the minority when it comes to no braid on spinning reels. I tried it for half a season, and just couldn’t get on board with it. Ended up going back to Yo-Zuri Hybrid on all my spinning reels. 

I do have braid on 3 spinning reels, but have to admit I prefer mono or co-polymers since that is what I used growing up.

 

T-Billy:  Those are some very nice fish, but I can guarantee they all would have weighed several ounces more If you'd been using a co-polymer instead of braid. 

[softwateronly]

I'm braid to leader or straight braid.  Made that switch 15 ish years ago and have stayed with it.  Works for me.  I think as my rod/reel arsenal increased I bought rods w/ actions and powers that worked best with my line choices.  My biggest downside is windy days on cold cold water.  Frozen guides are terrible.  FG and SDJ knots usually, modified alberto and palomar when appropriate.  

 

scott

[Kdizzle]

Once you actually put in the time to correctly tie knots, especially the FG with heavier line connections, you realize that braid to leader has advantages that far outweigh any of its downsides.  

[MickD]

Not all braid is the same.  The new 8 carrier braids (and more than 8 in some cases) are smoother, smaller diameter, and less apt to dig in than the cheaper 4 carrier braids.  Since it lasts so long the price is not as big an issue as it at first seems to be.  My favorite braid is Hitena Pure Line.  I use 19 pound test for a spin rig on which I want lots of line since it is so small in diameter (bonefish/baracuda).  But other 8 and above carrier lines are very good too.  

My fresh water finnesse rigs are usually 10 - 15 pound test with 8 - 15 leaders.

 

 

For baitcasting most like 30 or above just to get a larger diameter.  

[mcipinkie]

You my man, T-Billy!

 

I thought I was the only one around that hadn't drank the fluorocarbon Kool-Aid.  Full disclosure - I drank it, but spit it out.

 

100% braid for me.  Big Game leaders 6 - 25 lb. test as, and when needed.  4 ft. - 15 ft. as needed.

 

If I go to Table Rock or Bull Shoals, I might consider long FC leaders, but not in western Missouri.

[Bankbeater]

These days I only use braid for punching.

[ErieCan]

I switched to mostly fluorocarbon. I fish clear water and submerged off shore grass. I used to used braid to leader but there's two reasons I stopped.

 

One - I got sick of tying on leaders. 

Two - I long cast to and drag through and along grass flats and isolated clumps. Sometimes with unpegged texas rigs. So there's going to be slack line. Fluorocarbon will transmit vibration on a slack line. You can especially feel it with a good rod like a Steez AGS. I've cought way more fish since the switch. For pitching in flipping into thick grass, I will still use braid. 

[Bankc]

I'm braid on everything but one.  And I'll probably switch that over to braid next.  

 

However, I only fish stained water and abrasion isn't really a problem.  

[gim]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:18 AM, T-Billy said:

but also making the point that braid works well for a lot more than some would have us believe.

Are those muskie biting your braid off?  In your last post in the reports thread you stated that you got bit off a couple times.

[Str8BraidPowa]

I love braid fishing, but after having so many issues with connection knots breaking and getting caught in eye's causing over runs. I fish straight braid on my frog and punch setup, and flouro on my bottom contact rods. Wish I could go back to straight braid on bottom contact, but my fishing partner was regularly kicking my but with his flouro even though we were fishing the same jig and trailer. Do what you like but straight braid works no doubt just not what I am using these days.

[WRB]

Just to repeat myself for the hundredth time braid with a leader requires 2 knots.

Straight braid or Mono and FC requires 1 knot.

Where I fish bass are so pressured they avoid straight braid in clear rocky structure lakes during day light. The bass also tend to avoid larger lures unless feeding on stocked trout and that doesn’t happen anymore. 

Heavy line is 12 # FC, finesse small soft plastics 8 # FC is heavy line. Go any larger line you spend a lot of time fishing in lieu of catching bass.

Up north the Delta and Clear Lake with heavy cover straight braid works good and 15# to 25# FC or mono works. Where you fish matters.

Heavier line and braid tend to work around shore cover, lighter line and FC/mono for off shore finesse.

Gotto get bit and detect strikes to catch bass regardless of the size.

Tom

[T-Billy]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

Are those muskie biting your braid off?  In your last post in the reports thread you stated that you got bit off a couple times.

Yep. 40# 832. Toothy critters have taken two lipless, and a chatterbait from me in the past month. Had a good one on a chatterbait come unbuttoned at boatside this morning before daylight. Not a monster, but over 40".

[gim]

1 minute ago, T-Billy said:

Yep. 40# 832.

That's exactly what was happening to me last season too.  Same exact line in 40 pound test.  I know its against your religion to use fluorocarbon, but you should consider using 30 pound Seaguar Blue Label as a leader.  I started doing that this season and haven't been bit off once yet.

 

Losing lures started to get really old.  Plus I wanted to start catching those fish too.

[T-Billy]

24 minutes ago, gimruis said:

That's exactly what was happening to me last season too.  Same exact line in 40 pound test.  I know its against your religion to use fluorocarbon, but you should consider using 30 pound Seaguar Blue Label as a leader.  I started doing that this season and haven't been bit off once yet.

 

Losing lures started to get really old.  Plus I wanted to start catching those fish too.

We'll see how Berkley Blue Label does. I ordered a spool of 30# XT. Couple Yum Flash Mob Jr's too. The surface temp is down to 62 and the weather man says the cooling trend should continue. I'm gonna start spending some time with the A-Rig next week.