High vis braid for finesse bass?

[Darth-Baiter]

i have never snapped braid off on a fish.  ever.

 

 

[PTasker15]

10 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

i have never snapped braid off on a fish.  ever.

 

 

I'll give her a shot then. Texas can be nasty but again when it does get nasty, I have heavier rigs.

[BrianMDTX]

@PTasker15 I use a leader so I can break it off if needed. I’d rather snap the knot at the hook on a snag with mono that trying to break 20 lb. braid. Plus, I find it much easier to tie knots on terminal tackle with mono vs braid. 
 

I carry a small spool of 6 or 8 lb. mono with me and I use a Lefty Kreh leader knot, which I can tie in my sleep, so changing out leaders takes 60 seconds. 

[Bigassbass]

I don't like braid but I made an exception with my Miravel spinning reel, it needs all the help it can get so the braid will cast far and of course not break.  Still don't like it will take it off when the color wears off. And what's the point of using braid if you like the feel of mono on the end of the line, just tie on all mono and forget about it.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

10lb braid is more than enough, it breaks at about 15lbs and casts much better then 15 or 20.  Theres nothing wrong with not using a leader, but if you can tie a connection knot, a leader provides some serious advantages.  Since the vast majority of braid floats its not ideal for tying direct to finesse baits.  FC and mono help the bait move more naturally, especially lighter baits.  A leader also protects the mainline from abrasion, allows you a breakaway point in case you snag, and preserves the mainline from constant retie deductions.  Its hard to say where or when the fish may be line shy, but I cant see a leader doing anything but helping the situation.  

Most of my small FW reels only have 60 or 70 yards of braid on top of the backing.  Odds are you're not going to cast farther then 30 yards, and its really only the first 15 yards that see the most wear.  Once the line start to wear out and get ropey, I just reverse the braid, pulling it off and tying the used end to backing and respooling it.  That way there is very little wasted line.  When you use a whole filler spool 120-150 yards, the majority of line will never see the light of day, even if you reverse the braid, there's still 50 yards of line that never gets used.

[PTasker15]

8 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

10lb braid is more than enough, it breaks at about 15lbs and casts much better then 15 or 20.  Theres nothing wrong with not using a leader, but if you can tie a connection knot, a leader provides some serious advantages.  Since the vast majority of braid floats its not ideal for tying direct to finesse baits.  FC and mono help the bait move more naturally, especially lighter baits.  A leader also protects the mainline from abrasion, allows you a breakaway point in case you snag, and preserves the mainline from constant retie deductions.  Its hard to say where or when the fish may be line shy, but I cant see a leader doing anything but helping the situation.  

Most of my small FW reels only have 60 or 70 yards of braid on top of the backing.  Odds are you're not going to cast farther then 30 yards, and its really only the first 15 yards that see the most wear.  Once the line start to wear out and get ropey, I just reverse the braid, pulling it off and tying the used end to backing and respooling it.  That way there is very little wasted line.  When you use a whole filler spool 120-150 yards, the majority of line will never see the light of day, even if you reverse the braid, there's still 50 yards of line that never gets used.

How can I measure so I can get the right amount of backing without wasting braid? My reel doesnt say the capacity for 10lb braid or 8lb test mono

[dodgeguy]

9 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

braid is so thin.

 

i use 20lb suffix in that ghost color.  i dont know why they just didnt call it white, or casper's butt.  its white.  i use a 10lb flouro leader.  i just tied my best FG knot yesterday in my garage and freshened up the leader.  my leader is about 6" long.  allows me to trim and retie several times out on the water.  honestly, my Alberto knot is very reliable and i use it just as often.  i can tie the Alberto without my reading glasses.   

 

only down side which is sometimes a good side is that it is VERY slow sink line.  i lays on the water surface somewhat and drops down to my weight.  as you can imagine, i dont have complete tactile contact with my bait.  BUT it is white and it is very obvious when a bass grabs on..the line drops quick.  having said that, i cast out my dropshot and finesse.  as far as i typically can.  and i work it back.  on the work-back i have the tactile feel back.  

 

i think finesse it is crucial for me to see the line.  so many of my hits are undetected anyways.  bass grab on at the splash, etc.  seeing the move is the key to reeling into the fish.

 

i just found some braid that is PINK. my eyes see pink the best.  my arrow fletching are pink.  plus casper's butt gets so ugly when it is so dirty at the end of season.

what about in a hard snag?  a leader at least lets you break it off at a strategic point.  

 

my ocean fishing buddy's say straight braid is a bad idea.  bait 150 feet down, wrapped around some old spanish armada remains...  40 feet on a drop shot, nice to be able to lean into it and lose the last few feet only. 

 

you just straighten your hook?   

I wrap it around a foot long 1 inch diameter dowel and pull. Usually you will brake a hook.

[Darth-Baiter]

30 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

I wrap it around a foot long 1 inch diameter dowel and pull. Usually you will brake a hook.

ahh...i cant do that in a kayak.  it would just pull me into the snag..or flip me.  

 

thanks.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

3 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

How can I measure so I can get the right amount of backing without wasting braid? My reel doesnt say the capacity for 10lb braid or 8lb test mono

Ive gotten pretty good at eying it, especially with the 2500 LT spools.  The other way is to reverse spool, which ive never tried.  

Go out any buy some 12lb big game or something you can actually use and use that as backing.  Since 10lb braid is so thin you will want to almost completely fill the spool with mono, then add the braid.  If you run out of room and dont have enough line on the spool then open the bail and wrap the braid back on the filler spool with your hand and take the appropriate amount of backing off.  

You can get a rough idea of how much braid you're putting on by counting the number of times you crank the reel multiplied by the inches per turn, then convert it to ft or yards.  Since the diameter of the spool is changing slightly as more line is put on, its just a ballpark figure.

[WRB]

Pick a color that “you” can see easily under your fishing conditions. 

I wouldn’t go less then 10 lb braid for bass fishing.

Tom

PS, Fins Spin5 yellow works, 10#=.004D & 15#=.006D.

[padon]

i use 10 to 15 pound bekley x0 braid. florescent yellow. you can use flouro or mono leader. its up to you. the leader is so i can break off if needed. usually 8 or 10 pound.the low stretch of braid helps your rod fish a little stiffer for better hook sets, i like a long leader about 15 feet so i can break off a couple times and not have to retie a leader. our water is pretty clear, 3 to 12 feet of visibility depending on season.

[PTasker15]

15 hours ago, padon said:

i use 10 to 15 pound bekley x0 braid. florescent yellow. you can use flouro or mono leader. its up to you. the leader is so i can break off if needed. usually 8 or 10 pound.the low stretch of braid helps your rod fish a little stiffer for better hook sets, i like a long leader about 15 feet so i can break off a couple times and not have to retie a leader. our water is pretty clear, 3 to 12 feet of visibility depending on season.

On a good day our visibility is 3 foot

[padon]

Just now, PTasker15 said:

On a good day our visibility is 3 foot

yeah you got no worries then.

[Reel]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:09 AM, PTasker15 said:

I do not care about visibility when the color white will always disappear after about 3 foot deep. But, we do have some nasty rocks and wood in some places I do fish, and I know from experience braid cuts extremely easily under tension when it runs against something sharp.

How much backing should I add? 3000 size reel so it could probably take 250yds of 10lb braid which would not be very cheap for me.

I use what is indicated on the spool.  Like for a Vanford 2500, the spool says 150 yards/meters of 0,25 dia. line.  That means that 50 yards of 8 pound mono backing (that has a diameter of 0,25) and 100 yards of 20 pound braid will about fill it.  With deep reels like a 3000, I use more mono backing I don't want to use more than about 100 yards of braid on a reel.

[PTasker15]

On 5/9/2023 at 8:10 PM, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Ive gotten pretty good at eying it, especially with the 2500 LT spools.  The other way is to reverse spool, which ive never tried.  

Go out any buy some 12lb big game or something you can actually use and use that as backing.  Since 10lb braid is so thin you will want to almost completely fill the spool with mono, then add the braid.  If you run out of room and dont have enough line on the spool then open the bail and wrap the braid back on the filler spool with your hand and take the appropriate amount of backing off.  

You can get a rough idea of how much braid you're putting on by counting the number of times you crank the reel multiplied by the inches per turn, then convert it to ft or yards.  Since the diameter of the spool is changing slightly as more line is put on, its just a ballpark figure.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot, and Ill buy 300yds of 8lb mono for leader so ill use it as backing anyways.

[Dye99]

I think after all these years Ive finally gotten to the point where I love braid to leader rigs.

Chasing smallmouth in clear water its a necessity. 

I prefer 10, and 15lb sufix 832 hi viz yellow to 8lb flouro leader. The largest Ive pulled in was a bit shy of 7 pounds with no issues.

 

I do run straight 30lb on my frog rod and whopper plopper rigs though.

[papajoe222]

I began using hi-viz braid on the combos I let the kids use. It was/is a lot easier to see when line watching. The kids catch on quickly and I found that it was much easier to watch that line than fluoro, mono, or regular braid. I've since switched my jig, worm and finesse combos over to hi-viz braid mainline and fluoro leader. I currently only use Suffix on my C-rig and deep jig combo and the jig rod is straight braid.