Question to the Yoda's of jig fishing about braid to floro fishing line for jigs

[CDMTJager]

Was wondering for the members here who have mastered the art of jig fishing, do you use braided line on you baitcasters and use a fluorocarbon or mono leader and if yes why do you do it and if no why don't you do it?

[Team9nine]

1 minute ago, CDMTJager said:

 do you use braided line on you baitcasters and use a fluorocarbon or mono leader and if yes why do you do it and if no why don't you do it?

No (straight fluoro), unless I was punching heavy mats or maybe cattails/tules, etc., then straight braid, no leader. There’s no advantage to a leader in that latter situation, IMO.

[KP Duty]

Straight fluorocarbon for me.  It offers the best slack line sensitivity and I don't have to screw with leaders/knots running through my guides.

[WRB]

I use Seaguar Tatsu, Sunline Shooter and Daiwa Samurai premium Fluorocarbon line, no braid unless fishing heavy cover.

Tom

[Bass Rutten]

Disclaimer: I'm not a master jig fisherman and more like an ewok than yoda, but I've figured out what works for me, for now. For thick heavy mats/pads straight braid, I don't do this much anymore. For everything else I use 10-15lb yozuri hybrid, I find co-polymers to be at least as abrasion resistant with stronger knots than the fluoros I've tried. I fish light to moderate cover in mostly stained to muddy waters, and it's all very short range pitching/roll target casting with jigs for me so the sensitivity and visibility difference between fluoro and copoly are both negligible and a non-issue.

[Jig Man]

Straight fluorocarbon for me on jigs.

[casts_by_fly]

I fish straight braid on swim jigs, straight mono when throwing swim/vibrating/pitching jigs.  I like braid in the grass where I mostly fish swim jigs, but also have no issues with straight mono.  It just depends what all I'm throwing on the full set of rods.  I don't throw braid to leader on a baitcaster.

 

<also not a jig yoda>

[Siebert Outdoors]

I use straight flouro or straight braid.  I never blend the two.

[Catt]

Monofilament or Flourcarbon for everything but punching.

 

I use leaders in saltwater but they're usually steel.

[softwateronly]

Not a jigmaster yoda or even an ewok, but I use braid to leader, 30lb & 50lb to 16lb fc shock leader.  I've adopted braid as my mainline on everything.  It's so much easier and cheaper for me to play around with leaders or not, than to spool up different line or buy separate spools.  I've also gotten used to how my rod feels with a majority of my line as no stretch.  It's a system I like and it works for me.  

 

I feel like my slack line bite detection is good.  Maybe it would be better w/ straight fc, but if you follow the advise on this site about how to fish your slack on a t-rig/jig, you feel everything you need to on braid.  I've spooled up mono a couple times, but everything just feels dead to me and I'd have to relearn my rods.  When I fish jigs with a leader, it's fc.  Height of summer, I sometimes forgo the leader to help saw through the weeds, but zebra mussels knicking my line can make me rethink it.  Every year is different with the amount of zebras hanging on vertical weeds.

 

scott

[CDMTJager]

Once again greatest of thanks for the replies. I will begin using straight 16lb Fluorocarbon and see what results I get.

When I wet my first line of this year I will have began my 5th year of using Yo-Zuri co-poly line for all spinning set ups and 17lb or 20lb Yo-Zuri all but two of my Baitcasting setups. For about 30-35 years prior to that I used only Trilene XL for spinning and Trilene BG for baitcasting. It has only been the last five years I really started using baitcasters again and my two baitcasters from late 1980's till five years ago were two Abu Garcia 4600's. One was rigged for spinnerbaits, one was rigged for all forms of 1/2oz-3/4oz crankbaits.

 

I now have few Abu Garcia Pro Max's and a few Kast Kings. I still use my AG 4600's regularly still for cranks and spinnerbaits spooled with 15lb Trilene BG

I really didn't chase largemouth all that much (only in farm ponds during spring turkey season) from the late 1990's till about 2015 because I discovered an absolutely off the charts good smallmouth spots at three easy to access break wall warm water discharges five minutes from my home and the smallmouth fishing was so good I stopped going to the Kankakee entirely for smallmouth and if given a choice between LM and SM I'll case SM any day every day. 

By good I mean once when conditions were perfect during one outing lasting less than five hours four of us caught over 50 smallmouth and 50 freshwater drum commonly referred to as sheepshead. I had countless days were I caught over a dozen smallmouth in either of these two spots. And yes I literally never kept a single one. If it hadn't been already post spawn I would've sworn the smallies were spawning they were in so thick. This spot was just awesome because of the now ultra clear water (thanks zerbe muscles) and mostly sand bottom you could see 90% of the smallmouth in the area as the water was about 10-12 feet deep.

 

But now the two best smallmouth spots are gone forever. While there is good smallmouth fishing in many shore access areas along lake Michigan, what made my two favorite spots so awesome was they were the only ones I am aware of that were 90% sand and very small rock bottom so I rarely lost a set up as I fished about 80% tube jigs and 10% cranks. The other spots are made up of much larger boulders and tons of all kinds of snags (endless numbers of submerged tree limbs and rebar and pipes jammed into the boulders) and if you fish them from shore with jigs or drop shots you will lose tons of setups. I'm sure if I put forth the effort I could find better shore access smallmouth spots in lake michigan but I just haven't.

 

Again thanks for answering my question.

[Bankbeater]

I've never tied lines together.  I always use straight mono.

[PaulVE64]

On the river its braid to a mono leader.

 

I want the thinnest diameter possible so the current doesnt effect my sensitivity as much.

[Bird]

I throw all jigs on casting gear, straight PowerPro braid.

[softwateronly]

On 2/1/2024 at 2:30 PM, CDMTJager said:

 

 The other spots are made up of much larger boulders and tons of all kinds of snags (endless numbers of submerged tree limbs and rebar and pipes jammed into the boulders) and if you fish them from shore with jigs or drop shots you will lose tons of setups. I'm sure if I put forth the effort I could find better shore access smallmouth spots in lake michigan but I just haven't.

 

Again thanks for answering my question.

 

I fish 31st St Harbor in the Spring usually, and these jigs use to get traded around back in the day.  They're mass produced and pricier now, but they get through the "Army Corps pile of junk walls" pretty well and catch smallies.  I lose these way less often.  Might be worth a shot for ya.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=20&searchtext=fireworks+jig

 

scott

 

 

[LonnieP]

Straight Flourocarbon. I can detect slack line bites better than with braid.

[newapti5]

Not a master on jigs (who can say that), but I use both braid + leader and straight fluoro. Each has its pros and cons. Besides sensitivity, casting distance, abrasion resistance, and other factors, stretch is also one of the causes. In short, different situation calls for different setup. But I have to say that since I MASTERED the FG knot, leader knot failure has never been one of the factors again.

[DaubsNU1]

38 minutes ago, Bird said:

I throw all jigs on casting gear, straight PowerPro braid.

 

All my casting gear has straight PowerPro braid, 20lb. Jigs, T-rigs, spinner baits, etc. I use the "Magnum-Opus" hookset : ) 

 

All my spinning rods have 10lb bright yellow PowerPro, mated to either 8 or 10lb fluoro. 

[Pat Brown]

I fish often.  I respool often.  I've used lots of lines and rods and for me 15 lb big game is as close to a perfect line as you can get!   I absolutely love hooksets with jigs and t rigs on 15 lb big game and I can feel everything with the stuff too.

[waymont]

I only fish jigs on braid to FC leader.

i always have a jig tied on. It’s a great way to fish jigs. 30lb braid to 12-20lb FC. I recommend it!

[RipzLipz]

Straight Seaguar Tatsu FC 15 or 17lb for jigs anywhere I fish. Straight braid only when punching in cover that typically doesn’t exist around here (trips out of state or where teeners are possible).

[CDMTJager]

2 hours ago, softwateronly said:

 

I fish 31st St Harbor in the Spring usually, and these jigs use to get traded around back in the day.  They're mass produced and pricier now, but they get through the "Army Corps pile of junk walls" pretty well and catch smallies.  I lose these way less often.  Might be worth a shot for ya.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=20&searchtext=fireworks+jig

 

scott

 

 

Thank you Scott will order a half dozen, Any suggestions on what colors and sizes worked best for you before I order?

[softwateronly]

9 hours ago, CDMTJager said:

Thank you Scott will order a half dozen, Any suggestions on what colors and sizes worked best for you before I order?

 

They only come in 1/4oz, the guys that make them think it's the weight that will get snagged least.  I like pb&J, GP black, and GP blue the best and use part of a straight tail worm or jackall ishad as my goby imitating trailer.

 

scott

[Bankc]

Straight fluoro is best, as often jig bites can be very subtle and happen on the fall.  So the slack line sensitivity of fluoro presents a significant advantage.  

That being said, I use straight braid.  The waters I fish are really dirty, so visibility isn't an issue.  And if you're good about keeping your line semi-tight (well not tight, but not so loose that you can't detect a bite) and watching your line, then it works well enough for me.  Mainly I use braid because I use braid for everything, and my "jig rods" are used for a lot more than just jigs.  And, if I'm being honest, braid lasts forever and I'm cheap.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

 I use the power of the Schwartz. Monofilament for shallow, fluorocarbon deep.