How many use straight braid exclusively?

[dodgeguy]

I've used other lines and fished with plenty of good fishermen over the years. Based on my observations I think I'm going to spend my years from 65 up fishing nothing but braid. I've done it plenty of times and then someone says you won't catch fish on hard days. Well with over 30 years comparing braid and flouro I've come to the conclusion it doesn't matter. Bad days were bad days no matter which line I put in the water.so my conclusion is my Golden years will be spent using nothing but braid so I have less to worry about. And with the edition of No Fade Braids all the bs with markers is done with. Braid just fits me best.

[Tennessee Boy]

You should try 50# Vicious No Fade Braid.  😀

[dodgeguy]

9 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

You should try 50# Vicious No Fade Braid.  😀

Was thinking of trying pline no fade.

[OmegaDPW]

I swapped over to full braid on all of my rigs a few or more months ago. I used mono for 40 years prior. Bass, where I fish, couldn't care less about line- and the water is consistently muddy so I don't have to worry about clear lakes and line shy.

 

 I did find out that I didn't like braid on my panfish set-ups, so switched back to mono. The light braid would get tangled like crazy around the floats that I used and was impossible to untangle. 4lb mono also cast further without the tangles. I rarely get hung up using a float so the extra strength with the braid was rarely needed.

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

will be spent using nothing but braid so I have less to worry about

I have not found this to be the case, braid gives me a little bit more to worry about than regular ole fishing line, and it costs more 

 

I like using braid when I’m throwing really heavy stuff , for ultra light I’m still a fan of 4-6 lb mono/floro

[Tennessee Boy]

I’ve switched to mostly using braid as my main line.  Modern braid is good stuff.  I still prefer a leader for most applications.  I’ve seen no evidence that bass are line shy.  I just feel like I can present many lures better with a leader.  

[DaubsNU1]

Been fishing straight braid on my casting rods since the 1990's. Love it. 

 

Only moved to braid-to-leader on my spinning gear after finding this site in 2020. Honestly, it's been a game changer for me!

 

 

[TOXIC]

On combos (both spinning and baitcasters) that I use braid, it’s straight braid.  Everything else is straight mono.  Braid rigs are flipping/pitching, frogs, Wong rig and rattletraps in heavy grass.  I don’t do the braid to leader, it’s never made sense to me and I’ve tried it.  

[JJP]

I’ve used braid mono and fluoro over the years. Can’t stand fluoro, mainly use braid and mono. Braid around grass and pads,  mono for everything else. 
I never use a leader either 

[12poundbass]

All of my setups with the exception of two or three are straight braid, no leader. I’ve used the high vis and marker trick over the years. A year or so ago I discovered Seaguar Tactix braid which is a camo pattern so no more markers! Problem solved. 

[Smirak]

I voted braid only (seaguar tactx). However, I have one reel spooled up with mono, and it gets switched out on the rod from jigs to top water when it warrants. Also, I use leaders with most of my setup, so I didn’t know if that counted or not?

[rangerjockey]

On my spinning rods with a leader and Bait casters on my topwater rods. Everything else is Invisx or Sniper.

[Glenn]

I use Seaguar TactX for flipping and pitching into heavy cover, and also when fishing over thick weeds such as when froggin'

 

I never use leaders.

[LonnieP]

I only use braid for frogs. I hate using it for anything else 

[gim]

Straight braid would never work where I fish because of pike and rocks/zebra mussels. They both slice right through it.

 

I don’t know whether fish are line shy. They might be in clear water with high pressure. It’s a variable I can control, so I control it. There’s enough other factors out of my control already.

[Bird]

Straight braid on all casting gear.

Braid to fluorocarbon leader on all spinning.

[Kev-mo]

I fished straight braid for about 7 years or so. For reference mostly fish moving water. I feel like I did good! No real way to measure that tho. Switched back to using a leader when I was fishing out of a guys boat and the only difference was he had a leader and I didn't.  Could've been other factors too but once I added a leader my catch rate went up. I also switched back to heavier mono for moving baits for a few reasons.

 

I guess I'm saying it mostly doesn't matter until it does for various reasons, real, imagined or personal preference.

[CDMTJager]

I'm a shore bound fisherman. 80%+ of my bass fishing is in heavy weeds and pads from now till I stop fishing to chase deer.

For my fluke and soft plastics fishing T-rigged in heavy weeds and pads I use 20lb 8 strand braid to a 10-12lb copolymer leader. I can cast 45-50 yards, farther if the winds favor me. I can winch 4lb+ bass out of the thick stuff no problems. Absolutely couldn't do that with straight 10-12lb non braided lines, and can't cast a weightless weedless fluke 40 yards with 15-20lb mono, so braid it is for this application.

For my frog fishing it also 30 or 50lb Power Pro.

 

For casting crankbaits chatterbaits and spinnerbaits its 15lb Yo-Zuri copolymer 100% of the time last 5-6 years awesome results.

For weedless soft plastic other than flukes its 12-15lb YZC

For all live bait and finesse presentations its aslo 6-8lb Yo-Zuri Copoly. 

For creek fishing for steelhead, salmon and trout its 8lb YZC for drift fishing skeen and 10lb YZC for inline spinners.

No way absolutely no way I could go 100% braid as to many of my presentations rely on a line that doesn't float and must be difficult for the fish to see. Doesn't necessarily HAVE to sink but can not float.

[TOXIC]

Question needs to be a bit clearer…

 

Do you use only braid on all of your setups? Or….

Do you use straight braid or braid with a leader? 
 

I see answers to both.  

[JackstrawIII]

A lot of clear water up here in the north, so most guys (myself included) use fluoro or mono leaders for most applications. 

[Big Swimbait]

On 6/9/2024 at 2:48 PM, Bird said:

Straight braid on all casting gear.

Braid to fluorocarbon leader on all spinning.

This ^^^  I use 832 Camo - no marking line necessary.

[islandbass]

I like all of the traits braid offers. However, as a shore bound angler, it can be difficult to break off from snagged lures and worse yet, if I’m far from the snag and unable to get close enough to minimize the amount of braid I’d be leaving behind, , I don’t like the possibility of that much line out in nature or the water just waiting for wildlife to get caught up in it. 
 

It is the primary reason I refrain from using braid. Lesson learned quickly after a couple of forced break offs. 
 

I did like the og power pro in 20-30# test from back in the day. 

[Zcoker]

I'm all braid out in the everglades, 50-65lb minimum. They don't care. It's not uncommon to hook into 8 plus pounders each outing, so being prepared is what it's all about. It's also not uncommon to have 100 fish days. Last thing to worry about is break-offs. There's just so much structure out there, and the big bass are totally whacko and deep into it, so heavy heavy heavy is my moto, go big or go home! 

[JackstrawIII]

2 hours ago, Zcoker said:

I'm all braid out in the everglades, 50-65lb minimum. They don't care. It's not uncommon to hook into 8 plus pounders each outing, so being prepared is what it's all about. It's also not uncommon to have 100 fish days. Last thing to worry about is break-offs. There's just so much structure out there, and the big bass are totally whacko and deep into it, so heavy heavy heavy is my moto, go big or go home! 

Sounds like a really fun place to fish! 

[Zcoker]

31 minutes ago, JackstrawIII said:

Sounds like a really fun place to fish! 

Yes it is! I have a blast every outing. If you ever get a chance to fish out there, you'd see very quickly why heavy strait braid is a must. The light stuff has no place out there, at all, imho.