Who uses straight braid on spinning reels?

[scaleface]

No leader , just straight braid.  15 lb for finesse applications.

[TnRiver46]

Tried it , line always broke rubbing on rocks. 

[greentrout]

Spider Wire Stealth 10, 15 & 20 lbs. Moss Green. 

[FishTank]

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Tried it , line always broke rubbing on rocks. 

 

Same. It's been a recipe for diasater.  I fish braid to leader on spinning gear and there have been times when I have been too lazy to tie a new leader on so I go straight braid and every time, eventually the line breaks. It has done it on lines from 832 to my favorite X-Braid. 

[Scott F]

I’ve used nothing but straight braid, (10 lb) no leader for a very long time. I won’t use anything else. I don’t have to deal with zebra muscles, and I don’t drag my line and baits across rocks so abrasion has never been an issue. 

[Junger]

I like fishing straight braid when I can, but when I'm fishing brush, laydowns, rocks, I use a fluoro leader, mostly so I can feel any nicks/dings in the line and retie when necessary. I could probably try and feel for broken strands with braid, but I think it'd be less obvious.

[bowhunter63]

Probably gonna try some again, But in Southwest Missouri it’s one huge rock . Tried power pro but looking for something else to try for finesse. Everything else is flouro 

[Steveo-1969]

I fish a shallow rocky snaggy river and don’t use straight braid for two reasons:

 

1) Braid has poor abrasion resistance.

2) When I get snagged it’s easier to break the leader than the braid mainline.

 

 If I just fished weeds or open water I wouldn’t hesitate to use straight braid, even hi-vis.

[padlin]

Depends which pond I’m fishing, one has no pickerel so no leader needed there. Not that I’ll cut off a leader if the setup already has one. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Straight braid 5-10 pound even better 4-8 pound nanofil

[LCG]

This has been something I have been thinking about all winter. I am going to try straight 15lb braid on spinning and straight 30lb braid on casting this year. Of course I will have another set up with Yo Zuri hybrid just in case. Really dislike the knot going through the guides. So it's straight braid or learn the FG knot (urghhh). 

[bp_fowler]

I do when I’m fishing weedy lakes.  

[webertime]

This is my most ridiculous set up.  Old BPS Extreme 68Mxf, Shimano something or other spinning reel.  20-30lb straight braid.  My dedicated Fat Ika rod.  I use it in incredibly irresponsible places with over the top hooksets.  I love fishing with it.

[PondProwler9000]

Straight braid, no rocks here in the deep south.

[Big Swimbait]

Straight 832 Camo for a couple of years with zero issues. Full disclosure - I fish mostly East Texas grass lakes.

[TOXIC]

I only throw straight braid on both spinning and baitcasters. For spinning I use 35lb braid for dragging a Wong rig or flipping into beds nestled in the pencil reeds both on St Clair.  I use the same setup on Headwaters in Florida for punching grass or throwing a weighted Yamamoto 7 inch Kut Tail in and around vegetation and wood.  Big producer.  

[wvhunt]

On 3/4/2025 at 12:02 PM, Steveo-1969 said:

I fish a shallow rocky snaggy river and don’t use straight braid for two reasons:

 

1) Braid has poor abrasion resistance.

2) When I get snagged it’s easier to break the leader than the braid mainline.

 

 If I just fished weeds or open water I wouldn’t hesitate to use straight braid, even hi-vis.

I knew guys that used straight braid on the river, but I never would.  Abrasion is one issue, but being able to break off a snag was my primary concern.  I was doing a lot of float fishing and not being able to break off a snag quickly was a good way to break a pole or cause all kinds of problems while in steady current.

[Scott F]

12 minutes ago, wvhunt said:

I knew guys that used straight braid on the river, but I never would.  Abrasion is one issue, but being able to brag off a snag was my primary concern.  I was doing a lot of float fishing and not being able to break off a snag quickly was a good way to break a pole or cause all kinds of problems while in steady current.

Being able to break off a snag is the reason I don’t use anything bigger than 10 lb braid….even in the rocky rivers I fish.

[wdp]

I never use leaders with braid, on spinning or baitcasters. I switched to all straight braid for my spinning reels about 5-6 yrs ago. I have no issues. I use braid for shakey heads, big TRDs and for small poppers on spinning reels. I have spinning set up with 15 lb braid for the poppers. Another spinning reel has 15 lb braid for shakey heads and big TRDs with 1/10 - 1/8 oz jig heads. My last spinning set up has straight 20 lb braid for larger walking topwater baits like Zara spook, etc. or sometimes smaller 1/4 jigs or smaller swimbaits with 1/8 - 3/16 oz jig heads & underspins. 

 

I love it. I’ll never switch back to mono on my spinning reels. 

[scaleface]

Theres not a lot of rock where I fish except I do fish a lot of rip rap. Theres not a lot of sharp edges on riprap.