Fishing heavy cover - braid vs. heavy mono

[jwo1124]

I am sad to say that this question is only relevant to one of the three ponds I mainly fish due to the use of chemical treating to kill of a lot of the vegetation in the ponds. I guess people found them to be a nuscance and dangerous. I guess the city is really trying to ge these two city ponds back into shape for boating and swimming, and the weeds were responsible for a drowning a few years ago when a guy who couldn;t swim went in the pond after a soccer ball and got tangled in the weeds. I feel remorse for him passing, but don;t go into the water if you can;t swim.

Anyway, back to the question. I fish this other small secluded backwood pond on a dead end street were a relative lives. this pond is only a few acres, but it is loaded with bass and cover. lilies, mangrove type timber. Me and my bro got our small boat specifically for this small pond, and for awhile we wished we could fish this heavy wood structure. i would like to get a H action flippin rod to toss jigs and plastics into the pockets of this wood where I am guess holds bass due to the safety it presents for them. My question is, what is better braid, or heavy mono. I know braid will proabably more sensitive because of the low stretch and probably be mroe abrasion resistant, but how is it to actually work with. meaning, does it lay on the reel as good as mono, does it create more backlashes, how is knot tying with it?

[Tin]

For fishing that thick grass and timber, you cant beat braid. Like you said, no stretch, thinner diameter, abrasion resistance is amazing, it is also very sensitive, IMO you dont get as many backlashes, and on a reel with a mono-backing it is fine. After I put the braid on, I tie on a hook, set the hook into an immovable object, walk away until all the braid is out, then put a lot of tension on it and reel it in. So I have no issues with it on the spool, but dont do it so tight that it cuts down into the line already on the spool or casting will be tough.

The only issue is with knot tying, if you are flipping with a hook that doesnt have a completely closed eye, on the hookset the knot can slip down to where the eye has an opening and the hook and line will seperate. Only happened to me once though.

[fishfordollars]

I prefer braid. It will cut through vegation better than mono and you can turn a fish's head and get him moving toward you a lot easier.

[flechero]

I'm opposite.  I MUCH prefer mono to braid, for any situation, with any technique.  One thing that will happen is that you'll get hung up a lot.  You can break mono if you need to without much risk of damage to your rods and reels, but good mono like XT will hold up to the nastiest of cover with a little care and common sense .  You are using short casts (or pitches) for those techniques so you don't need the "extra" sensitivity of braid.  Close range hooksets risk rods & dig braid into itself and beyond that I just prefer mono.  I never had trouble feeling bites.  

I did use braid several years ago, tried it for about 2 months and was never able to get comfortable with it.  I broke some equipment and had a few bad experiences.  For me braid was a solution to a problem that didn't exist, well actually it created other problems.

[Tokyo Tony]

I much prefer braid, especially for the situation you're talking about jwo.  All the positives and negatives have been highlighted above, but I've never had a problem with braid digging into itself.  That may be because I use Power Pro - the stuff is amazing.

One thing though, if you're tying the braid directly to the lure, I'd pass the line through the eye twice (in the same direction) before tying the knot.  I use a Uni Knot, and have never broken off at the knot.  

About damaging equipment, if you get hung up, hold the spool with your thumb (for baitcasters) or your hand (spinning) and pull straight back until the hook straightens or until the tree you're hung up on starts moving towards you (or the boat starts pulling towards shore)  ;D.  Make sure you don't bend the rod, and holding your thumb/hand on the spool will prevent stress on the reel.  

Definitely braid though.

[flechero]

Make sure you don't bend the rod, and holding your thumb/hand on the spool will prevent stress on the reel.  

Careful... this can easily bend the spool shaft.  You need to wrap on an oar or cleat or something.  And when the hook straightens or breaks, watch out, I had a windshield break from impact of a worm weight in that scenario, during my brief braid useage.

[Tokyo Tony]

Make sure you don't bend the rod, and holding your thumb/hand on the spool will prevent stress on the reel.

Careful... this can easily bend the spool shaft. You need to wrap on an oar or cleat or something. And when the hook straightens or breaks, watch out, I had a windshield break from impact of a worm weight in that scenario, during my brief braid useage.

Well personally, I haven't had that problem at all with my spool shaft after breaking off several heavy jigs with 50 lb Power Pro, but that thought never even entered my mind.  I'll definitely be more careful from now on when breaking off - thanks for the info flechero  8-)

[David P]

I like Mono over braid as well. I also like fluorocarbon though.

XT mono and invizx fluoro.

[flechero]

Well personally, I haven't had that problem at all with my spool shaft after breaking off several heavy jigs with 50 lb Power Pro, but that thought never even entered my mind.  I'll definitely be more careful from now on when breaking off - thanks for the info flechero  8-)

Thank Reelmech, he posted that warning in the past. (a few times I think)  I screwed up a reel by locking the drag down and thumbing it to break the old spiderwire.  I returned the reel under warranty and then bought another spool of XT to replace the braid.  : ...lol

[Catt]

As most here know I fish thick Hydrilla on Toledo Bend, this year alone I've caught 8 bass over 10 lbs with the largest weighing in at 12.8; I've also caught 3 over 10 lbs on Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (marsh) with the largest weighing in at 11.3 lb. of these 11 bass only 1 was caught on braided line the rest were caught on 15# test Berkley Big Game.

[fourbizz]

I fish braid, but for the record braid has very BAD abrasion resistance.

[Micro]

I'm opposite. I MUCH prefer mono to braid, for any situation, with any technique. One thing that will happen is that you'll get hung up a lot. You can break mono if you need to without much risk of damage to your rods and reels, but good mono like XT will hold up to the nastiest of cover with a little care and common sense . You are using short casts (or pitches) for those techniques so you don't need the "extra" sensitivity of braid. Close range hooksets risk rods & dig braid into itself and beyond that I just prefer mono. I never had trouble feeling bites.

I did use braid several years ago, tried it for about 2 months and was never able to get comfortable with it. I broke some equipment and had a few bad experiences. For me braid was a solution to a problem that didn't exist, well actually it created other problems.

I agree.  I've still got braid on a couple of rigs, but it's going to come off before spring.  I don't like fluoro either.  

IMHO, there has been nothing invented that really exceeds mono for all-around fishability.  It's durable (enough), cheap (can respool often), and isn't hard on equipment.

[shimanogloomis man]

personally i like braid as well i use suffix imo best out there i like it better then power pro i use 12/40 but i do use a floro leader 24 in of 20 or 25 pound test. like said before u will have an easier time breakin mono the braid as for the leader.If your goin with mono little tip bet berkley big game that stuff is the strongest mono i ever used ....

[jwo1124]

Yeah, I'm just learning a casting reel, and I've been out practicing a couple times this past week, and here in Mass. the High temps are in the low to mid 30's. The first day i was out it was 25* and the second it was around 35* but the wind chill brought the temp down. I have my baitcaster spooled with 15# Stren High impact, which I'm guessing is silimar to big game, and it started really kinking up in the cold weather. I'm hoping it was just the weather and not the quality of the line. But since Catt and Shimanogloomis mentioned Big Game, maybe I'll use that. I'll probably even through some on my Striper rod if they make a moss green version.

[Jeff H]

I'm opposite. I MUCH prefer mono to braid, for any situation, with any technique. One thing that will happen is that you'll get hung up a lot. You can break mono if you need to without much risk of damage to your rods and reels, but good mono like XT will hold up to the nastiest of cover with a little care and common sense . You are using short casts (or pitches) for those techniques so you don't need the "extra" sensitivity of braid. Close range hooksets risk rods & dig braid into itself and beyond that I just prefer mono. I never had trouble feeling bites.

I did use braid several years ago, tried it for about 2 months and was never able to get comfortable with it. I broke some equipment and had a few bad experiences. For me braid was a solution to a problem that didn't exist, well actually it created other problems.

How cool!  I thought I was the ONLY one on this board who likes XT.  XT lives up to it's name and then some.  Great line!!