Fixed spool mainline type mono or braid ?

[jambop]

Just read a post in which the poster said he hated braid. That got me wondering what the general feeling is regarding what people choose for their mainline . I have never used braid before but have bought some to fill the spools on my spinning reel. I have read great things about braid but have I just been seduced ??

 

[Cfish]

Just read a post in which the poster said he hated braid. That got me wondering what the general feeling is regarding what people choose for their mainline . I have never used braid before but have bought some to fill the spools on my spinning reel. I have read great things about braid but have I just been seduced ??

Personal preference,I've used mono all my life and I am old fashioned,anyway I remember braid used to be blue and white and was called dacron.

 

[Rockhopper]

Personal preference,I've used mono all my life and I am old fashioned,anyway I remember braid used to be blue and white and was called dacron.

Same here,and fish some very rough ground in the b.c and elsewhere..I do use j braid on my slammers for lure work and can't praise it enough...on my multis always mono....
That bit of stretch in mono is very useful.thats in my opinion of course

 

[Valleyboy]

Braid for everything except sea trout

 

[Neilos]

I've only ever used mono....until I bought a couple of Surfblasters that already had braid loaded. I'm pretty sure its Firewire as there were two new reels of it in the purchase.....its brilliant. Bite detection is much better and there's a lot less wind and wave motion transmitted through the line to the rod. Will definitely use in the future...the only thing putting me off is the knot to the leader...FG looks well complicated!

 

[Craig]

I always used mono for years, then I switched to braid on all of my reels last year, haven't looked back since I got used to it. Had a few teething problems as I prefer a mono leader, just had to reduce the length slightly and haven't had a problem since.
As others say, it's all down to personal preference.

I've only ever used mono....until I bought a couple of Surfblasters that already had braid loaded. I'm pretty sure its Firewire as there were two new reels of it in the purchase.....its brilliant. Bite detection is much better and there's a lot less wind and wave motion transmitted through the line to the rod. Will definitely use in the future...the only thing putting me off is the knot to the leader...FG looks well complicated!

Regarding the fg knot, it's actually surprisingly easy to tie and works very very well. It's all I use for braid mainline to mono leaders. Just practice it a few times and you'll soon get the hang of it. Some really good videos online about how to tie it.
IF your using a braid leader, I think most people use uni to uni knot.

 

[j willson]

i find braid for the boat ok more line on spool ,. mono for beach ,

 

[Mr Fish]

From my own experiences with braid, I find it too sensitive. It’s a help to add casting distance but the ‘nodding dog’ syndrome on the rod tips drives me batshit.
I’ve spent many years learning how fish bite with mono and know how to react to each one.
Braid throws all that out the window. I don’t need a pouting bite to look like a bass, or whatever.
I suppose it’s what you’re used to, but I know exactly what to do with mono bites. Braid, god knows. Is it really a half decent fish, should I strike/lift/leave?
Much easier just to stay with mono! It’s mainly the constant nodding syndrome that really does my tits in though, I don’t like the lack of line stretch, it just makes fishing feel unnatural to me.

Having said all that, most of my fishing is done with multis and mono anyway, but have dabbled with the other side quite a bit...

 

[Thrasher]

Just read a post in which the poster said he hated braid. That got me wondering what the general feeling is regarding what people choose for their mainline . I have never used braid before but have bought some to fill the spools on my spinning reel. I have read great things about braid but have I just been seduced ??

I am on braid spinning and bait reels, all fixed spool. I have used braid on my freshwater spinning gear for a long long time so using braid was not an issue to me as I had the experience of using it.
If your reel doesn't have pretty good line lay you may struggle with wind knots as nylon is more forgiving that way.

 

[Thrasher]

I've only ever used mono....until I bought a couple of Surfblasters that already had braid loaded. I'm pretty sure its Firewire as there were two new reels of it in the purchase.....its brilliant. Bite detection is much better and there's a lot less wind and wave motion transmitted through the line to the rod. Will definitely use in the future...the only thing putting me off is the knot to the leader...FG looks well complicated!

I am braid to braid and use the Improved Albright knot.

 

[jackjock]

Ive used braid for 25 years , never now use mono, far stronger for the diameter than mono can take some getting used to. Simple braid to braid leader knot using two uni knots

 

[Trampster]

Mono for everything, and F/S reels. I did try braid when everybody started raving about it, but got fed up with wind knots every other cast. Also have 2 multiplier reels with Level wind that were bought for shore use when I was green as grass. They have been consigned to the bottom of the cupboard and will only ever come out again if I get the chance to go boat fishing. Thinking about it, I still have quite a bit of KastKing braid, so I might put that on one of the multis.

 

[Thrasher]

Mono for everything, and F/S reels. I did try braid when everybody started raving about it, but got fed up with wind knots every other cast. Also have 2 multiplier reels with Level wind that were bought for shore use when I was green as grass. They have been consigned to the bottom of the cupboard and will only ever come out again if I get the chance to go boat fishing. Thinking about it, I still have quite a bit of KastKing braid, so I might put that on one of the multis

Tramps, wind knots are mostly caused by poor line lay on the spool of your spinning reel. I use shimanos on the river and when J braid 8 came out I got some and put it on an Abu cardinal I had but didn't use on the river so much so thought use it for sea spinning. I had one session with it up at Torness and it virtually fecked the whole spool I had put on with wind knots almost evry cast, simply not good enough for braid, plenty good enough for nylon which is generally much more forgiving.
So my three sea spinning reels are a shimano aernos, daiwa ninja and a wee shimano hyperloop for the lrf with braid. All have really good line lay.
Also get the braid on the spool tight and always close the bail arm by hand.

 

[Trampster]

Tramps, wind knots are mostly caused by poor line lay on the spool of your spinning reel. I use shimanos on the river and when J braid 8 came out I got some and put it on an Abu cardinal I had but didn't use on the river so much so thought use it for sea spinning. I had one session with it up at Torness and it virtually fecked the whole spool I had put on with wind knots almost evry cast, simply not good enough for braid, plenty good enough for nylon which is generally much more forgiving.
So my three sea spinning reels are a shimano aernos, daiwa ninja and a wee shimano hyperloop for the lrf with braid. All have really good line lay.
Also get the braid on the spool tight and always close the bail arm by hand.

It wasn't a spinning reel, it was a Vertix Dragon (8000?) surf caster that I bought to match my Conti rod. The line lay always looked OK, and I wondered if I had overfilled the spool, so removed some braid but it didn't make any difference. I tried allsorts as suggested by other folks - wetting the spool with fresh water before casting etc. None of it worked so I went back to 25Lb mono and no more issues - well, until the damn bail arm roller came loose and then locked up. I can't remember what the RRP of the reel was but I got it discounted for £70, so hardly a cheapie reel.

 

[Thrasher]

It wasn't a spinning reel, it was a Vertix Dragon (8000?) surf caster that I bought to match my Conti rod. The line lay always looked OK, and I wondered if I had overfilled the spool, so removed some braid but it didn't make any difference. I tried allsorts as suggested by other folks - wetting the spool with fresh water before casting etc. None of it worked so I went back to 25Lb mono and no more issues - well, until the damn bail arm roller came loose and then locked up. I can't remember what the RRP of the reel was but I got it discounted for £70, so hardly a cheapie reel.

Same applies with the big FS surf reels. If it looks like there are any gaps, overlaps, loose coils particulalry at the top of the spoll below the lip you are more than likely to have problems.

 

[Thrasher]

Ive used braid for 25 years , never now use mono, far stronger for the diameter than mono can take some getting used to. Simple braid to braid leader knot using two uni knots

I give the uni a go a it is less fiddly than the albright although both fairly easy in the scheme of things.

 

[Shirleycodlin]

I use both.
Braid for drifting wrecks and sand banks plus down tide fishing from the boat.
Mono for up tideing from the boat.

Braid for light bassing from the shore with a mini mangle and soft bass rod from the shore.
Mono for all other beach work.
I have tried the braid/mangle approach on rough ground but really disliked it. Had more bumped fish and no difference in tackle losses Vs mono.
To back this up, quite a few who fish where I do in Norway also tried the braid/mangle route and switched back to a multiplier and mono.
Also when fishing the UK in big seas, I found braid to be a pain as it tripped the lead too easily and made landing a good fish through the undertow a precarious business!

 

[Mr Fish]

I use both.
Braid for drifting wrecks and sand banks plus down tide fishing from the boat.
Mono for up tideing from the boat.

Braid for light bassing from the shore with a mini mangle and soft bass rod from the shore.
Mono for all other beach work.
I have tried the braid/mangle approach on rough ground but really disliked it. Had more bumped fish and no difference in tackle losses Vs mono.
To back this up, quite a few who fish where I do in Norway also tried the braid/mangle route and switched back to a multiplier and mono.
Also when fishing the UK in big seas, I found braid to be a pain as it tripped the lead too easily and made landing a good fish through the undertow a precarious business!

Yep, pretty much exactly my thoughts and usage, apart from trying it on rough ground.

On the boat it’s a godsend apart from uptiding, where it’s counterproductive.
It’s just too hard and immediate for my liking off the shore in most scenarios, I like the little bit of cushion you get from mono, plus the better abrasion resistance.

The only thing I might be tempted to try one day is the extreme heavy braid for rough ground fishing but it just feels intrinsically wrong to me, although I admit I’ve never tried it, so that part is purely just my gut feeling (which may be wrong of course!)

 

[AlanT]

Braid with a braid leader for clean ground would never change back to mono for that purpose I can still remember 15lb Sylcast on a Mitchell 498, it was terrible. Bite indication is superb and I don't get any problems with leads pulling out. Still use quality mono for spinning sometimes mostly freshwater work.

 

[jackjock]

I give the uni a go a it is less fiddly than the albright although both fairly easy in the scheme of things.

3 Turn uni on the shock leader , 6 turn on the main line, leave 6mm tag ends, dont cut flush to the knot