braided line

[slab slayer1]

headed to truman next month with my son. we will be fishing out of bucksaw marina. hope to be fishing cedars and the willows, if flooded. is there really that big of advantage to using braided line? usually when i am at mark twain i use 8# vicous panfish. heard about how hard braided line is on rods. thanks for your input.

[mduncan62]

I have 10 rods in the boat, 0 have mono. All braid, 10-12lb. Been using braid only for a couple years now. If you are fishing piles, and get hung, there are ways to snap that braid without pulling up the entire pile, you just have to learn to do it.

I think you'll be happy with the braid.

[Jigging15]

If you are dipping and not casting you will not have any wear problems on your rod eyes. I use 30 lb Stren Hi-Vis in the summer on my dipping rods. It is very very sensitive and no strecth. That would be two benifets of braid. So will make it easier to feel the bite and make it easier to pull them out of the thick stuff. Most braids are not cheap so cost is a draw back. But I just use small baitcast reels and always back them with mono to save on cost and to keep the line from slipping on the spool.

[typhoid_iowa]

I've been using Fireline almost exclusively for a very long time now. In fact, there are really only two times I don't use it: 1) when flipping for largemouths, and 2) during the early Spring white bass spawn period, where even the super-thin Fireline is too visbile to the fish.

As far as eye wear goes, I've never had an issue with any of them wearing or being nicked, cut, ground, etc. with the Fireline. And that goes from the old Berkley Series One casting rods I've had, all the way down to my 5'4" G. Loomis GLX spinning rod.

I tried most of the other lines out there when the braid thing became popular, but I found most of them too hard to work with (knots in line, fraying, etc.) And have stuck with Fireline since it came out. Just yesterday, I spooled out all the line on one of my Shimano baitcasters, cut the end knot, and restrung it backwards to get another year or two out of the spool.

...just my two cents...

[crappiencali]

Agree totally with Jared!

[Matt]

I have been using nothing but SpiderWire for the last 13 years...I put some on before heading to Canada when I was 15 for catching pike with teeth. Not only did I never have one cut the line, I had that same line on the same real for probably 4 years before it finally just plain ole' ran out. I still use SpiderWire and am not sure what pound test or size of, however I will either straighten out a hook or break it before breaking off. I love it!!! It doesn't cast quite as good, but I'll sacrifice a bit of distance for not breaking off all the time...Try it and you'll never go back!

[Jigging15]

Another great thing I have noticed is that when pulling a jig free you did not get a jig flying back at you. I guess because of the strecth in mono is why it will shoot the jig back out of the water when pulling up to free it. I have never had that happen with braid. So saving the chance of getting hit by a jig is a bonus for sure. As far as eyes on a rod wearing out or getting groves in them. Braided lines have came a long way in the past 10 years. Most are now round and have coatings on them to keep from damaging the eyes. Thanks Dave finally someone agrees with me on something. Bought a few of your carrots and smacked some fish trolling with them.

[CrappiePappy]

If you have rods with SS guides, alloy guides, or ceramic insert guides ..... you won't have a problem with braid cutting into them. That problem has been nearly taken out of the equation. The exception would be rods with guides of aluminum, or chromed ones .... but, even mono will eventually groove them.
The only "problem" I've had with braid ... is that it will "sing/buzz" when coming thru certain types of rod guides. I found that "noise" to be irritating enough to remove it from that particular rod, and use it on a rod with ceramic insert guides. (but, remember, I'm casting with it ... not vertical jigging !!)

Now, as for braid being hard on rods ... I assume that's in reference to rods being broken (on hookset, or when trying to yank a lure free from a snag). The no stretch quality of braid CAN be a factor in these cases. You just have to remember that the braid does not stretch very much ... you don't need to "cross their eyes" on a hookset ... yanking at a snagged lure isn't productive ... set your drag a little more loose than you would with mono.

Carry a dowl rod, towel, piece of wood, or something ... to wrap braid around, to pull a snagged lure free. DON'T use your hands/fingers Doh as the braid will cut you, quick & deep !! I carry a pair of Fiskar Childsize Scissors, for use on my PowerPro 10/2 braid. It cuts the braid easily, and makes a blunt tag end ... which is much easier to put thru a hook eye, than a tag end that's ragged.

Don't expect braid to be "all that", when using really lightweight lures. It's got a dead limp nature, and is subject to sticking to or wrapping around rod tips or branches (esp when wet) ... and it's lighter weight than mono, so the wind will blow it around more.

... cp

[Its Crappie:30]

I use braided line a lot. I use it for just about all types of crappie fishing. I mainly use suffix 30lb test. I have used the yellow and green colors. It works great. No problem with my eyes either. heck I used it yesterday for bank pitching a jig for the crappie. For bass I throw 65lb test spiderwire and it is dynamite. Even that big it is super sensitive just like the 30lb suffix. Also, u definitely save money on the jigs u save which helps make up for the higher cost of the braid. It is nice not to have the stretch when u get a hog buried in brush or wrapped in a hedge tree. when dipping trees I love it because of the sensitivity and when u pull to set the hook u don't have to pop the rod near as hard as with mono. U will learn that with practice though. this is just my two sense though. Just try it out. Great point on backing it with mono though. u could get away with only 25-50 yards if you are dipping trees. hope this helps