Monofilament vs braid

Started by biggiesmalls, August 04, 2017, 01:36:33 AM

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biggiesmalls

For surf fishing and bottom fishing, which do you prefer to use?

Surf fishing I am debating either a 4500 Spinfisher with 30 lb braid or a 6500 Spinfisher with 25 lb mono. This is just bait, like whiting, pompano, etc. Just a double drop rig with a 3-4 ounce pyramid sinker and some shrimp.

When I say bottom fishing, I'm meaning dock fishing. I've been meaning to put together a pair of setups for my girlfriend and I, so we can just throw small baits for stuff off her family's dock. I am gonna get some 6' fiberglass lights or ultralights for this, and probably use size 25 Pflueger Trions. These setups will be used for bluegill and redear, too. I was thinking 8 lb mono or 8-10 lb braid for the saltwater fishing (mostly hi-lo rigs with bait but some artificials like spoons and bucktails), but 4 lb mono would work way better for freshwater.
Maybe a compromise would be 6 lb mono?

Appreciate the thoughts,
Drew

Gfish

When it comes to casting(surf or other) and deep dropping, braid with a short mono leader. The stiffness and memory of mono is hard to get used to after using braid for awhile now. Mono sounds fine for dock fishing.
Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Shark Hunter

Drew,
The 4500 is a Graphite body. The 6500 is metal. Way tougher, but a little heavier too.
I would take the 6500 with mono any day. ;)
My personal preference for a surf spinner is a 9500ss.
I also pack a Fin Nor LT 100. Both have 100 lb braid.
This is my only exception for using braid on the beach. I need the capacity.
Life is Good!

thorhammer

You don't need 30 braid on 4500. 20 is plenty, I bail dolphin on Slammer 360 with 20lb, and no croaker is out-pulling a 20lb mahi.  15 or 20 mono or 30 braid on 6500ss. 25 is overkill down there if you are fishing spot rigs, and will cut your distance in half. Daron's 9500 would hold about 2 miles of 20; 80 or 100 is better for what he is doing so a big ray doesn't take 50 bucks worth of line for a one way trip. Off CB is pretty much sand, I preferred distance to strength to get out in the slough....and had people I didn't know actually talk trash to me at the inlet for killing them on the fish... they were using tourist special with 30lb mono that cast like a slinky about 30 yds, while I was out a hundred where the fish are. I got them to strip their reel, I filled with 15 mono from the truck, and gave them some fresh mullet instead of the frozen crap they had, and voila...

6 or 8 is plenty on the little rigs. Some top guides down there, like Jimmy Price, use 8 pound mono on their trout and flounder rods. It then becomes a question of how often do you want refresh line due to nicks, etc. that will take your 4 down to 2...my .02. 

sharkman

I use braid on everything from surf fishing for whiting to big grouper.  The only time I use mono is when on boat that will not allow braid. My wife on the other hand will only use mono. Each has it pros and cons. The biggest con for braid and the biggest pro for mono is cost.

Cor

I've not yet been able to make up my mind on what is better for which application, but a very short reply.

CASTING
Because braid is light and thin I always thought it would be the better casting line, on conventional (or overhead) reels, not so.   I experimented for years with this, to come to that conclusion.
Using a fairly tight cast control system this is possible and I have fairly recently converted some of my tackle.
However it does not improve my distance in any way and wastes energy

On spinning tackle its a no brainer, always use braid to cast!

LOST FISH
I am convinced I lose more fish using braid then on mono.     They come off because of severe and direct head shakes, and the lack of stretch in the braid line.   Once again, I can also attribute it to the fairly stiff tipped rods I use and the fact that I close all the barbs on my hooks.

Thats my experience.
Cornelis

Newell Nut

Mono for me and the guys here that commercial fish the beach in the winter all use mono.

Benni3

I like power pro 30lb so when I'm not catching fish I got something to do pull wind knots out otherwise braid or mono it doesn't matter it's all down to your fluoro tippet  :)

biggiesmalls

Quote from: Newell Nut on August 04, 2017, 05:26:34 PM
Mono for me and the guys here that commercial fish the beach in the winter all use mono.
I hear ya loud and clear. What lb test, and what are the target species?

Quote from: Cor on August 04, 2017, 12:16:47 PM
I've not yet been able to make up my mind on what is better for which application, but a very short reply.

CASTING
Because braid is light and thin I always thought it would be the better casting line, on conventional (or overhead) reels, not so.   I experimented for years with this, to come to that conclusion.
Using a fairly tight cast control system this is possible and I have fairly recently converted some of my tackle.
However it does not improve my distance in any way and wastes energy

On spinning tackle its a no brainer, always use braid to cast!

LOST FISH
I am convinced I lose more fish using braid then on mono.     They come off because of severe and direct head shakes, and the lack of stretch in the braid line.   Once again, I can also attribute it to the fairly stiff tipped rods I use and the fact that I close all the barbs on my hooks.

Thats my experience.

I definitely like the added distance that braid will give - although in the surf, abrasion resistance from the sand and shells would be ideal.
I haven't yet decided if I will be going with barbed or barbless hooks - that's still under testing.

Quote from: sharkman on August 04, 2017, 11:10:43 AM
I use braid on everything from surf fishing for whiting to big grouper.  The only time I use mono is when on boat that will not allow braid. My wife on the other hand will only use mono. Each has it pros and cons. The biggest con for braid and the biggest pro for mono is cost.
Yea, I've been buying braid from Lee so far and I've been happy. Right now, I only use mono for panfish - because I don't feel like adding leaders, and there's no reason to use 6, 8, or 10 lb braid for a bluegill under 2 pounds. They fight hard but that's like going for a 10 lb redfish on 30, 40, or 50 lb line - overkill if you ask me (in most situations).
I've been using braid for everything else and been happy, but I did have two mystery break-offs while surf fishing. May have been spanish macks or bluefish, but I don't think so.

Quote from: thorhammer on August 04, 2017, 11:05:29 AM
You don't need 30 braid on 4500. 20 is plenty, I bail dolphin on Slammer 360 with 20lb, and no croaker is out-pulling a 20lb mahi.  15 or 20 mono or 30 braid on 6500ss. 25 is overkill down there if you are fishing spot rigs, and will cut your distance in half. Daron's 9500 would hold about 2 miles of 20; 80 or 100 is better for what he is doing so a big ray doesn't take 50 bucks worth of line for a one way trip. Off CB is pretty much sand, I preferred distance to strength to get out in the slough....and had people I didn't know actually talk trash to me at the inlet for killing them on the fish... they were using tourist special with 30lb mono that cast like a slinky about 30 yds, while I was out a hundred where the fish are. I got them to strip their reel, I filled with 15 mono from the truck, and gave them some fresh mullet instead of the frozen crap they had, and voila...

6 or 8 is plenty on the little rigs. Some top guides down there, like Jimmy Price, use 8 pound mono on their trout and flounder rods. It then becomes a question of how often do you want refresh line due to nicks, etc. that will take your 4 down to 2...my .02.  
Yea I'm just using double drop rigs with #2 circles on them, pompano, whiting, bluefish, etc. I might even go with a 3500 with 20 lb braid for surf gear just to keep it light. I don't think I want something huge and heavy like a 6500, just so that I'm able to cast it all day without getting tired. I shouldn't need any more than about 200 yards of line for whiting and pomps. With 20 lb braid I can probably get closer to 250 yards, which will have me safe for just about anything that's swimming within 50-80 yards of the beach (minus the big biters).
Yea, I was leaning towards 8 lb mono on those rigs - but I'd have to go with a bigger reel to up the line capacity. I'm mostly fishing baits on this, basically dropping them right by the docks for spot, croaker, sea bass, pinfish, etc. Maybe casting spoons or jigs/gulp for trout, flounder, small blues, and puppy drum as well. People fish for drum with ultralights so mono on these rigs might be doable.

Quote from: Shark Hunter on August 04, 2017, 09:03:54 AM
Drew,
The 4500 is a Graphite body. The 6500 is metal. Way tougher, but a little heavier too.
I would take the 6500 with mono any day. ;)
My personal preference for a surf spinner is a 9500ss.
I also pack a Fin Nor LT 100. Both have 100 lb braid.
This is my only exception for using braid on the beach. I need the capacity.
Haha, this is strictly for bait fishing right now. I'll be finding some 8500's for cast baits, don't you worry. Straight 65 lb braid with a shock leader of 100 lb mono, on 11' rods. But that's for another thread.
I'm targeting fish that are, say, 10 lbs and under on this setup. Whiting, bluefish, spanish mackerel, rays, pinfish, spot, pompano, etc. 3 or 4 ounces of weight tops.
Leaning towards 20 lb braid on this setup, with a 3500 instead of a 4500. I'll get better casting distance and a lighter setup.

Quote from: Gfish on August 04, 2017, 04:59:58 AM
When it comes to casting(surf or other) and deep dropping, braid with a short mono leader. The stiffness and memory of mono is hard to get used to after using braid for awhile now. Mono sounds fine for dock fishing.
Gfish
I am kinda leaning towards 4 lb mono for the dock fishing, just to have a little bit of fun. It's surprisingly tough stuff - it's nothing compared to the 80+ lb mono I'm using for sharks, but it surprised me how tough the stuff is.
Probably braid for surf fishing though. 30 lb braid is the same diameter as 8 lb mono, and I think 20 lb is the same as 6 lb mono - so I can get 3-4x the strength with the same diameter in case anything bigger takes the bait.

biggiesmalls

Quote from: Benni3 on August 04, 2017, 10:27:26 PM
I like power pro 30lb so when I'm not catching fish I got something to do pull wind knots out otherwise braid or mono it doesn't matter it's all down to your fluoro tippet  :)
That's probably true, I use fluorocarbon for just about everything except sharks. Almost all freshwater, all my inshore fishing, etc.

Cor

Quote from: biggiesmalls on August 05, 2017, 12:02:43 AM
Quote from: Newell Nut on August 04, 2017, 05:26:34 PM
Mono for me and the guys here that commercial fish the beach in the winter all use mono.
I hear ya loud and clear. What lb test, and what are the target species?

Quote from: Cor on August 04, 2017, 12:16:47 PM
I've not yet been able to make up my mind on what is better for which application, but a very short reply.

CASTING
Because braid is light and thin I always thought it would be the better casting line, on conventional (or overhead) reels, not so.   I experimented for years with this, to come to that conclusion.
Using a fairly tight cast control system this is possible and I have fairly recently converted some of my tackle.
However it does not improve my distance in any way and wastes energy

On spinning tackle its a no brainer, always use braid to cast!

LOST FISH
I am convinced I lose more fish using braid then on mono.     They come off because of severe and direct head shakes, and the lack of stretch in the braid line.   Once again, I can also attribute it to the fairly stiff tipped rods I use and the fact that I close all the barbs on my hooks.

Thats my experience.

I definitely like the added distance that braid will give - although in the surf, abrasion resistance from the sand and shells would be ideal.
I haven't yet decided if I will be going with barbed or barbless hooks - that's still under testing.

I actually did not say that braid will give you more casting distance then mono. ???

In fact I don't think it does with conventional reels, but it does not make a major difference, but to obtain some other benefits of braid I have converted some of my tackle.
Cornelis

Keta

#11
First, I sell Jerry Brown Spectra but am not trying to make a sale here.

For most uses beaking strength is not imporntant to me, diameter is.  Most of my reels for under 50# have 50# or 60# Spectra with the exception of my real small reels, they have 30# and 20#.  Thin braid is a PIA and WILL cut you to the bone.

If these were my reels I would fill them with Spectra and use supper short topshots but we are talking about your reels.
I would recomend 200'-300' of mono on top of 50# Spectra for the 4500 and 6500, streight mono on the smaller dock reels.

On your panfish reels, fill them with 30#-40# braid and tie on a 2' fluro topshot.  Small braid is not that expensive and in the long run will save you money over mono.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

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