TO BRAID OR NOT TO BRAID

[BMITCH]

I use mono on some of my reels because some of the party boats will not allow braid filled reels.

[Newell Nut]

The party boats in my area do not allow braid and I really don't care for braid anyway so I don't use any of the braid products.

[LTM]

I fully understand the need to use braid when one needs to increase the capacity of the reel along with using heavier line especially after upgrading the drag system and durability of the reel. I can also understand the increased hook-up ratio due to the lack of stretch providing more sensitivity.
However when it comes to the cost savings Im still straddling the fence. Yes, using short top shots of mono a 1/4 to 1/2 lb spool of mono will go a long ways. Along with using short top shots, now I see the use of ALL flourocarbon top shots which is now more money. Even using 100 yard/foot top shots you can reload top shots several times from a spool of mono. For me, this begs the question: how many times does one have to replace top shots to make up for the initial cost (return on investment) of the 300-700 yards of braid on the reel (100-300 top shots maybe more)?  Currently I dont do that much fishing with EVERY reel that I own, and at my age dont know if I ever will (for you younger guys this may work out for you). Now its possible for the line on your reel to cost more that the reel itself  .
Next is the actual spooling on the braid. With mono, no problem. With braid, now Im looking at buying a line winder or building something to hold a transfer reel or something to apply the proper amount of drag tension. If I dont build a line winding device then Im faced with paying a tackle shop to load my braid (there way and not necessarily the right way) and defeating whatever savings I may have got on buying the braid myself.
Lastly for the moment, is the changes in technology which one has no control over. Currently I have about 5 (out of 30) reels with braid on them. When I had the reels spooled the technology was fairly new and not many options and people with knowledge (myself included). Hollow core braid DIDNT EXIST at the time. Now a days the Chinese are even making braid and everybody and their sister knows what to do. I will slowly change to braid on most of my reels (the problem is that I currently own a lot of mono which will last forever with braid on my reels). Thats all for now.

Leo

PS Oh yes the open-party boat restrictions as well. Now I need more reels  or extra spools or some method of respooling AARGGGGH!

[Alto Mare]

I do care for braid, but only for my scamorza, I love braided scamorza .
Most reels that I fish with are loaded with mono.

[LTM]

Sal, I was looking forward to your response. I like string cheese, must be similar to braided scamorza! So Sal, what reels have braid and why?

Leo

[Alto Mare]

Leo, my comment on braid is worthless to you, I only used it a couple of times. Here in the NE we are hard- headed , most that I know still stick with mono and I'm one of them. I have a couple of reels loaded with braid, a 113h and 114h,only because I was impressed with one of  Dominick's trip with the Tank. Braid is still new to me, we'll see .

[maxpowers]

LTM,

The reason I use braid is actually economical.  Let say you fish 2-5 times a year with the reel that you spool up with 300 yards of mono.  At best those mono will last you one season due to the memory that develop on the spool.  Assuming you spooled up with good mono which typically is 7-10 dollars per 1/4 lb spool.  The equivalent spool of similar diameter braid, which is about 2-3 times the mono strength will run you about $30-$60.  However depending on your fishing style (offshore vs structure), that spool of braid can last you 5-10 seasons or more.  One nice thing is no memory which is nice when you are fishing live bait.  Your live bait presentation will typically be much better.  The other nice feature is the ability to fish a nice range of topshots.  Depending on the backing and your drag (say a 4/0), you can fish down to 20 lbs and up to 60 lbs without issues.  This may allow you to carry less equipment when you are heading out to fish.

[SoCalAngler]

I use braid in all my reels also and for the most part I use it to get more line onto my reels because I like to use smaller reels that have the stopping and cranking to handle bigger fish. I have braid that I spooled on 10 years ago on a couple of reels and it still fishes well and breakes at its rated strength. Very slight damage to braided line can weaken it a great deal. Each braided line is made up of strands and each strand is in turn made of of many filaments, damage to just a couple filaments in a single strand can weaking the line very much. On some reels I run long toppers of around 100 yards and often those topshots may need to be changed a couple of times a season. These reels I use for casting and I use long toppers for a couple of reasons. First no matter how good you cast from time to time you will get a backlash and it is much easier to get them out of mono than spectra. Second comes down to the damage I mentioned earlier, getting a backlash 50-60 yards into the spectra can damage the filiments in a strand or strands and weaking the line a great deal even if it does not look damaged to the naked eye. Lastly I use the long topshots for safety when casting. The longer the cast the greater the potential for a more narly backlash. I have been knuckles deep picking out a backlash only to have my jig or lure get picked up by a fish and I sure would not want that to happen when I'm using spectra. I use short toppers when I fish bait as I dont cast as often and dont use the same force so any backlashes are easier to remove quickly.

Fishing short topshots takes some skill to avoid tangles while fishing then many lines are in the water. It is a little lengthy to explain here but there are things you must do to reduce the chance of tangles. I do use both short topshots and long while fishing deep into the kelp and have not noticed a huge difference in the two in the amount of times getting caught up in it. But, then again there are things you need to do to lessen the likelyhood of the line tangling the kelp be it mono or braid. When I get caught up in it for the most part it is either the fish, hook, lure or bait getting me snagged not my line rubbing the kelp.

Edit: By the way most tackle shops will load your reels free of charge if you buy the braid from them so there is no need to have a line winder and depending on your relationship with the takle shop, read buy enough stuff from them, they may even load your reels even if you didn't buy the braid from them.

[floating doc]

I'm working on a 112HN and will build jigging rods for this reel and my 113HN. I'll fish both reels with braid, but it will be a new experience for me.

Until now most of the experience I have with braid has been on Ambassadors.  I have jigged with my 970 using braid, but only once. I don't get to fish very often.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I respool shark reels mono at least twice a year, with 700yds of 60lb mono on a 9/0 costing 30 a pop gets expensive, i can get a pound of 80 for the same price and use it for 3 years with braided backing so yeah. 1000 yds or so of 100lb mono fills my 12/0, that gets expensive quick

[CapeFish]

use braid for backing, it gives you lots of extra capacity, lasts very long as backing and allows you to go after big fish with smaller reels. I also fish from shore and casting with mono is just so much easier. I fill my reels with 200m mono topshot, the rest is braid. It allows for 3x refills from a spool of mono and allows you to fit around 700m of 20kg breaking strain line on a torium 30 size reel. this is usually enough for the sharks in our neighbourhood. that was until yesterday when I got taken to the cleaners, the line popped on the spool, all 700m gone. I was hoping the fish was going to turn but left it to late to lock the spool with my hand. expensive mistake let alone dumping all that line in the ocean

[Shark Hunter]

That's why I fish straight 130lb mono on my shark reels. If I can't turn a monster with 1000 yds of that, he deserves to go on his way. There are some pretty respectable catches with 12 and 14/0's with this setup. There was recently a juvenile female great white caught in San Diego on a 12/0.
No Braid, no diasappointment.

[CapeFish]

That's why I fish straight 130lb mono on my shark reels. If I can't turn a monster with 1000 yds of that, he deserves to go on his way. There are some pretty respectable catches with 12 and 14/0's with this setup. There was recently a juvenile female great white caught in San Diego on a 12/0.
No Braid, no diasappointment.

braid as backing won't disappoint. I know of a great white of near 250kg landed here with a fin nor 30 ofc.  But yip you will absolutely get a fish that takes you to the cleaners even on 130lb tackle. How do you hold onto that though?

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

That's why I fish straight 130lb mono on my shark reels. If I can't turn a monster with 1000 yds of that, he deserves to go on his way. There are some pretty respectable catches with 12 and 14/0's with this setup. There was recently a juvenile female great white caught in San Diego on a 12/0.
No Braid, no diasappointment.

Im pretty sure it had some braid on it, the mono will wear out if you fish it hard when you reolace some mono you should replace all. As for braid, snip out the bad spot and splice more in! I will take any fish up to 9ft on my 4/0w, cause it has braid!

[Shark Hunter]

braid as backing won't disappoint. I know of a great white of near 250kg landed here with a fin nor 30 ofc.  But yip you will absolutely get a fish that takes you to the cleaners even on 130lb tackle. How do you hold onto that though?

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