Braid or not

[Shawn 66]

G'Day all.
I have pinched this question from Waterbouy in the Saltwater Chat .(Sorry mate) . I have only fished with mono line . The question I need answered is , in freshwater,
is braid the be all and end all?
Thanks in advance for any help posted.
Shawn

[griz066]

Yes it is awesome.

[wamjam]

Gday Shawn, I have a mate that lure fishes for cod mainly, but goes to the gulf or cape twice a year and catches heaps of barra, queenies, jacks and what ever else, he has only ever used mono. This bloke owns Mudeye lures..

Scott

[NAGG]

Braid is certainly not the be all and end all - infact it has some serious downsides ie specialised knots , very little stretch , poor abrasion resistance , suffers from wind knots , expensive ... often requires new tackle & visible ............. so why would anyone use it

Catch a fish on it and you'll know why ....... hooking and catching a fish on braided line is a whole new sensation - you can feel most bumps & hook ups are intense. lurecasting and trolling are greatly improved by using braids ..... lures can swim deeper & with improved action.
For all the negatives the benefits far outweigh them IMO .
Braid is much thinner & stronger for the diameter ..... so much smaller reels can be used without sacrificing capacity (just look at the types of reels used for impoundment barra these days ..... try using 50lb mono on a 100 size baitcaster). Greater distance can be achieved when casting.
Abrasion resistance and visibility are overcome by using leaders. The low stretch of the braid can be used to great advantage in stopping a fish from returning to cover .

It is probably not for the absolute novice however - Once you learn the correct knots and get used to fighting fish on braid ( not pulling hooks) - you'll find it very hard to go back . Give me braid every time

Chris

[rabbi]

Hey Scott,
Its about time time we converted Jamie then.

I havent used mono for years and dont think I could go back to the old bungey cord mono fishing line.
I havent had to make any major changes when I went over to braid apart from backing my drag off a tad.
Dont use anything else for jewing or codfishing and braid will often turn the fish a bit quicker.
As for leaders, I use 60 to 80lb braid on top of my braid mainline when chasing bigger fish. Joins better at the knot and will withstand a fair amount of abrasion, And the fish dont seem to mind

Just dont leave big balls of discarded braid at your fishing spots cause that will piss off the locals pretty quick.

Cheers, steve.

[Barry Ehsman]

Hey Scott,
Its about time time we converted Jamie then.

I havent used mono for years and dont think I could go back to the old bungey cord mono fishing line.
I havent had to make any major changes when I went over to braid apart from backing my drag off a tad.
Dont use anything else for jewing or codfishing and braid will often turn the fish a bit quicker.
As for leaders, I use 60 to 80lb braid on top of my braid mainline when chasing bigger fish. Joins better at the knot and will withstand a fair amount of abrasion, And the fish dont seem to mind

Just dont leave big balls of discarded braid at your fishing spots cause that will piss off the locals pretty quick.

Cheers, steve.

I agree Steve much better feel when using lure's..

Cheer's Baz

PS.. Steve i tried to answer your PM but i was told you can't receive them..But atm the river get's a small fresh nearly every bloody week...Havn't heard any report's on the Macintyre but they are still biting in the Severn....

PSS Sorry about the hijack of the thread

[wamjam]

Hey Scott,
Its about time time we converted Jamie then.

I havent used mono for years and dont think I could go back to the old bungey cord mono fishing line.
I havent had to make any major changes when I went over to braid apart from backing my drag off a tad.
Dont use anything else for jewing or codfishing and braid will often turn the fish a bit quicker.
As for leaders, I use 60 to 80lb braid on top of my braid mainline when chasing bigger fish. Joins better at the knot and will withstand a fair amount of abrasion, And the fish dont seem to mind

Just dont leave big balls of discarded braid at your fishing spots cause that will piss off the locals pretty quick.

Cheers, steve.

No chance of converting him.

Scott

[Bear001]

Braid is my line of choice these days....BUT.....I always have a rig with mono still set up (for some of the newbies in the boat)....plus some days when nothing else is working its worth swapping back to mono...just the different sink rate,action on your lures will be the winner....

Just having a think about it....dont think braid has improved my catch rate, I think those of us that grew up on mono learnt to 'feel' on it just the same......but yes, braid just a lot more feel/enjoyable to fish for me anyhow.....