mono or braid?

[hareball]

what do you guys prefer?

i've always been a fan of mono but use braid or wire for trolling and on my stella spinning reel for the extra line I can get on it. if braid fell off the face of the earth tomorrow I wouldn't miss it though.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Hareball,

Braid (50 lb. Power Pro) for me for almost all applications. If I have to use mono (tuna trips on a boat that does not allow mono or if I ever were to fish for Bluefish or Stripers from a Party boat - I do once every few years), I use Izorline.

Good luck,

Capt. Ed

[hareball]

i've never heard of izoline. my buddy captain mike loves his braid too. I think my main reason for liking mono is it's easier for me to tie a knot with and for casting a conventional reel.
how is casting with braid?

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Hareball,

Izorline is big on the west coast where I fish a lot.

The website is:

http://www.izorline.com/

As for casting braid, all things being equal, a rod/reel combo with braid will outcast the same setup with mono.

Once you get used to braid, you will understand why it is superior. I use a uni knot and can tie it in a few seconds. No knot problems with braid.

Best wishes,

Capt. Ed

[hareball]

looks like a good quality line and I like thier guarantee

my big problem with tieing braid is if any loops fall over when your trying to put the live end through them.

i'm legally blind, right on the edge actually I still have sight in one eye but have many floaters and very little peripheral vision as that is a side effect of countless lazer surgeries to stop bleeding in my eyes. that said  I can be a one man comedy act trying to tie a knot on a windy day in a rocking boat

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Hareball,

Sorry to hear about that ...

You can come out on my boat and we can struggle tying the knots together.

Stick with what you are comfortable with and accustomed to!

I find that fishing is more knowing how and where to catch fishing than having the "newest stuff" and throwing it as far as you can!

All my best,

Ed

[hareball]

thanks xaptain ed 

if the day comes where I have no sight at all i'll still be on deck with my fishing rod in hand with a finger on the line waiting for that bite

[Luna Sea 5]

ONLY BRAID...  Nothing else.  I may only put mono on the backing of a real just to kill some space, but thats it. 

[Skolmann]

Only time I'm using mono now is when I'm clamming/chunking bass and jigging--although I'm thinking about trying braid this fall for jigging.

[BAHILA / PCramer6]

ONLY BRAID...  Nothing else.  I may only put mono on the backing of a real just to kill some space, but thats it. 

Same here.. I was scared of braid until these guys told me to try it out.  I love it

[IrishAyes]

After fishing with braid, fishing with mono is like using a rubber band.

When new people come on my boat and they have mono, I set them up with an outfit with braid.  Most are instant believers after using the braid.

It never ceases to amaze me how you can even feel a fish bite with mono.

Brain all the way.

[Mate Mike]

I use braid for all bottom fishing and mono the rest of the time.

[tabasco_joe]

100% braid with flouro leaders for bait or clear water.  It would seem to me that tying braid would be easier than mono for people with impaired vision.  The stiffness of mono might cause some trouble.  Three knots I use with braid are uni-knot, palomar, and surgens knot.  Uni-knot could be tough to tie by feel but maybe palomar is easy?

[mboy]

You shouldn't be tying too many lnots with the braid on a boat anyway. ALWAYS use a short mono shock leader to tie to main leader, lure etc.

Give you something to grab to lift a fish out of the water if not netting or too small to gaff, etc.

I always use 2' or so mono with braid.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Mboy,

Why do you need a shock leader when most of the time there are leaders already? Just 2 more knots that can fail ...

I am interested in this as I do use top shots of mono over braid for tuna fishing and sharking but have not seen a use for that in other applications.

This may be good to know ... BTW, I do not like stretch for any deep water (greater than 30 ft.) in my line but am open minded.

Thanks,

Capt. Ed

[bowguide]

Two years ago switched to powerpro for everything and usually have a few more fish than the mono only guys Im slowly converting one of them.

[mboy]

When tying on a plug or 3 way swivel, their is usually no leader between the line and swivel or eye of plug/lure.

I also like to have a little extra mono down there when the need arises to grab the line.

Usually, a standard leader is way to short to grab onto when "leadering" a smaller fish (like bluefishing when you just want to yank the fish up to gunnel and remove hook to release without bringing in boat (same with bass or fluke for that matter).

I usually find a not in braid fails far more often then on mono (even the proprer braid knots for some reason), so knot failure is something I rarely experience in general anyways.

[bowguide]

Never had a knot fail on the powerpro although it seems the bluefish have no problem biting through it as quickly as mono

[mboy]

Also, 2' of mono doesn't give you any noticeable stretch in my opinion.
I have never noticed it over tying braid straight to leader, etc.

[Ruger314]

braid for flukin, mono for stripers.. Protect those finger from the run offs.. I personally don't braid because of the tight nots in tangles, it cuts everything of contact!! and breaks just as fast as mono!! Bowguide know what I mean!!!! But for fluking and maybe bottom fishing I'm convinced its better??