Braid to ?
 

So I have recently been spooling braid to my arsenal and have been exploring the best setup to fish with.

Straight braid to hook/lure

Braid to fluorocarbon leader/topshot to hook/lure

It appears that I get more action when I have a flouro leader or topshot to hook than straight braid.

Do any of you fish straight braid?

I used to top shot my reels with Fluoro, but now I just spool with braid and then tie the braid to a owner steel ring and then connect my fluro leader. I use this setup for everything and adjust my leader length and lb test based on the rig and time of year.

I will go straight braid but only when I'm rock fishing, all other times I will go braid to fluoro or mono. I won 1000yds of 40lb mono at the CCA meeting so I don't have any plans on using anything but that until it runs out.

I always use fluore top shot. It has a much better abrasion resistance. Braid has very little abrasion resistance and is more likely to break than Fluoro.

Yep, cheap 40 lb mono. Short leader for everything except surface jig fishing. For that, top shot just longer than I can cast


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Huh? Braid has very little abrasion resistance? You sure about that one? Time to lay off the Blantons?

Yessir

LoL compared to mono and floro yes VERY little.

Here's the first paragraph on the Power Pro web site:

"Fluorocarbon Leader

Fluorocarbon leaders are used regularly in conjunction with PowerPro. The specific applications where a fluorocarbon leader is used range from Fly-lining baits for Pelagics to tournament bass fisherman drop-shotting in clear lakes. By utilizing a Fluorocarbon Leader, PowerPro can be used in all situations an angler may encounter. With this technique, anglers do not have to sacrifice sensitivity, strength and abrasion resistance like they had to when fishing straight monofilament was their only option."


Geno

Braid has VERY little abrasion resistance. It's made out of a bunch of little strings pretty much and when one gets nicked/cut it will break a lot easier. But if you're fishing rocks and see that your mono or fluoro is frayed then you should still re-tie.

But to answer the original question, you should always fish with either a leader or top shot since braid is very visible. Any fish that can see will see your braid.


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We can tell you know a lot about braid considering it does actually have very little abrasion resistance vs mono and flouro...


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I always use a braid with a fluorocarbon topshot. The reason is that I change the flourocarbon based on the type of fishing I'm doing. If I'm fishing the bays, I'm using 8 lb up to 12 lb, but outside the bays I' using 20 lb plus. But the braid is usually 20 lb in Newport and Mission Bay, 40 lb in San Diego Bay, and 65 lb outside. The topshot is paired with the size braid.

I use a 3-5' fluorocarbon leader with braid. The Albright knot is fairly easy to tie and has worked very well for me. Mike

Yep! no need to copy and paste anything here...fluorocarbon is definitely more abrasion resistant compared to spectra...not stronger, but more abrasion resistant.

Do any of you guys concern over fluorocarbon's lack of decomposition? I know guys who fly fish streams have some concern that broken off FC leaders will just be part of the stream forever. I'm just curious if any of you guys have similar feelings as it pertains to our coastal waters; Too big of a water source to matter?

... At the end of the day, do what you like and what you're comfortable with. Personally I like braid because when it gets abraided it still has several strands of braid that are likely unharmed to carry the load. For isotopic materials like mono and flouro when they get abraided it creates a stress concentration site for tensile failure which is unpredictable.

I use a wingspan of flouro or mono for transparency reasons not for its abrasion resistance.

...now back to my Blantons.

Depends on what size reel in using and the braid size. For smaller ones, just 3-5 yards of fluro but for thicker ones... 100 yards ish of mono top shot

*I'm using...



Anyway, braid is easier to cast with Cardiff 300 (for me) at 20-30 lb braid with 10 lb fluro for plastics jig. Irons will make braid clusterfuck, so I like mono for heavier jig/bait