Braided line vs. mono

I know this has been covered a couple times but I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for on those older posts.

Last weekend I was walleye/sauger fishing on Pool 4 pitching jigs to current seams. I’ve noticed over the last two years I gravitate more and more to my 7’0″ P: Medium-Lite A: Extra-Fast rods with braid on them over my 6’6″ P: Medium A: Fast rods with mono on them.

Last weekend I was pitching long casts to the seams using the 7’0″ braid rod and I switched to one of the 6’6″ monos just to try something different. I did NOT like the feel of it at all. I perceived to loose a ton of feel for the bottom and bites. There was all kinds of stretch in the line on the hook set and I feel I lost a few fish because of it.

Have I just gotten used to the braids and need to remember how to set the hook on a stretching mono or is there more to it? Is anyone else shifting away from mono? Especially with the advent of Flurocarbon Leaders. I don’t see much use for mono on my boat anymore.

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I don’t see much use for mono on my boat anymore.

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I laugh when guys bring mono into the boat, they never fair well. Mono does have its appliction(cranking) but as far as pitching Im done with it as well as jigging and rigging. If i was looking for a soft line it would be Vanish by Berkly
It has treated me well.

Wade, I have been using 10/2 high vis yellow Power Pro for several years now. Adding a 3ft floro leader on the business end really seems to increase my catch rate. The no stretch line transmits everything for the best feel of your jig sweeping the current. I geared up with the new Loomis NRX series rods this spring and now have some game time logged on them. Paired up with the Shimano Stradic CI-4 2500’s they are nothing short of unbelieveable! Thought the GLX’s were good, these rods are a whole new level of light and sensitive.
http://www.gloomis.com/publish/content/gloomis_2010/us/en/conventional/rods/nrx_bass_rods/nrx_bass_spinning.html

Have been using the 7’1″ NRX 852S JWR for rigging, the 6’10”
NRX 822S SYR for pitchin and the 6’8″ NRX 802S JWR for jiggin. I am giving the Loomis Greenwater poppin rod GWPR843S a work out on the wing dams of P-2&3 pitchin crankbaits. This rod is a 7′ med-fast action that loads nicely when a fish is hooked. Have lost tooo many fish boat side from using too stiff a rod. Many of the bass guys use the mod action rods for crankin and am going to apply it with a spinning rod so a light #5 can be pitched a good distance on braid too.

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I don’t see much use for mono on my boat anymore.

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I laugh when guys bring mono into the boat, they never fair well. Mono does have its appliction(cranking) but as far as pitching Im done with it as well as jigging and rigging. If i was looking for a soft line it would be Vanish by Berkly
It has treated me well.

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Bet you’d have a different opinion jigging in skinny, clear water – good luck getting bit with the braid.
Might not wanna rule it out completely…..

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I don’t see much use for mono on my boat anymore.

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I laugh when guys bring mono into the boat, they never fair well. Mono does have its appliction(cranking) but as far as pitching Im done with it as well as jigging and rigging. If i was looking for a soft line it would be Vanish by Berkly
It has treated me well.

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Bet you’d have a different opinion jigging in skinny, clear water – good luck getting bit with the braid.
Might not wanna rule it out completely…..

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10′ Flouro leader solves that problem.

I love braid…when I’m on my game. If I’m off even a little bit the mono is much more forgiving and effective for me. When I use braid I feel everything. With that being said, if I feel the fish, the fish feels me. The question is…who is faster the fish or me. When I’m paying attention braid is the way to go. My $0.02

I keep hearing these arguments for braid so i decided to spool some up this year. On opener I used Power pro with a flourocarbon lead while jigging shiners. That rod went back into the locker after 1/2 day. I DID NOT like it. I watched my buddy catch about 5 more fish than I before I went back to old faithful.

Im not ready to give up yet, but thinking next time I will tie the jig directly to PP without mono leader.

I actually switched to mono from braid for pitching shallow. I use braid for cranks and vertical jigging, for casting jigs when I want to snap or hop the jig instead of just hovering/sweeping it in current, and sometimes dragging but only upriver. Braid can also be better for pitching when you want to get a little deeper or cut through fast water.

For certain applications (shallow pitching and dragging, especially) you’ll find the “lift” helpful. You’ll get fewer snags because of the lift, and a better presentation because the bait won’t dig bottom so often. The stretch actually helps on hooksets because the fish can suck the bait in, and it helps when fighting fish as well. Finally, it’s acutually more sensitive than braid in some cases because it transmits hits even with a little slack in the line. The key to getting these benefits is using the right rod. The 6’8″ medium extra-fast rods from St. Croix are as good as it gets. With a rod that is too slow or too light you’re far better off with braid.

The more I fish the more I realize that nothing is always perfect.

I’ve been fishing braid on all my spinning gear for years now and there is no way I could ever go back to mono. I’ve tried it a couple times and I can’t gain a feel for it anymore. unless I am in the dingiest water, I’ve always got a fluoro leader tied up though.

I’m glad all of the spinning reels I own come with 2 spools. I have one rigged with braid and one with mono. For most applications in river fishing I prefer braid, but come summer when I switch to rigging and jigging on MN lakes I put on the mono. Both have been run side by side in my boat and others I’ve fished with, and mono works better for the way I fish 90% of the time.

For example, this May I made a long weekend trip to Lake Winnibigosh. I jigged with mono on a 6’6″ M rod for the start of the day and did well. For an experiment, I switched to braid on a 6’9″ ML rod with 4′ mono leader and didn’t do nearly as well. I was using the same exact jig as my Dad who was still catching fish on his mono 6’6″ M action combo. The next day I put the mono reel on the 6’9″ ML rod and had one of the best days of fishing ever. I did miss a few hook ups because of the lighter action/mono combo I believe, but it was still very effective.

as opposed to the other guys, i shifted to braid a couple of years back (PP green) and will never go back. I can feel everything. Now, I’m mostly running meat so that is one factor. I’m just getting ready to go to pulling raps on DRs and will have a report on that in 1-2 weeks…

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I actually switched to mono from braid for pitching shallow. I use braid for cranks and vertical jigging, for casting jigs when I want to snap or hop the jig instead of just hovering/sweeping it in current, and sometimes dragging but only upriver. Braid can also be better for pitching when you want to get a little deeper or cut through fast water.

For certain applications (shallow pitching and dragging, especially) you’ll find the “lift” helpful. You’ll get fewer snags because of the lift, and a better presentation because the bait won’t dig bottom so often. The stretch actually helps on hooksets because the fish can suck the bait in, and it helps when fighting fish as well. Finally, it’s acutually more sensitive than braid in some cases because it transmits hits even with a little slack in the line. The key to getting these benefits is using the right rod. The 6’8″ medium extra-fast rods from St. Croix are as good as it gets. With a rod that is too slow or too light you’re far better off with braid.

The more I fish the more I realize that nothing is always perfect.

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X2
Seems each has it’s strong points, and I will use whatever seems to work best for me at the time.

I do lean to wards mono especially with crappies, and light biting or shallow (less than 25 ft)walleyes with lighter jigs.

Deep water and heavy jigs with mono the stretch gets to be a bit more than I care for.

I find 8-10# braids tend to get caught up in my terminal tackle easier, the thin line has even worked it’s way into slip rings.

I usually will grab a mono set up first, it’s what I’m comfortable with.

al

By limiting yourself to just braid or just monofilament, you’re only hurting yourself. The lines fish completely different and depending on the application, can make all the difference.

For me – on the Mississippi, I tend to gravitate to hard line most of the time. Especially when pitching higher flow wingdams with 3/16oz or greater size jigs. The thin line diameter allows me to cut the current and walk the jig down the dam without having to upsize jig weights. That said, show me a nice current seem that a 3/32 or 1/8oz jig is used, chances are it’ll be on a mono-setup. The properties of mono allow that light jig to loft and coast through as opposed to a ‘drop, pickup, drop, pickup’ cadence that’d be presented using the same jig with light braid.

Much boils down to personal preference and what you have confidence in, but no denying they can present the same style baits very differently – especially when river current is involved.

Bet you’d have a different opinion jigging in skinny, clear water – good luck getting bit with the braid.
Might not wanna rule it out completely…..

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I can bet that hook up rates would be much better with braid and floro lead And IF I was concerned about line shy fish I would run floro carbon al the way but from north to south east to west I have yet to find eyes that are shy from braid with a 3ft floro lead, no where did I say I was tying straight to the braid. That being said Ive caught plenty of eyes on steel leaders or quik strike rigs…
The main benifits of mono are sometimes that stretch is needed as a shock absorber and the fact it doesnt sink allows for you to get the crank farther from the boat with maintaining desired dive depth. Other than that IMO its a thing of the past,BUT it still catchs plenty of fish its just there are somany more better options now.

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By limiting yourself to just braid or just monofilament, you’re only hurting yourself. The lines fish completely different and depending on the application, can make all the difference.

For me – on the Mississippi, I tend to gravitate to hard line most of the time. Especially when pitching higher flow wingdams with 3/16oz or greater size jigs. The thin line diameter allows me to cut the current and walk the jig down the dam without having to upsize jig weights. That said, show me a nice current seem that a 3/32 or 1/8oz jig is used, chances are it’ll be on a mono-setup. The properties of mono allow that light jig to loft and coast through as opposed to a ‘drop, pickup, drop, pickup’ cadence that’d be presented using the same jig with light braid.

Much boils down to personal preference and what you have confidence in, but no denying they can present the same style baits very differently – especially when river current is involved.

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Pete, so what you are saying is instead of switching my mono rods over to braid. I haven’t been utilizing some good techniques that call for mono over the last two years. So I should expand my techniques, not reduce my line varieties.

Where is Tom Grusky? I know he’s got an opinion on this.

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Pete, so what you are saying is instead of switching my mono rods over to braid. I haven’t been utilizing some good techniques that call for mono over the last two years. So I should expand my techniques, not reduce my line varieties.

Where is Tom Grusky? I know he’s got an opinion on this.

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Not necessarily. If you prefer the feel of braided line and how it fishes over monofilament, by all means, change them. Keeping mono on those rods and never touching them won’t do any good. It’s solely my opinion that in certain pitching situations mono shines over hardline. Could you catch those same fish using hardline? Probably. However you will notice drift speed and depth of the same size jig will change between the two types of line. Whether that makes the different between catching some of those fish, I don’t know.

I by no means claim to know it all regarding pitching baits and have much to learn myself. What I do know is that variety in the boat never hurts, whether it’s line type, bait size/type/style, speed, etc.

Regardless, good luck out there

First off, I do not believe walleyes are line shy–like Jon Jordan said, “they’d quit swimming into gill nets”.
Understanding how a walleye “sees” things v/s, say a bluegill or smallmouth-which are both sight feeders and can see color and definition very well, takes the notion of flouro and dumps it in the lake–if you feel you catch more fish with it, go for it-personal confidence makes you fish better, which ups your catch rate.
For me, 50/50 on the mono-braid–either way, it’s a .010 diameter. I have figured out what size jig matches the given situation with this diameter line (which goes back to the DVD James and Dustin did on pitching plastics)-all boils down to the amount of “float” the given diameter give you–so if Pete is using 2lb diameter line, he’s using a different weight jig v/s me with 8lb diameter line to achieve the same thing. As for hardline being more sensitive, that’s ok when the line is tight, but takes a lot more to “jump” the line v/s mono—think of snapping a sewing thread v/s snapping a garden hose-one limps out and the other rolls–so line watching is somewhat easier with mono-again, I always have both on board and let the situation dictate which one to use.

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By limiting yourself to just braid or just monofilament, you’re only hurting yourself. The lines fish completely different and depending on the application, can make all the difference.

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Agree with that statement. I still use mono or floro each trip out. There are things you can do casting light jigs on 15lb mono that you can’t do with any hard line!

-J.

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Where is Tom Grusky? I know he’s got an opinion on this.

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Hell…I’m out fishing Wade

You guys have pretty much covered the angles on this issue…Some of my rationale

1) I use really thin (6-8 lb) braid when fishing current for Walleye/Sauger…because until recently the braids out there were floating lines that “bellied” against the current or wind, causing “contact” problems with the jig.

2) The big factor with me was my presentation vs conditions… as Pete mentioned the larger dia mono gives more “lift” opposed to flouro or braid as you cast/roll a jig/plastic downstream, and eyes are holding shallow.

Cortland Endurance 6# line has little stretch,small dia, and is stronger than hell…

That being said,if vertical jigging or pitching small blades…I use braid with a 7-10′ flouro leader…not because of the fish being line shy, but to give my line some extra weight up front, keeping my lure near bottom.

Braid also helps slower action rods with moderate or fast actions with a better hookset.

Dustin Stewart has caught thousands of Walleye on mono with the St.Croix 68MXF, using jigs/plastics…with a 69MLXF and mono he would lack the backbone to use mono (IMHO)

I ALWAYS do the 2 spool set up also…one with braid , one with mono…depending on the rod I am using and the conditions.

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I find 8-10# braids tend to get caught up in my terminal tackle easier, the thin line has even worked it’s way into slip rings.

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A fluorocarbon leader will help that immensely. I make a long one 15-20 feet so there is room for retying.

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First off, I do not believe walleyes are line shy–like Jon Jordan said, “they’d quit swimming into gill nets”.
Understanding how a walleye “sees” things v/s, say a bluegill or smallmouth-which are both sight feeders and can see color and definition very well, takes the notion of flouro and dumps it in the lake–if you feel you catch more fish with it, go for it-personal confidence makes you fish better, which ups your catch rate.
For me, 50/50 on the mono-braid–either way, it’s a .010 diameter. I have figured out what size jig matches the given situation with this diameter line (which goes back to the DVD James and Dustin did on pitching plastics)-all boils down to the amount of “float” the given diameter give you–so if Pete is using 2lb diameter line, he’s using a different weight jig v/s me with 8lb diameter line to achieve the same thing. As for hardline being more sensitive, that’s ok when the line is tight, but takes a lot more to “jump” the line v/s mono—think of snapping a sewing thread v/s snapping a garden hose-one limps out and the other rolls–so line watching is somewhat easier with mono-again, I always have both on board and let the situation dictate which one to use.

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Doc,

Didn’t we just have this conversation the other night ?

I think they both have a time and place and I would never restrict my self to one or the other.

Yep you forgot because braids are the only line to use now you don’t even have to watch your line jump or stop, your instincts are shot with that said i use both

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I find 8-10# braids tend to get caught up in my terminal tackle easier, the thin line has even worked it’s way into slip rings.

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A fluorocarbon leader will help that immensely. I make a long one 15-20 feet so there is room for retying.

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I found that I like mono for lighter tests and when I use braid I now use heavier tests (thicker) and that stopped a lot of the problems I was having, seems 12# braid is far less apt to snag it’s self in the terminal tackle, and it doesn’t seem to effect the lures, so that’s what I use now.

The fluro prob works well too, thanks.
Al

If we’re talking Bass…I use 20# braid for finesse, Senkos, Swimjigs etc and 30# for cranks. Thats mostly on Casting reels. I still use the flouro leader.

I like the versatility of mono. I can bite it with my teeth and quickly re-tie. It floats and I can use a clinch knot which I can nearly tie blindfolded and wastes less line than a palomar.

One of the reasons I run a lot of braid, is I don`t get to fish as often as I would like. I loose that sense of feel which is so important when fishing light weight presentations, when not on the water regularly. Braid and a good rod helps me fill the gap.

Mono for this guy . There’s only two applications I will use braid over mono when jig fishing.

#1. When fishing in deep water where I am going to get a big bow in my line. The no stretch comes in handy for hook sets.

#2. When I want to move the bait quickly in a very short distance. An example of this would be snap jigging with plastics or hair jigs. The no stretch allows you to move the jig quickly in a very short distance.

A lot of guys are saying they like hard line because they can feel more with it. Mono does transmit fell better with a bow in your line. You should not have to feel anything except the bite when fishing a jig. If you can actually feel the jig on bottom, chances are you are fishing under a large majority of the walleye you are targeting. Very seldom will I get a walleye to pick my bait up off the bottom in cleaner water when casting jigs. When walleye are aggressive they feed up, keeping your bait above them keeps your offering in the strike zone longer.

Once you learn to become a line watcher it will not matter what line you have rigged up but it’s hard to top mono in my opinion for shallow water jigging.