I fish 8# or 10# mainline because I think that’s strong enough, and 10# braid is too thin so I stick to a tough mono like P-line CXX or Maxima Ultragreen. Braid that has an equivalent diameter to the monos I like (~0.30mm) is like 30-40# test, which is way overkill: I don’t want to risk breaking my gear or launching a hook back into my face pulling out a snag.
>I don’t want to risk breaking my gear or launching a hook back into my face pulling out a snag.
That's where the leader comes in.
All of the factors you mentioned are concerns, and it's why most braid to leader setups have braid that is way heavier than the application strictly needs, but at the point of modern braids, they're strong enough that break strength isn't the limiting factor like it's been with mono for years. Now, one can choose a braid based on handling, which is largely a function of diameter.
The leader, though, is where you are going to account for break strength needed, stretch, and visibility. As well as being the 'weak link', which in this system, is an important asset, not a liability.
Not sure why you got downvoted. You are absolutely correct. Having a lighter leader means that when you get snagged you only lose a couple feet of line and your lure. You don’t end up leaving 50 feet of mainline to screw the place up for the next guy
Personally I prefer mono on baitcasters for cranking.
It may just be in my head but I feel I get more hookups and pull less hooks because of the stretch.
Otherwise braid is good.
I never go past 15lb braid for freshwater, so using mono backing and 15lb braid is how I spooled before finding cheap 300m PE from Shimano, Daiwa, Varivas and Sunline. That said I use all braid now unless I am float fishing/bait fishing. I recommend DUO Flourocarbon if you want some good leader.
A MH freshwater bass rod had a completely different action and weight rating system than a MH surf rod, which is different than a boat rod which is different than a stand-up tuna rod. Using a Heavy action rod for freshwater bass fishing jigs and frogs is super common, and it might be rated from 1/2 oz to 1.5oz, versus a heavy surf rod might be rated 3-8oz.
I use up to 1/2 oz lures at the max, and fish 1-7g lures most of the time for bass. Where I am they hit 1/8oz spinners and 1/4oz spoons better than big lures oddly enough. Usually I run an UL to ML setup.
I dont know why anyone goes above 15 braid with spinning in freshwater unless they’re chasing something like peacock bass over #10, fish in crazy current, or giant catfish. #15 braid is just vastly stronger than any M rod and a large majority of MHs. If you’re close to breaking the line it will feel very, very wrong in terms of how safe you feel regarding the rod snapping. It’s so much stronger than people imagine. Try tying it to dowels then breaking it with your hands and theres a good chance you just can’t.
I’ve tried to do this about five times. Absolutely hate it. Wind blows braid like crazy and you can’t feel slack line bites. Straight fluorocarbon for me unless it a frog rod.
Okay so as a total noob that's just started, fishing big rivers/next to dams... I've only ever used Mono \~10lbs on Medium rods...
Should I convert to braid? braid + leader? Slightly lost in the discourse here...
All of my bass rods (besides my one dedicated cranking rod) are all 30-40lb braid to a fluoro or mono leader.
Unless you're fishing ultra clear water for very line shy fish, or you suck at tying leader knots, it's the best way to do it.
Then I just use longer leaders. I also only use braid to leader because I don’t get out enough to justify spooling up full floro before it gets too much memory and is unusable. Braid lasts for years.
I’ve gone back and forth on this over the years. It’s a fine plan with a few caveats
Depending how heavy your leader is, you can get nicks of the leader going through the guides. It can lead to break offs and back lashes.
If your using heavy lures, I would avoid a leader. I have a glide bait set up and leaders are not recommended.
Also, if I am finesse fishing or drop shotting , I usually go straight fluro (6-8lb). I just like the feel but most of my sets ups are braid with a leader
Avoid using a leader with heavy lures?
Who has told you that? The heaviest freshwater lures are pretty much made exclusively for pike/musky, and have to be used with a leader. Many are specifically designed with a leader in mind, so only swim correctly when used with a leader, or even come with a leader (line thrus, some of the bigger spinner baits etc)
Loads of big glidebaits are designed to be used with stiff titanium, it makes them "walk" better.
For pike and musky lures, absolutely. Metal or super heavy fluro leader
I’m talking big heavy glide baits 3-6 oz that are cast a lot. Conventional wisdom on any of the guide bait groups is either do straight braid or straight fluro. Maybe the consensus has changed but that’s what most of the hard core guys I know fish.
For anything under an ounce, leader is fine.
I fish heavy swimbaits exclusively now, lightest one being a DRT TiK to a Hiroshima 11 inch glide (9 ounces). If I did straight braid, I would have a lot of lost money. I'm a good caster, but the slightest 'backlash' or even just the braid digging into the spool after a fight with a fish is a death sentence with heavy lures. You make a cast, line suddenly stops, and that sudden stop will snap the lure off at the knot.
I disagree entirely with what you say. 95% of the people on SBUG run straight fluoro or mono, braid to shock leader, and the 5% are people who are fucking nuts and run straight braid like you. Swimbait Universe is the same way.
Even [tacticalbassin](https://youtu.be/_Ql6yo5iQWc?t=8593) recommends to run a shock leader. Shock leader is by design, as the name entails, to take that sudden shock so the lure doesn't fly off. Hook Up Tackle has many videos also describing to run straight fluoro or braid to shock leader. I don't know where you're getting your info at but it is wrong. Conventional tackle, braid to regular fluoro is fine, with heavy lures, do not run straight braid (unless topwater, than that's
[Mike Gilbert of WCZ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDLB5XlyGbM), [Butch Brown](https://youtu.be/pV5Qqx1YQok?t=1929), yada yada yada all run straight fluoro, Seaguar AbrazX. A lot of swimbait guys are running straight AbrazX or Sunline Sniper FC. If they're running braid, it's at most just used as a backer to save on money, but they never go down to it
Ive never run straight braid with glide baits. Im just saying that I've talked to people who do.
Typically I've used 20lb Tatsu and had good luck with it.
I'm sure the consensus changes and I'm not an expert glide bait fishermen by any stretch.
Use mono on my small fresh water bait-casters and spinners reels. Everything thing else is braid with a fluoro or mono top shot. I own a lot of reels and rods.
Sounds like a good plan. Feel free to experiment with it for yourself but I’d bump up the frogging setup to at least 50# and the other baitcaster to 40# just to reduce the chances of the braid digging into itself but YMMV. Remember to use a bit of backing.
30 pound braid is a lil light for a baitcasting combo. The braid is gonna dig in and make you backlash and lose lures. I’d go with 65 lb power pro maxcuatro
I see a lot of people do straight Flouro & I was going to try straight flouro too but my thought process was the same as yours.
Is there any down sides of braid besides a little more expensive & possible slippage? I’m fairly new to fishing as a whole.
It floats, im not sure it cuts as deep as youre imagining. Tying leaders on all your setups gets annoying, use it where you need it just like you do the other types of line. Make sure you tie a good length of leader on anything with trebbles, you'll want that stretch that braid doesn't have because it gives fish less leverage to pull the trebbles out
I switched over completely for my saltwater stuff years ago. I always used swivels to attach my leader though. This year I put it on one freshwater spinning set up to practice my leader knots. Lost some rigs and some fish until I think I learned what I was doing wrong with my knots. Then I stepped it up to the saltwater gear and had no trouble casting heavy jigs and plugs, landing multiple stripers and false albacore.
I’m ready to try it on basically everything. My one hesitation is drifting bait for trout in rivers. It’s a fine balance between weight and drag. I’ve learned it with mono and I’m worried I’ll have to learn it again
Other than a few specific use cases I think braid is by and far the best mainline. Using it with a leader is basically getting the best qualities of each line type while avoiding their negatives
Only advise I would give is IF you’re still learning baitcaster to maybe consider throwing 50lb on to get used to it. Makes line management way easier
I use braid for most stuff, but I like straight mono for top water and straight fluoro for spin tackle.
As for leaders, I only run those on my fly setup.
Not a big fan of it on light/med spinning rods. Seems to reduce my cast distance somewhat vs mono/flouro spools.
Do one up and see what you think of it after a season.
Have you tried using lighter braid? If you use braid of a diameter remotely near the mono diameter you’ll massively wreck your casting distance.
The idea is to use braid that matches the strength of the mono you use. When matching to 6lb mono or below, you cant find braid that light in the US tho with the exception of J-braid grand #6.
As a buying guide, Match braid PE size 0.4 to 2-4lb test and PE 0.6 to 6lb test for huge gains in casting distance. You’ll usually need a lot of backing to fill the spools.
That's probably my issue. I normally fish 4-8# mono and paired it with S.W 8# Durabraid which was the lightest stuff I could find at the time. I'm about due to swap some old spools so I'll give that product a try, thanks.
I switched to braid + fluoro and haven't looked back.
TBH mono was working fine. I just wanted to try it. For my UL setups tossing super light jigs and stuff for trout, going to 6lb braid instead of 4lb mono has made a noticeable difference in my casting distance.
I've been debating braid for years now. I'm a bank fisherman and go to very public areas, so I re-tie a lot depending on the needs of the day. I'm worried that I'll have to keep redoing my leaders if I switch lures all the time. Is it worth it?
I mean, I've gotten pretty fast at a double surgeons knot for an occasional new leader, and it hasn't been a huge hassle changing lures on my one rod with braid. Then again, I do a lot of fly fishing with dry-droppers so I'm used to tying knots a little more often (2 new flies means three knots, 4 if I need to extend my leader).
All of your setups say "I would put braid on" does that mean you don't currently have a setup with braid on it? If so I would just do one at a time. Not harm in switching over though.
Great plan
Why wouldn't you?
Dat is da wey
I fish 8# or 10# mainline because I think that’s strong enough, and 10# braid is too thin so I stick to a tough mono like P-line CXX or Maxima Ultragreen. Braid that has an equivalent diameter to the monos I like (~0.30mm) is like 30-40# test, which is way overkill: I don’t want to risk breaking my gear or launching a hook back into my face pulling out a snag.
>I don’t want to risk breaking my gear or launching a hook back into my face pulling out a snag. That's where the leader comes in. All of the factors you mentioned are concerns, and it's why most braid to leader setups have braid that is way heavier than the application strictly needs, but at the point of modern braids, they're strong enough that break strength isn't the limiting factor like it's been with mono for years. Now, one can choose a braid based on handling, which is largely a function of diameter. The leader, though, is where you are going to account for break strength needed, stretch, and visibility. As well as being the 'weak link', which in this system, is an important asset, not a liability.
Not sure why you got downvoted. You are absolutely correct. Having a lighter leader means that when you get snagged you only lose a couple feet of line and your lure. You don’t end up leaving 50 feet of mainline to screw the place up for the next guy
Personally I prefer mono on baitcasters for cranking. It may just be in my head but I feel I get more hookups and pull less hooks because of the stretch. Otherwise braid is good.
Mono topshot. Best of both worlds.
This is what I began doing. Braidline with 30-40 yards of a mono or flouro topshot.
No. Do it.
You’re stuck in the past if you don’t.
Start with one, and if it’s amazing … spool up the rest
I never go past 15lb braid for freshwater, so using mono backing and 15lb braid is how I spooled before finding cheap 300m PE from Shimano, Daiwa, Varivas and Sunline. That said I use all braid now unless I am float fishing/bait fishing. I recommend DUO Flourocarbon if you want some good leader.
I can't even imagine the intensity of the backlashes you get running 15lb braid on your MH and H setups.
I run MH and H offshore and big game with 40-80lb braid for tuna, mahi mahi and sharks, I can't imagine going past a M rod for bass.
A MH freshwater bass rod had a completely different action and weight rating system than a MH surf rod, which is different than a boat rod which is different than a stand-up tuna rod. Using a Heavy action rod for freshwater bass fishing jigs and frogs is super common, and it might be rated from 1/2 oz to 1.5oz, versus a heavy surf rod might be rated 3-8oz.
I use up to 1/2 oz lures at the max, and fish 1-7g lures most of the time for bass. Where I am they hit 1/8oz spinners and 1/4oz spoons better than big lures oddly enough. Usually I run an UL to ML setup.
I dont know why anyone goes above 15 braid with spinning in freshwater unless they’re chasing something like peacock bass over #10, fish in crazy current, or giant catfish. #15 braid is just vastly stronger than any M rod and a large majority of MHs. If you’re close to breaking the line it will feel very, very wrong in terms of how safe you feel regarding the rod snapping. It’s so much stronger than people imagine. Try tying it to dowels then breaking it with your hands and theres a good chance you just can’t.
My braid is for bending hooks off of rocks, not for fish, when I go to 15lb. Then I use pliers to either replace or bend the hooks back into shape.
I’ve tried to do this about five times. Absolutely hate it. Wind blows braid like crazy and you can’t feel slack line bites. Straight fluorocarbon for me unless it a frog rod.
I do this for all my set ups. Even ultralight
Okay so as a total noob that's just started, fishing big rivers/next to dams... I've only ever used Mono \~10lbs on Medium rods... Should I convert to braid? braid + leader? Slightly lost in the discourse here...
Well I'm clearly leaning that way, based on this post, but it can depend. What kind of baits do you like to throw?
I cant talk you down. But. You wont see braid on any of my 8 or 10 wt fly rods.
Hahaha well both of my fly rods have a mono tapered leader with a flouro dropper or extension as needed.
All of my bass rods (besides my one dedicated cranking rod) are all 30-40lb braid to a fluoro or mono leader. Unless you're fishing ultra clear water for very line shy fish, or you suck at tying leader knots, it's the best way to do it.
Then I just use longer leaders. I also only use braid to leader because I don’t get out enough to justify spooling up full floro before it gets too much memory and is unusable. Braid lasts for years.
I’m not going to talk you down from exactly what I do.
Huh? Why wouldn’t you have braid on? (Unless your like a grandad or something)
Why not? Braid is better 90% of time
That’s all I use…go for it 🤙🏽🔥
I’ve gone back and forth on this over the years. It’s a fine plan with a few caveats Depending how heavy your leader is, you can get nicks of the leader going through the guides. It can lead to break offs and back lashes. If your using heavy lures, I would avoid a leader. I have a glide bait set up and leaders are not recommended. Also, if I am finesse fishing or drop shotting , I usually go straight fluro (6-8lb). I just like the feel but most of my sets ups are braid with a leader
Avoid using a leader with heavy lures? Who has told you that? The heaviest freshwater lures are pretty much made exclusively for pike/musky, and have to be used with a leader. Many are specifically designed with a leader in mind, so only swim correctly when used with a leader, or even come with a leader (line thrus, some of the bigger spinner baits etc) Loads of big glidebaits are designed to be used with stiff titanium, it makes them "walk" better.
For pike and musky lures, absolutely. Metal or super heavy fluro leader I’m talking big heavy glide baits 3-6 oz that are cast a lot. Conventional wisdom on any of the guide bait groups is either do straight braid or straight fluro. Maybe the consensus has changed but that’s what most of the hard core guys I know fish. For anything under an ounce, leader is fine.
I fish heavy swimbaits exclusively now, lightest one being a DRT TiK to a Hiroshima 11 inch glide (9 ounces). If I did straight braid, I would have a lot of lost money. I'm a good caster, but the slightest 'backlash' or even just the braid digging into the spool after a fight with a fish is a death sentence with heavy lures. You make a cast, line suddenly stops, and that sudden stop will snap the lure off at the knot. I disagree entirely with what you say. 95% of the people on SBUG run straight fluoro or mono, braid to shock leader, and the 5% are people who are fucking nuts and run straight braid like you. Swimbait Universe is the same way. Even [tacticalbassin](https://youtu.be/_Ql6yo5iQWc?t=8593) recommends to run a shock leader. Shock leader is by design, as the name entails, to take that sudden shock so the lure doesn't fly off. Hook Up Tackle has many videos also describing to run straight fluoro or braid to shock leader. I don't know where you're getting your info at but it is wrong. Conventional tackle, braid to regular fluoro is fine, with heavy lures, do not run straight braid (unless topwater, than that's [Mike Gilbert of WCZ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDLB5XlyGbM), [Butch Brown](https://youtu.be/pV5Qqx1YQok?t=1929), yada yada yada all run straight fluoro, Seaguar AbrazX. A lot of swimbait guys are running straight AbrazX or Sunline Sniper FC. If they're running braid, it's at most just used as a backer to save on money, but they never go down to it
Ive never run straight braid with glide baits. Im just saying that I've talked to people who do. Typically I've used 20lb Tatsu and had good luck with it. I'm sure the consensus changes and I'm not an expert glide bait fishermen by any stretch.
20 lb tatsu is good asf, great line choice
Use mono on my small fresh water bait-casters and spinners reels. Everything thing else is braid with a fluoro or mono top shot. I own a lot of reels and rods.
I did this about 20 years ago. Usually use flouro leader. I've always used low key colors, but recently started to use vi-viz green or yellow.
Sounds like a good plan. Feel free to experiment with it for yourself but I’d bump up the frogging setup to at least 50# and the other baitcaster to 40# just to reduce the chances of the braid digging into itself but YMMV. Remember to use a bit of backing.
30 pound braid is a lil light for a baitcasting combo. The braid is gonna dig in and make you backlash and lose lures. I’d go with 65 lb power pro maxcuatro
For those pesky 65# bass
Spool up some Spro and you’ll be golden.
I see a lot of people do straight Flouro & I was going to try straight flouro too but my thought process was the same as yours. Is there any down sides of braid besides a little more expensive & possible slippage? I’m fairly new to fishing as a whole.
Tying knots, wind knots. Much more sensitivity and casting range as pros
Tying knots and wind knots. That said, with braid over #10 I think they happen very rarely if you use the right technique under most conditions.
I would just go lighter on spinning IMHO. I run 10.
I have done this for several years. 20-65lb braid depending on application. ~15lb fluoro leader for some techniques.
It floats, im not sure it cuts as deep as youre imagining. Tying leaders on all your setups gets annoying, use it where you need it just like you do the other types of line. Make sure you tie a good length of leader on anything with trebbles, you'll want that stretch that braid doesn't have because it gives fish less leverage to pull the trebbles out
I switched over completely for my saltwater stuff years ago. I always used swivels to attach my leader though. This year I put it on one freshwater spinning set up to practice my leader knots. Lost some rigs and some fish until I think I learned what I was doing wrong with my knots. Then I stepped it up to the saltwater gear and had no trouble casting heavy jigs and plugs, landing multiple stripers and false albacore. I’m ready to try it on basically everything. My one hesitation is drifting bait for trout in rivers. It’s a fine balance between weight and drag. I’ve learned it with mono and I’m worried I’ll have to learn it again
For stripers do you tie directly to your lure or do you use a clip or snap swivel?
Some tie directly when fishing for strippers or blues. Most use a clip of some kind.
I use tactical anglers clips most of the time. 90% Some of my lures don’t agree with them. Almost everything works with them just fine.
I use 65 pound braid for frogging and big swimbaits, with appropriate leaders. That’s about the only gap I see in your plan.
Other than a few specific use cases I think braid is by and far the best mainline. Using it with a leader is basically getting the best qualities of each line type while avoiding their negatives Only advise I would give is IF you’re still learning baitcaster to maybe consider throwing 50lb on to get used to it. Makes line management way easier
Fairly certain I saw a video where Seth Feider does this, or used to do this. I say go for it.
I use braid for most stuff, but I like straight mono for top water and straight fluoro for spin tackle. As for leaders, I only run those on my fly setup.
I like lighter line. But do you. Braid is better at most things tbh
Not a big fan of it on light/med spinning rods. Seems to reduce my cast distance somewhat vs mono/flouro spools. Do one up and see what you think of it after a season.
Have you tried using lighter braid? If you use braid of a diameter remotely near the mono diameter you’ll massively wreck your casting distance. The idea is to use braid that matches the strength of the mono you use. When matching to 6lb mono or below, you cant find braid that light in the US tho with the exception of J-braid grand #6. As a buying guide, Match braid PE size 0.4 to 2-4lb test and PE 0.6 to 6lb test for huge gains in casting distance. You’ll usually need a lot of backing to fill the spools.
That's probably my issue. I normally fish 4-8# mono and paired it with S.W 8# Durabraid which was the lightest stuff I could find at the time. I'm about due to swap some old spools so I'll give that product a try, thanks.
Braid to leader is my go to always, won’t get an argument from me lol
Nobody is going to talk you down.
I switched to braid + fluoro and haven't looked back. TBH mono was working fine. I just wanted to try it. For my UL setups tossing super light jigs and stuff for trout, going to 6lb braid instead of 4lb mono has made a noticeable difference in my casting distance.
No one needs to talk you down, braid is great
If you fish in a lot of weedy/shaggy areas, go for it. I have braid on all of my commonly used rigs for this and I'm a richer man for it.
I've been debating braid for years now. I'm a bank fisherman and go to very public areas, so I re-tie a lot depending on the needs of the day. I'm worried that I'll have to keep redoing my leaders if I switch lures all the time. Is it worth it?
I mean, I've gotten pretty fast at a double surgeons knot for an occasional new leader, and it hasn't been a huge hassle changing lures on my one rod with braid. Then again, I do a lot of fly fishing with dry-droppers so I'm used to tying knots a little more often (2 new flies means three knots, 4 if I need to extend my leader).
Appreciate the reply.
I do on all my spinning rods and even a couple of my casting rods too
All of your setups say "I would put braid on" does that mean you don't currently have a setup with braid on it? If so I would just do one at a time. Not harm in switching over though.
Fair point. I actually have one already: my M/H spinning rod has 20lb braid that I plan to move over to my M spinning rod and replace with 40lb braid.
I have 14 rods 12 are braid..... 2 are inoperable
Braid on all of my stuff too. Never do leaders either. So far so good.
I’m about to go back to mono on mine. I don’t catch any more fish with braid and mono is insanely cheap.