Braided Line on Fishing Rods
Is braided line safe to fish on most spinning reels? I was told when it first came out that it would eat up rod guides? I have some nice, but older rods like St. Croix, and I don't want to damage them, but I like the idea of braid not twisting as bad on a spinning reel, and the small diameter.
Hi Clarence,
I have been using braid on my older rods for 10 years or more. I've never experienced any problems with my guides. Braid is an amazing line to use on spinning reels, I agree. My line of choice is Gamma Torque. I use 8-20# braid depending on the situation. 10# is my most common choice. The casting distance is unreal.
I would like to bring up a point that to me just don’t make since but it does with the pros . They tie a florcarbon leader on to the braid
To hide the line but the lure has has a hook exposed like a Ned rig or a drops shot with a hook they can see plain and the bass still bite it is this not had to understand or am I missing something .
Oops sorry for misspelling
I know exactly what you mean Douglas. Its hard to make sense of things. Here is my experience with braid and leaders. I guide and teach on the Chesapeake Bay which has stained water (about 1-2 feet of visibility). We fish a chatterbait a lot on the bay. I typically would only fish the bait with braid because it helped my students get the baits through the grass better and trigger the strikes. I experimented with flourocarbon leaders and found that the guys in the boat that used flouro leaders or flouro only had significantly more strikes on certain days. Some days it didn't seem to matter and other days the guys with flourocarbon where the only guys getting strikes. My conclusion was to always use a leader because I feel like this takes line concerns out of the equation.
I also see your point on hooks on Ned rig and drop shot. I would prefer not to use hooks, I think I would get a lot more strikes, hahahaha. I do try to match hook color with baits if possible to camouflage them as best I can.
What is the most common flourocarbon leader length? I have read where some want the knot to be in the spool with a long leader (8 -10'), and some want the knot to be just short of going into the reel!
Great question John. I use the Albright knot. Its larger than some knots, so I use only a 4-5 foot leader so the knot doesn't come into the rod eyes. A very interesting take on this comes from Seth Feider on BassU Live. He likes his knot to be in the reel. He feels the knot should be at the level of the water when the retrieve starts. hear is the live show. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/fall-smallmouth-japan-mike-and-pete-live.
I know this is an older post, but i just saw a great video on this. The video argues that with braid (no leader) the bass see the line and lure essentially as one object. On the flip side, using a leader gives some separation between the bait and braid. Link below, cool series on line choices.
I live in Canada and have wicked bad bass withdrawls. I have been debating line choice for next season since hardwater season started...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGuD_7knC1w > Start around 13 minutes for the bass seeing braid with the lure section.
Thanks, JigNPig. Great video.
