# braid or mono



## fishing mik (Dec 5, 2006)

gday guys

just want to no what line is better for flicking oround soft plastics braid or mono and what breaking strain to use and does the colour of the line make much differance. i will be mainly chasing bream and flathead in my local rivers and lake any info would be helpful.

cheers mik


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Mik, you can't beat braid for keeping in contact with the sp, especially when fishing light as you do for bream and flatties. Also, many braids/gelspuns are highly visible, which helps you see those bumps on the drop.

For the weight, it depends on the country in which you are fishing. If it is snaggy or close in to abrasive structure you might go as high as 10lb. On the flats some go as low as 2lb. I generally use 4lb.

When using braid/gelspun, a leader is usually required, especially if you use a highly visible colour. I use 4lb or 6lb fluorocarbon most of the time.

You also need to decide whether to use a true braid or a gelspun. The former is usually used on baitcasters and the latter is usually used on eggbeaters, although there is room for using true braid on eggbeaters. If using gelspun, remember to leave plenty of room on the spool, say 2-3 mm of lip. Otherwise you will find the line doesn't lay well, particularly when you begin the retrieve. This will result in wind knots and great frustration.

Hope this helps


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## driftr (Sep 4, 2006)

Good advice there guys, i have 1 question though.

What knot do you use to join the mono to the fireline? i have done it before but cant remember hehe


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## aleg75 (Dec 20, 2005)

driftr said:


> Good advice there guys, i have 1 question though.
> 
> What knot do you use to join the mono to the fireline? i have done it before but cant remember hehe


Hey Drifter, Top advice above from the boys! I use fireline on an egg beater for sp'ing for flatties and bream! cannot beat it!

Knott, I use the double Uni knott to join them together, most documents/people say use at least 4 loops ( I hope you know whay I mean) but I reccomend 6-8 loops, there can sometimes be a diameter differance between leader and main line, so it's safe to allow for this.


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## fisher (Aug 30, 2005)

yep, agree with all of the above. I'm only a relatively recent convert to light line fishing (since I got the yak actually). Previously I thought 10 or 12 pound was light line - but I bit the bullet and bought some 6lb braid to go on a nice light outfit I got off ebay (saratoga bream rod and oscillate reel - can't fault either of them - total cost about $40 - $50 by memory) and it is just great fun. I have caught a lot of good fish (40cm bream, 80cm snook) and have yet to have the line break. I've now gone and bought some 4lb line (bought both braid and a hybrid) which i'm hoping to trial this weekend. I use a 8lb leader, but might even go a bit lighter with that too. Go light - be happy!


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## driftr (Sep 4, 2006)

thanks Aleg.

I have a tiny 6'6 rod or there abouts its graphite with fuji guides, cant remember the brand now but its awesome and wasnt that pricey. I then got a tiny reel for it, its the smallest reel i've ever seen but i think now after a few years its too small so i might go up to 1000 series or so.
home made combo 

It's amazing how far you can flick light weight plastics and lures with the right setup. I remember years ago i tried a lure with my cheap all rounder combo and i couldnt get it to cast past like 3 metres haha.

I love fishing with the light stuff, although im yet to try it out of a yak.
The fight is so much better, i remember fighting a flatty for a while and it was only 48cm's haha.

sorry to ramble haha :lol:


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## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

braid for sure,

i dont even bother using mono with lures and sps anymore, 
you just dont get the same actions with the lures and for the sake of $20 more it will double your fish catching chances.

good luck with it all.

btw i use 4lb fireline on my sp rod


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

driftr said:


> Good advice there guys, i have 1 question though.
> 
> What knot do you use to join the mono to the fireline? i have done it before but cant remember hehe


Double uni is easy to tie. With light line 8-10 turns for each part of the knot is recommended. An alternative, that goes through the guides better, is the Stren knot - uni tied first on the mono/flouro side and locked blood on the braid side. Again, 8-10 turns on each side. The Albright knot, where the braid is tied onto a loop in the leader, is easy to tie. If tied carefully it won't slip. However it is a little bit difficult to keep neat with light line and may catch the guides if not kept neat and slim


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## fishing mik (Dec 5, 2006)

cheers for that guys i will be getting some braid for shore then in about the 6 pound class .

i havent done much river fishing do most of my stuff ofshore in my stink boat as you guys refer to them as were 20 pound is light

cheers mik


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## milansek (Apr 20, 2006)

sure braid is the way to go but here is some thing some off you guys mite not know a few years ago one off japans well known pro fisherman when i say pro the guy makes over $5ooooo US a year his name is Mr otormoro i want fishing with this guy and i can tell you he is a pro one thing i leaned is he did not use braid on a windy day he uses floro carbon line the braid floats to long in the wind .and so as time goes on more people are starting to use floro carbon lines but braid will always be there. Milan


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## fishing mik (Dec 5, 2006)

just a couple more question how long do you have the leader of mono and what size leader do you use .i was watchig that bream fishing show today and some blokes said they were using 2 pound leader in clear water then changed to 8 pound when in dirter water is that the go .

do you use braid for bait fishing as well

cheers mik


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## fishing mik (Dec 5, 2006)

cheers ken

so how long should the leader be and can you use any line or do you use the stuff that is a bit more abrassion resistance

mik


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

fishing mik said:


> cheers ken
> 
> so how long should the leader be and can you use any line or do you use the stuff that is a bit more abrassion resistance
> 
> mik


Mik, in dirty water the leader need on be 50cm. In clear water you want about 2m. I always tie on more to allow for several lure changes.

Fluorocarbon line is very low visibility and abrasion resistant so is the leader of choice. Note that in today's AFC at Forster, Darren Borg was using 2lb fluoro as his main line so didn't need any leader. You can do the same with the new crystal fireline (tryhard is using this).

Did you see those guys fishing the racks? Locked up drags and just hoiking the fish across racks when they connected. You'll get busted off but they were also putting a few in the well. The gulp shrimp seemed to be the gun plastic.


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## Peter (Oct 27, 2006)

I'm new to all this but have recieved a lot of help from the people on these forums & the local tackle shop people. My wife & I have Kingfishers & are happy to say they are as good or better than we expected (not having much to go off). We've only been in the Richmond half a dozen times & only fished twice.
I bought a 2m Penn Powerspin combo with the 2000 reel & 6lb line, 70 mm Gary glitter squidges with the weight & hook combos recommended by the guy at the shop. My wife ended up with a smaller shimano combo from a shop a the Tweed. Both setups for less than $150 all up. 
Didn't do any good at the area around the ferry & Emigrant Ck (Lat 28.8745979485 Long 153.528851471) but had a conversation with a guy there that uses braid (4lb I think with a flouro leader) does the flick thing in the holes in North Ck & usually gets 4 or five at a time - his rod was a bit lighter than mine (three times the price) & the weights were half that of mine & I think the gary glitters were a bit smaller. 
I caught a nice flatty on Sunday on the incoming tide under Prospect bridge in north ck (lat 28.8483779337 Long 153.570379781) I didn't have to paddle as there were rapids draging me through & at first I thought I had a snag (580 gms without its head & guts) but just as It landed between my legs so did the squidgee & it was separated from the line - lucky I guess but I think I'll be getting some braid with a leader before next weekend.
Good luck -


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Peter said:


> I think I'll be getting some braid with a leader before next weekend.


Peter good to hear you are having some fun with the new yaks.

Seem to recall you were completely new to fishing, and if thats the case I would suggest you stay with mono on your reel for a little longer, as its far more forgiving than braids and gelspun.

When you are completely comfortable with the boats and tackle then make the change by all means


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Nice flathead Peter. Fishing light is great fun and you will get more hookups but you will also lose a few fish as a result, particularly flathead, which are prone to swallowing the lure and sawing through the line. This will happen with a leader as it happens with mono. Be grateful you didn't lose a $20 lure as I have too many times to flathead.

I think Dodge's recommendation is a good one. Stick with the mono as you learn where are the fish and how to target them.

Play around with speed of retrieve when you are casting and retrieving. Try some very slow lift and drop retrieves, occasionally putting in a few short jerks. Bream like it sloooow.


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## Peter (Oct 27, 2006)

Thanks Richo, I'll take your advise & am having a lot of fun with the boats. I tried to send some pics last night but appently they were too big - how do I make them smaller - I noticed you've sent a few photos in the past - Regards peter -(back to work)


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## Peter (Oct 27, 2006)

Cheers Dave


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Peter said:


> I tried to send some pics last night but appently they were too big - how do I make them smaller - I noticed you've sent a few photos in the past -


Peter I use the powertoy resizer in Reds post and as a computer dummy find it a breeze to use, PM if any drama in use.

In My Pictures...right click the image....select resize in the pop down...select 800 size...click OK and its done, with image labelled [med] being your smaller copy for the forum

Good part is retains the original image while giving you the smaller copy for the forum.

Sometime in Feb I'll come down after school goes back and have a paddle of your boat and a coldie


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## fishing mik (Dec 5, 2006)

hey guys just got myself a couple of penn acord 2000 reels for for my penn power stick rods i have one thats 6'6 for soft plastics and my other one is 7 foot for bait fishing all i have to do now is decide on which braid to get geez thers alot to choose from what do use fellows recomend to get

these are te reels http://www.jarviswalker.com.au/Accord.htm

cheers mik


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

fishing mik said:


> hey guys just got myself a couple of penn acord 2000 reels for for my penn power stick rods i have one thats 6'6 for soft plastics and my other one is 7 foot for bait fishing all i have to do now is decide on which braid to get geez thers alot to choose from what do use fellows recomend to get
> 
> these are te reels http://www.jarviswalker.com.au/Accord.htm
> 
> cheers mik


Mik, for soft plastics I recommend you get 125yd of 6lb Fireline, in the Flame Green (very visible). Use some mono as backing (6-10lb), otherwise the braid may spin on the reel.

Don't overfill. You should have at least 2mm of visible lip on the spool. As you have two reels do this:

* tape the fireline to the spool and wind it all on
* tie some mono to it and wind on enough to get a lip of 2-3mm
* cut the mono and tie it onto the other spool
* fill this second spool from the first spool

You should now have a spool filled to 2-3mm, fully topshotted with fireline and mono backing. This way there is no guessing and you don't waste any of the fireline.

I let someone else advise for the bait reel - I really don't know.


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## driftr (Sep 4, 2006)

while on the topic, is there a time frame when you should replace fireline?
I've had 2lb on my micro reel for about 2.5yrs and it seems to snap alot easier then i remember.
Also i dont have any backing its just full fireline with mono leader..

So the best way to do this is to have the majority mono then fireline then your leader?

thanks


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

driftr said:


> while on the topic, is there a time frame when you should replace fireline?
> I've had 2lb on my micro reel for about 2.5yrs and it seems to snap alot easier then i remember.
> Also i dont have any backing its just full fireline with mono leader..
> 
> ...


Fireline can fluff up with use, which will reduce casting distance. If it is breaking easily then it should be replaced. 2.5yrs is a good run. I had some that was breaking, but that had more to do with overfilling the spool and getting lots of wind knots. After a while I was close to the backing so I replaced it. No problems with breakages since.

Don't know about majority mono - depends on the size of the spool. Just enough to give the 2-3mm gap.


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## Peter (Oct 27, 2006)

Any time Richo - just give us a few days notice. By the way - how do you get that section in your reply that states Peter(or whoever)wrote:............ & it's surrounded by a border etc.
I'm about to have a look at that program for modifying photos


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## driftr (Sep 4, 2006)

Peter said:


> how do you get that section in your reply that states Peter(or whoever)wrote:............ & it's surrounded by a border etc


you click the quote button on the top right of the persons post


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