What's thin braid for?

[ghadarits]

How do you join those?

I tie what I believe is a uni knot. Google braid to fluorocarbon knot. That will give you a good place to start.

 

[Darkhorse]

A uni to uni knot is the easiest to tie but also t he weakest.

I don't hesitate to spool a baitcaster with braid of any diameter but the lightest I've used was 10 pound suffix and I had no-zero problems with it. I have a couple of baitcasters spooled with Mono for crankbaits. Mono is a personal choice. I only use floro for leaders. All the rest are spooled with 15-20 pound braid.
My spinners carry from 8 pound to 40 pound.
For all braid on all reels I spool the same way. First 10 to 15 yards of mono tied to the braid with uni knots. I walk off the approx. yardage the reel will carry using a pencil or screwdriver through the hole in the spool and then tie the spool so it doesn't spin. I walk back and set the drag tight then walk back to the spool reeling in the braid as I go. The rod should be bent just shy of releasing any drag or more. The goal is to get the reel spooled tight.
Learn this and you will have no more digging in or any of the braid problems mentioned.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

How do you join those?

I think the majority of fishermen use a double Uni knot to attach braid to fluoro. Increasingly more fishermen, myself included, tie the FG knot. It's the slimmest diameter knot possible. A double uni knot will catch on your guides as you cast, affecting distance and eventually popping your guides out. The FG is so slim, it doesn't have either of those negative effects. Learn to tie it and learn to trust it. I think a lot of guys give up on it when they tie it incorrectly and it slips.

 

[LCT]

30lb minimum on baitcaster.

 

[TKLB]

How do you join those?

I use an alberto knot. I used to use a blood knot, but I find that it is really hard to tie on lighter fluorocarbon without buring it. Alberto with 7 wraps up and 7wraps back down works for most applications. Nice and small and no problems going in and out of the guides or the reel. The only time I use a different number of wraps, is I used 9 up and 9 down when I was using FC Sniper. It has a slipperier surface, and the 7x7 wrap knot would slip. Now I am using P-Line Fluoro, and the 7x7 wraps works great.

 

[TKLB]

Off topic, but I wonder how anyone caught any fish with a cane pole and string back in the day reading through the different setups on here for this presentation, that presentation.
Guess that’s why I do more fishing than catching apparently.

In all fairness, and I see this type of argument on here a lot, but you could say that about anything. People used to catch fish with just a flasher. People used to catch fish with just mono. People used to catch fish with... And while it is true, most people are trying to maximize their catches in either weight, numbers or both.

To me, personally, part of the magic of fishing is constantly learning, and figuring out another tiny little piece of the puzzle. Maybe a new technique, or whatever, but the progress and learning is very enjoyable to me. Integrating new technologies, that I can afford, is fun as well.

That is not everybody's aim, which is fine. Some guys just go out there and do what they are comfortable with. And that is great. There is no right or wrong, do what you enjoy, right? There are a lot of different aspects to fishing, and they call to us in different ways. To your point, there are some guys that could out fish most of us on here with a zebco 44 and a plastic lizard.

 

[Darkhorse]

30lb minimum on baitcaster.

Is this a rule you guys have read somewhere? I guess I missed the notice because I fish lighter braid with great success. The heaviest braid I use in fresh water is 20 pound. And mostly I don't use a leader either. I paint the last 6 feet or so with black magic marker and tie directly to the hook.
I do a lot of fishing in a private pond down in the woods. I have to use my 4wd to launch and retrieve. This pond has bass to at least 12 pounds and every other year or so I'll land a 10-11 pounder. There is a lot of wood under the water and most of the bass will try to wrap you up in limbs and stuff. I have never had one break 20 pound braid so why do I need 50 pound line.
20 pound casts farther and is harder for the fish to see. The rule really says to match line diameter to the fish, structure and technique.
Practice your knot tying. Put a coke can out on the yard and practice hitting it with your baitcaster. Practice a lot. Practice your roll casts until you can cast under limbs and still hit that can. Then practice some more.
Most of you guys really need to expand your techniques, your success rate will improve.
Best of luck to you all and I really mean that.

 

[James12]

I fish 10lb-20lb braid on my spinning reels, usually with Fluoro leaders... depends on my lure or type of fishing. I’ll use 20-40lb on my baitcasters. I can throw a swimjig on 20lb braid and further than with mono or anything else - Lews SuperDuty.
Some of that’s not ideal I know, but I can’t change .

 

[GA BASS ODYSSEY]

On my crappie/bream spinning rigs I use 8lb braid with 8 or less Fluoro leaders. Super sensitive and I can cast a country mile. I have one bait caster I use 50 lb braid with Fluoro leader for bass. The rest of my bass rigs are spinning reels with 30lb braid with 15lb fluoro leader. These setups fit me and I get the best casting distance, strength and feel. When you spool up you reels with braid, spool on some mono first. Saves some money and cuts down on the braid digging/burrowing into itself .

 

[hipster dufus]

Dont use braid at all. Use floro on my texas rig n crankbait rods. 12 or 15. My only spinning rod gets 8# mono. Use 12 # on my other baitcasting rigs. I put electrical tape on all my spools as backing, then put about 1 1/2 driveway lenghts on. Prolly 70-80 yds.i still get a lot of really bad backlashes. Saves time respooling n money

 

[AceOfTheBase]

Use 30# braid with mono leaders on all my open face spinning reels. Its really good for walk'n the dog and poppers.
I use : tripple surgeon knot for braid to mono.
Its easy to do in the boat and its simple knot.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

Fish are smarter than they used to be, because they see many more presentations trying to trick them into biting.

For me, the big advantage of thin braid is casting distance. I spool it tight and digging in is seldom a problem unless I break off with a lot of line out and reel a lot of line back in without resistance.

Another advantage of thin braid is to get the lure deep when trolling with less line out.

 

[LCT]

Is this a rule you guys have read somewhere? I guess I missed the notice because I fish lighter braid with great success. The heaviest braid I use in fresh water is 20 pound. And mostly I don't use a leader either. I paint the last 6 feet or so with black magic marker and tie directly to the hook.
I do a lot of fishing in a private pond down in the woods. I have to use my 4wd to launch and retrieve. This pond has bass to at least 12 pounds and every other year or so I'll land a 10-11 pounder. There is a lot of wood under the water and most of the bass will try to wrap you up in limbs and stuff. I have never had one break 20 pound braid so why do I need 50 pound line.
20 pound casts farther and is harder for the fish to see. The rule really says to match line diameter to the fish, structure and technique.
Practice your knot tying. Put a coke can out on the yard and practice hitting it with your baitcaster. Practice a lot. Practice your roll casts until you can cast under limbs and still hit that can. Then practice some more.
Most of you guys really need to expand your techniques, your success rate will improve.
Best of luck to you all and I really mean that.

Its based on diameter of the braid, which is very thin compared to mono and floro. Too thin of braid on a baitcaster and it tends to dig into itself and causes issues. If you are going braid, anything below 30# braid put it on a spinning reel. This is not the case for those giant spinning reels for saltwater.

 

[James12]

Fish are smarter than they used to be, because they see many more presentations trying to trick them into biting.

For me, the big advantage of thin braid is casting distance. I spool it tight and digging in is seldom a problem unless I break off with a lot of line out and reel a lot of line back in without resistance.

Another advantage of thin braid is to get the lure deep when trolling with less line out.

Listen to the drums folks ??

 

[James12]

Its based on diameter of the braid, which is very thin compared to mono and floro. Too thin of braid on a baitcaster and it tends to dig into itself and causes issues. If you are going braid, anything below 30# braid put it on a spinning reel. This is not the case for those giant spinning reels for saltwater.

I never have any issue when using thin braid on a baitcaster, it’s all in how it’s spooled on and fished. Many folks using baitcasters aren’t experienced and their casting over time starts this loosening process too.

 

[LCT]

I never have any issue when using thin braid on a baitcaster, it’s all in how it’s spooled on and fished. Many folks using baitcasters aren’t experienced and their casting over time starts this loosening process too.

 

[Ra2bach]

I think the majority of fishermen use a double Uni knot to attach braid to fluoro. Increasingly more fishermen, myself included, tie the FG knot. It's the slimmest diameter knot possible. A double uni knot will catch on your guides as you cast, affecting distance and eventually popping your guides out. The FG is so slim, it doesn't have either of those negative effects. Learn to tie it and learn to trust it. I think a lot of guys give up on it when they tie it incorrectly and it slips.

what about the blood knot?..

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

what about the blood knot?..

Blood knot works very well with lines of the same diameter. Usually, braid is a thinner diameter than the fluoro leader. And the blood knot is 3 diameters thick (main line, wraps, and then tag line). The FG knot is only 2 diameters (main line and wraps that end with a half hitch). As far as I know, the FG is the thinnest knot out there and one of the strongest, if not THE strongest knots.

 

[Old Yapper]

Fish are smarter than they used to be, because they see many more presentations trying to trick them into biting.
For me, the big advantage of thin braid is casting distance. I spool it tight and digging in is seldom a problem unless I break off with a lot of line out and reel a lot of line back in without resistance.
Another advantage of thin braid is to get the lure deep when trolling with less line out.

Awww come on pardner.
"Fish are smarter"…..?
A fish has a pea sized brain and has never had an original thought in its life. Anything he does, he does in spite of himself.
He does have a limited instinct for survival, but could hardly compare to the brains of the higher creatures such as mammals like deer, bear, foxes, dogs and cats.
The reason we fail to catch him is not because some fish are "wise old birds", it's because we've depended too much on action, color, and size of lures or various tools instead of depth and speed control to force him to strike...not feed. (and we fail to take into account certain adverse weather and water conditions that cause him to become inactive)
If a fish ever does any "thinking" it's after I get him on the stringer or in the live box.
That's not me, the "Old Yapper",doing the preaching. I learned all of that 50 years ago from the greatest fisherman who ever lived...Buck Perry.

 

[Rich M]

I have a 10 bearing Pinnacle baitcaster I've really been struggling with. It gets backlash no matter what I do. The other day I was at Walmart and on a whim I purchased a couple of spools of 20 lb. Berkley Big Game braid. Note, this is only my second time ever using braid. The reason I bought 20 lb. is because it had such a small diameter. Yesterday I spooled it up and right away I was casting the reel just fine,, no backlashing. Life was good right up until it began digging/burrowing into itself on the spool. After doing some reading today, that is evidently a prevalent issue with using small diameter braid and reportedly is why most bass fishermen use 50 plus pound braid. I thought about taking it off and putting it on a spinning reel,,,,, but it makes sense that it would burrow on any type of spool. Got me to thinking,,, just what is this light braided line made for?

The reel needs to be set for the lure or bait and it'll work better.

The braid is digging in because it's not on the spool tightly enough.

20# braid is like the diameter of 4 or 6 pound mono. It will work fine on a small spinning reel.