Braided line for panfish?

[carp master]

Would braided line work on an ultralight set up for panfish?

[Brad B]

let me ask you this why would you need a braid on a little fish. Braid is more expensive so why would you want to spend the extra money. I can't see any advantage to using braid. if you used it you would still put on a mono or flourocarbon leader on it to prevent spooking the fish.

[carp master]

Because when I fish for the little guys every once in a while a northern thinks my bait is his lunch and snaps my line and i loose my tackle and it makes me mad.

[waterbound]

I imagine you could have some pretty good luck using a braid for pannies. You can spool a reel up with 8 pound PowerPro that has the same diameter as 1 pound mono. If the fish are being very finicky or the water is unbelievably clear you might need to switch to mono, but otherwise I think the braid would provide you the power you need to save lures that might otherwise be lost to pike (unless you get bit off) and still be small enough to have success for pannies.

[goblueM]

i like braid for fishing light jigs and such

as far as the expense... i've used the same spool of braid for 3 years on several rods. Versus spooling up 3 or 4 times a year with new mono. I think it might actually be cheaper to use braid...

[Dark Cloud]

Braids have some definate advantages on most panfish set-ups. I prefer 4/1 fireline(trust me, it's alot stronger than 4#)

The first advantage is casting. Iv'e yet to see a similar combo outcast fireline(I dont have much experience with other brands but know people that love powerpro). When casting light jigs the distance can really help, or just casting bobber set-ups to spooky fish.

The non stretch factor of braids really helps with hook-sets on those longer casts.

Also the sensititivity of braids is far superior for detecting hits...

Alot of the time I tie direct or in some situations i'll tie on a small 12 or 14 swivel then a 2 ft piece of flourcarbon leader...

And the stuff last forever. Fill your reel 2/3rds of the way with mono then top off with the braid. On regularly used rigs I get a couple years out of it before "flipping" the braid to use the part near the mono that hasn't seen use...

[Heatseeker]

Absolutely, 1/8 Powerpro is a great line. Have had it on my ice rods for 6 years now. Just trim 30 feet a year off to keep it fresh. It has perhaps the 2 biggest advantages you could ask for with finicky sunfish. First, creates the sensitivity to detect light biters if you are not using a camera for viewing. I have seen plenty of days where it has meant the difference between a limit and just a few. Second,it greatly reduces line twist. Line twist will spook panfish more than anything else. I would recommend a 2# fluorocarbon leader of 18 inches. (i understand this defeats your original purpose of spooling up with the braid, but a leader is important with clear water. Losing a few hooks is a very small price to pay for the success you will have)Spool up with confidence and start noticing a difference in your catch today!

[MikeLaundry]

I was using Berkley Fire Line fused (8# smoke) all last year on a rod that I used for jig fishing walleyes, and bass, and another one for pan fish. It worked great for all of them, but as far as pan fish go, when I got into a bunch of 8-9in bluegills that wanted to dive into the weeds the line went through the lighter weeds like a weed whip, and I didn't worry about loosing them if they dove into the thick stuff, I could just pull the weeds in with the fish. I also found that when fishing around timber for crappies with live bait that when I got snagged, I could pull and straiten the hook out without loosing everything.

I tried using clear leaders, and some tied right to the smoked line, and it didn't seem to make any difference to the fish, they would take it either way. So I'm going to spool up with the same stuff this year too.

[mainbutter]

I don't have a panfish-specific rod (until I got my fly rod that is), so I often use one of my medium setups which both have 20-30lb braided line.

Open water sunfish never seemed to mind.

[Fred_Bear]

I switched from 4 lb fireline to 4 lb trilene red box and haven't thought about changing back for years.

For sunfish braid is fine but for crappies mono is superior (and MUCH cheaper!) The reason is line stretch. I mostly troll or cast for crappies, not much bobber watching.

My bite and hookup frequency never really changed but getting hooked fish into the boat definitely did. Braid has no stretch and makes a larger hole in a soft crappie mouth making it easier for the hook to come out. I lost a lot more crappies with braid then I do now with mono.

As stated the advantages to braid are strength and casting distance. To counter those I change mono line every 2-4 weeks and it is plenty strong to handle pannies and the occasional pike, lmb, or walleye. For better casting distance I use 6 1/2 to 7 foot rods.

The one problem that still remains with mono is line twist when doing a lot of cast and retrieve. It gets bad sometimes but letting a lot of line out with no lure at about 5 mph fixes that problem pretty well.

The times I still use braid for crappies is if I'm fishing deep water suspended fish for better sensitivity or bobber fishing in very high winds to keep less slack line between me and the float.

[Kodiak]

i have seen a lot of guys go to power pro for everything... myself i only use it for my ski setup. you wouldnt be the only one doing it, i can tell you that for sure so i say go for it!

i use 100% flourocarbon on my ul pannie setup and i am liking it better than the mono i used to use, less missed hooksets.

[harvey lee]

I have Viscious braid on a few of my panfish rods and have been very happy with the line.

[foulpole18]

I use 4# fireline on a rod for tiny crankbaits. Works great. Florocarbon on the rest for panfish

[Kodiak]

i went to the crystal ice fireline on my ice rods this year, it worked flawlessly.

[CJH]

I have used Fireline on my casting UL and then have a Gamma on my Slip Bobber Rig for a more stealthy presentation. You can just cast the light stuff so much better with the thin braid.