Mono, braid, flouro?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I use spinning gear and only use mono on my reels. Can somebody tell me the advantages of the different types of line? When do you use one type over the other?

[leechlake]

I keep it pretty simple and I'm talking walleyes. For jigging I use all mono. When using "lindy rig" type rigs I have fire line all the way to the swivel and then mono as the leader, some guys use flourocarbon there. The sensitivity of the fireline or another super line is amazing, you feel little rocks and the bottom amazingly. I haven't had too much problem when setting the hook, but since there is no stretch in the super line I just have kind of adapted a little different hook set. It's kind of just reeling in the slack and a firm motion in setting the hook.

The super line needs potentially different knots that won't slip. Another benefit is I change my mono twice a year and the superline about every three years so the additional cost of the super line isn't realistically as high as what you pay. Finally, you can use some mono as a "backer" and add maybe 50 yards of super line.

[Deitz Dittrich]

it really is personal preference..but...

Mono- advantages= cost, castability, knot strength/ Disadvantages= less sensitive

Floro advatages=sinks, has similar reflective index as weater, sensitive, Disad= cost! does not behave well on spinning reels.

Braid advan= sensitive, sensitive, sensitive, casts well, thin for strength, dis=cost, easy for fish to see, knot strength.

[OnAFly]

Using a palomar know, I've not had issues with know strength using braid. I have had issues with it pulling out of albright knots trying to tie on mono leaders. I switched to a uni-uni or other butt-butt style knots and it works fine.

[delcecchi]

In-Fisherman had an article by doug stange about the new lines. He uses nanofil and sufix 832 on his spinning outfits, with a fluorocarbon leader. You might be able to find the article at their site. Not sure whether it was in the "gear guide" or one of the recent issues.

[Walleyehunter38]

If your not familiar with the many knots out there and their best uses, it would be a good investment of time to research and experiment. Knowing the proper knots is very important when experimenting with new lines.

[Mistermojo]

I haven't fished with flourocarbon, but have used braid and mono on spinning reels.

I have converted all of my spinning reels to power pro and will not go back to mono, as I am tired of the twisting and looping I get. End up wasting more line cutting out tangles. I've tried Trilene, stren, and bionic with no luck. I also like the sensitivity of braid and that in trolling, the line diameter is smaller so you need less line out to achieve the same depth as mono.

As far as braid goes, I've used power pro and fireline. I prefer power pro because it seems to come off the spool easier than fireline. Power Pro has a round shape, where fireline is flat (think dental floss.) The only downside to braid is trying to break off a snag while trolling. I have a glove along for this purpose so it doesn't cut into my hand. The palomar knot is super easy to tie and works fine with braid. I even use it with my other reels that have mono.

I'd say switch one of your reels to braid and see what you think. Not too spendy to do one reel and you'll get a good feel for it instead of just taking our advice.

Mojo

[solbes]

Fireline is a little ovalized, but certainly not flat. Look at it under a scope sometime. The ovalized shape does help it cut through the water with a tad less resistance, which can get lures a little deeper during trolling.

I use Fireline for trolling, spinner rigs, lindy, casting. Especially for trolling you can feel every weed tick and can instanly tell when your lure is fouled. I sometimes use a 3' fluoro leader on my Fireline and sometimes not. Even with a well tied uni-uni knot between, I sometimes get a breakage there. Mono for jigging and slip bobber rods.

I use power pro in my baitcasters for large pike. The heavy stuff works really well for that (50-65 lb).

[FisH_SLaYer24]

Mono: I use for my vertical jigging, slip bobber, and topwater bass rods.

Braid: I usually tie an 18"-36" fluorocarbon leader and fish it for pitching jigs, rigging, and casting cranks.

Fluorocarbon: I only use fluorocarbon for tying leaders.

[tunrevir]

I like Dietz's analogy and I'd add: Mono stretch vs. no stretch(still more then braid even xt),

Fluro sinks, braid yes, even 832 sinks to a degree as does mono if your on the water long enough.

Nick resistance: Fluro pretty decent, mono Pretty decent, braid very good. Now these are genralizations and mono may perform alot better with stretch then other lines in certain situations or a braid or stiffer mono or fluro for the application YOU use it for.

So I have to go with; use the line that best suits the apps you want to fish with. Each line has strengths and weakneses depending on the application. If you are avid, line means alot for the apps that you use, & for the fish you like to catch, if your a once in awhile, I get on the lake guy, line doesn't matter nearly as much. So you need to ask yourself, do I fish (X) type of fish primarily? Do I use the same rigs for other species? Am I looking at versatility or a specific application to fish for the species I am after?

Tunrevir~

[delcecchi]

I use braid for pretty much everything.

[delmuts]

I use all three on different rods and presentations.

I still like my solar XT for panishing,( 4 &6lb) but do have one spool loaded with 2/10 braid for fishing in weeds and brush.

Most of my rods do have braid on them and will use a flouro leader, although i have one spool loaded with 6 lb flouro ( when fishing cold weather and can't used braid) and one casting rod with 12 lb flouro for crankbaits.

I still feel line is like my rods. It is a tool for different presentations.

[B17]

I used braid only for years. I would tie on a leader if needed. Then last fall I switched to mono and I never caught so many fish in such a short amount a time. Maybe it was just luck, maybe not. I dont think it was.

All my rods are mono this year. Ive 6# on my light spinning rod, 12# on my medium baitcaster rig, and 30# Big Game on my heavy baitcaster rig.

[LindellProStaf]

I was at Ted Capras store about 20 years ago to get my first Fireline. I was excited that he was there and actually got to talk to him. He told me the pros and cons to the new lines. He said all there used to be was the dacron braids. No stretch. When mono came along everyone caught more fish. The stretch kept the line tight yet didn't pull the hook out of the fishes mouth. Now they want to sell more line so they are thinking up new things to market. The smaller diameter does allow it to go deeper when crankbaiting or trolling but you lose the forgiveness of mono. Pros and Cons. I have some rods spooled up with the "new" lines but prefer mono.

[Kyhl]

A lot of truth to that. When going to a braid you need to either lighten your rod or change your hook set.

Btw, all my rods are braid. Including my crappie rod that caught (and released) 40 crappies on Sunday.

[Mcfin]

I use mono with fluro leader. If fishing walleye, or panfish or bass, you are less likely to be bit off when jaws hits your line.

[20lbSloughShark]

I was at Ted Capras store about 20 years ago to get my first Fireline. I was excited that he was there and actually got to talk to him. He told me the pros and cons to the new lines. He said all there used to be was the dacron braids. No stretch. When mono came along everyone caught more fish. The stretch kept the line tight yet didn't pull the hook out of the fishes mouth. Now they want to sell more line so they are thinking up new things to market. The smaller diameter does allow it to go deeper when crankbaiting or trolling but you lose the forgiveness of mono. Pros and Cons. I have some rods spooled up with the "new" lines but prefer mono.

It might have been the theory, but for most of my situations braid will always be my first choice. I'm only 18 and I remember using "braid" which was low strength dacron when I was little. My dad bought a big spool of it (probably because it was on sale) spiderwire was too expensive then, but to this day, I would take dacron over mono. When I prefer mono is for all panfish (it is too easy to over set a hook on the paper mouth of sunnies and crappie), of for certain leaders. All work great, some work better in certain situations, but for me driving big hooks into big pike, I will take braid.

[Comit 2]

I use Mono for corkin only. It floats and bobber stoppers have something to hold on to.

Supper braids like fireline cast better and way,way,way,way,way,way,way,way less rabbit ears (like twist problems).

[CaptainMusky]

Deitz nailed it. I have braid on all my spinning rods for walleyes with a fluoro leader. If I am rigging for walleyes I dont have a fluoro leader, but the snell itself is fluoro.

Mono has some stretch to it where the others do not so sometimes its nice to have the shock absorption of mono like jig fishing or even trolling cranks, but 95% of the time its braid/fluoro for me.