Mono vs fluro vs braid - FishingTN.com Tennessee's Fishing and Boating Community

JKTrevecca · #1 09-09-2014, 09:32 PM

Looking for advice. I went fishing Saturday and caught a 29.5 pound striper. And now.... the rest of the story. (Paul Harvey was the man) anyway...

We hooked up with a total of 9 huge fish Saturday morning and only managed to get 1 in the boat. 3 pulled drag and spit out the bait/hook. 2 overpowered our gear and pulled us into nearby brush and trees never to be seen again. The other 3 broke the line at the hook after pulling drag for several yards. I use abu garcia ambassadors with 20 pd mono and 20 pd fluro leaders. 7 foot ugly sticks. I tie polymer knots everywhere with a swivel between the mono and fluro.

Mere told me that fluro is more brittle than mono and will break at about 80% of it's rated capacity.

I keep reliving those 3 fish that we lost due to break offs and it's like a bad nightmare. What would you recommend to prevent that in the future? Is a polymer knot acceptable for fluro? Does 20 pd fluro break before 20 pd mono as a rule of thumb? I'm not a huge fan of the idea of using braid because of the lack of stretch the price and the "limp" tendencies. Just a style/preference issue I suppose.

I just want to get those fish in the boat and want to solicit ideas from y'all. I am convinced we had at least 2 fish hooked up that were bigger than the 29.5 I got into the boat.

One more thing... catching that 29.5 was awesome. It was caught on live bait 10 feet deep. All the sudden, the rod got slack in it, the line got slack in it too. I looked over the edge of the boat and saw the shad swimming straight up to the surface with the 2 ounce egg sinker following behind. When he was about 1 foot from the surface the striper engulfed him right in front of my eyes. It will forever be in my memory. Very fun morning.

Thanks for reading... looking forward to your responses.

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

ttitan27 · #2 09-09-2014, 11:07 PM

Just my opinion but here it goes. I have wrestled these fish for many years now and have tried different things. Mono, braid, fluro.

For me, all I ever use is 17 pound mono. I fish med to med/heavy rods and garcia 5500c reels. It is incredibly rare to have one break off. About the only time it happens is when one wraps around a log. When that happens, it doesn't matter what kind of line you have because it will break.

Why not 20 lb mono? For me 17 is easier to cast.

Why not fluorocarbon line? Too stiff for my liking and too expensive.

Why not braid? Don't like tying or cutting and the fact that it doesn't have stretch. I like stretch in line. Also too expensive.

Why not braid with mono or fluoro leader? Because then you might as well be fishing with mono or fluoro all the way. You are only as strong as your weakest link. The braid may be stronger but it is anchored with mono. A short mono leader is weaker than the whole of the braid. Why not save money and go mono all the way?

To me one of the most critical things when landing a 30+ pound rockfish is having the proper drag setting. There is a very thin line between "just right" and way the hell off. Too tight and you will pull hooks or break line. Too loose and you will never turn a fish and you will wind up in the timber with a fish breaking off every time. So what is the proper setting? No set answer I'm afraid. It comes with trial and error and getting the feel for the fish and your tackle.

Oh yea, I solely use a improved clinch knot. Its what my dad taught me 40 years ago and it is what I use still. I think a palomar knot is also excellent but I am just more comfortable with the clinch.

Like I said, this is just my opinion on line for rockfish.

#3 09-09-2014, 11:12 PM

I would recommend a (Bimini twist) on your mono before an (Albright) to your leader. Bimini twist will maximize both your line compasity strength on pressures to both your line and leader as well as doubles your chances in terms of being tail whipped or cut off by brush. I would stick to fluorocarbon leader, maybe bump it to 30 is not going to hurt your chances of bite, due to most the mud / dark waters here. I would also suggest circle hooks to ensure a quality lip hook with no need to set.
I use this for salt water snook and tarpon fishing, which I have found is very similar to some of the Striper fishing here in Tennessee.
Best of luck

Adrian · #4 09-10-2014, 12:17 AM

I use 50lb & 80lb Braid. I tie the hook straight to the Braid. I never lose Big Fish. Take a look at my photos on my posts. You can straighten out a hook if your hook is not very big, which is what I use sometimes, you just can't horse those in. I will say, I get waaaaaay more hits on the 50lb line. So I think this week I'm changing over to 50lb Braid all around.

P.S. using a Palomar knot.

agelesssone · #5 09-10-2014, 05:48 AM

Excellent questions and answers!
This is what I joined this forum for, experienced fishermen sharing knowledge, opinions, wisdom. Thanks to all who threw in their opinions.

JKTrevecca · #6 09-10-2014, 06:59 AM

Great info guys. Thank You. Any of you have stories like mine? Hooked up with several huge fish and only get 1 in the boat. Gosh man.. I just can't get over it.

TTitan27 (isn't eddie george long gone?) - So what you're saying is you don't think my line was the issue. Right? If not my line, I suppose all that's left if poorly set drag or..... USER ERROR during the fight. Dang it! I want so bad for it to be something other than my dumb butter fingers.

JKTrevecca · #7 09-10-2014, 07:00 AM

Salty... can you elaborate on what a "bimini twist" and whatever that other thing is you mentioned?

ttitan27 · #8 09-10-2014, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKTrevecca

Great info guys. Thank You. Any of you have stories like mine? Hooked up with several huge fish and only get 1 in the boat. Gosh man.. I just can't get over it.

TTitan27 (isn't eddie george long gone?) - So what you're saying is you don't think my line was the issue. Right? If not my line, I suppose all that's left if poorly set drag or..... USER ERROR during the fight. Dang it! I want so bad for it to be something other than my dumb butter fingers.

Many years ago when I first started using ttitan27, Eddie was my favorite player so I used it a few times on various boards and kind of stuck with it. Except on tndeer.com, I am known as dbllunger.

Your type of fishing for stripers and mine I believe is similar. River type water. Unless you are using heavy gear to winch them in, I think drag set is just about the most important issue there is. I personally like to fight the fish once they are hooked and I guess that is a big reason I fish with the setup I do.

Saltwaterwalt · #9 09-10-2014, 08:31 AM

+1 to what Salty sez. Circle hooks and 30lb mono is the set-up I use for tarpon and I've landed them up to 100lbs on this set-up.

I will say you guys got me fired up about this stripe fishing stuff with all the photos. I need to dust off my saltwater gear, put away the flyfishing stuff and get out on some local striper water. Be pretty neat catching saltwater size fish without having to "leave the farm."

Big fish, big pull is what I like ... the tug is the drug. Which is why sometimes I just go to Ashland City and snag some of those crazy asian carp, that's a blast too.

I know I've PM'd this short
video to a few before, but thought I'd share with all. These were 20lb+ silver carp on 12lb leaders. We would lose some if they went into "the wood" but most times we could turn then back out and keep them in the middle of the river. It was good testing for our saltwater fly rods to see what they could handle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Gtn79cm0I

aero320 · #10 09-10-2014, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saltwaterwalt

+1 to what Salty sez. Circle hooks and 30lb mono is the set-up I use for tarpon and I've landed them up to 100lbs on this set-up.

I will say you guys got me fired up about this stripe fishing stuff with all the photos. I need to dust off my saltwater gear, put away the flyfishing stuff and get out on some local striper water. Be pretty neat catching saltwater size fish without having to "leave the farm."

Big fish, big pull is what I like ... the tug is the drug. Which is why sometimes I just go to Ashland City and snag some of those crazy asian carp, that's a blast too.

I know I've PM'd this short
video to a few before, but thought I'd share with all. These were 20lb+ silver carp on 12lb leaders. We would lose some if they went into "the wood" but most times we could turn then back out and keep them in the middle of the river. It was good testing for our saltwater fly rods to see what they could handle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Gtn79cm0I

How about posting some additional information on catching the Asian carp. I would like to try that! (Maybe start a new thread on the topic).

TNBronzeback · #11 09-10-2014, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKTrevecca

Great info guys. Thank You. Any of you have stories like mine? Hooked up with several huge fish and only get 1 in the boat. Gosh man.. I just can't get over it.

TTitan27 (isn't eddie george long gone?) - So what you're saying is you don't think my line was the issue. Right? If not my line, I suppose all that's left if poorly set drag or..... USER ERROR during the fight. Dang it! I want so bad for it to be something other than my dumb butter fingers.

Been there!!!!....its a kick to cherries no doubt. My solution so far and it has worked, has been to beef up my tackle overall. 30lb mono, stiffer rod, bigger reel with stouter drag.....hammer the fish and just start cranking to get them to turn away from the timber. To me, as much fun as it is landing big fish, it sucks to have to horse them like that at first, but if you dont you will be saddened alot more when they tangle you in the timber. This timber/close quarters striper fishing during the summer is different than how i fish in the spring so im constantly trying to find a better method to increase my chances. My best luck overall has been with 30lb big game mono. Its a bear to tie and cast and comes off the reel horribly, but its stout and has gotten the job done so far for me this year.

aero320 · #12 09-10-2014, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKTrevecca

Looking for advice. I went fishing Saturday and caught a 29.5 pound striper. And now.... the rest of the story. (Paul Harvey was the man) anyway...

We hooked up with a total of 9 huge fish Saturday morning and only managed to get 1 in the boat. 3 pulled drag and spit out the bait/hook. 2 overpowered our gear and pulled us into nearby brush and trees never to be seen again. The other 3 broke the line at the hook after pulling drag for several yards. I use abu garcia ambassadors with 20 pd mono and 20 pd fluro leaders. 7 foot ugly sticks. I tie polymer knots everywhere with a swivel between the mono and fluro.

Mere told me that fluro is more brittle than mono and will break at about 80% of it's rated capacity.

I keep reliving those 3 fish that we lost due to break offs and it's like a bad nightmare. What would you recommend to prevent that in the future? Is a polymer knot acceptable for fluro? Does 20 pd fluro break before 20 pd mono as a rule of thumb? I'm not a huge fan of the idea of using braid because of the lack of stretch the price and the "limp" tendencies. Just a style/preference issue I suppose.

I just want to get those fish in the boat and want to solicit ideas from y'all. I am convinced we had at least 2 fish hooked up that were bigger than the 29.5 I got into the boat.

One more thing... catching that 29.5 was awesome. It was caught on live bait 10 feet deep. All the sudden, the rod got slack in it, the line got slack in it too. I looked over the edge of the boat and saw the shad swimming straight up to the surface with the 2 ounce egg sinker following behind. When he was about 1 foot from the surface the striper engulfed him right in front of my eyes. It will forever be in my memory. Very fun morning.

Thanks for reading... looking forward to your responses.

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

Here is my two cents worth. For the most part, I am using 20 pound Power Pro braid with 20 pound Fluorocarbon leader connected with a barrel swivel. I use Palomar knots for almost everything. When they had the "Knot Wars" segments on the fishing shows a couple of years ago, the strongest knots were the ones that had the line pass through the hook eye twice (as does the Palomar).

I am using the 7' Ugly Stiks with medium action. That softer tip compensates for the lack of stretch in the braid. I have noticed that when one of the rods gets hung up and needs to be pulled free that the break is never in the braid (which supports Merv's observation about Fluorocarbon strength). I personally do not like braid but the small diameter (same as 6 pound mono) works really well when trolling with Bandit 300's. The baits will run deeper.

For heavier applications (Tennessee Thumpers, umbrellas, etc.) i am using 30 pound Big Game mono and 7' Medium Heavy Ugly Stiks with 30 pound Fluorocarbon leaders. Also using this for larger fish setups.

For big baits (skippies) and river fishing, I use 50 pound Big Game and 50 pound fluorocarbon leaders.

Regardless of the line weight, the drags need to be set fairly light initially. Once the hook-up is made, you can tighten the drags based on the pull from the fish. A couple of years ago, I had 50 pound broken at the steam plant because the drag was frozen on the reel. This summer, I had 30 pound broken at Tims Ford and lost a Tennessee Thumper rig along with a large fish. Once again, the drag was too tight for that initial surge!

Reel Tune · #13 09-10-2014, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKTrevecca

Salty... can you elaborate on what a "bimini twist" and whatever that other thing is you mentioned?

A very knowledgeable person on these boards, that doesn't visit much uses these a lot

http://www.proknot.com/html/bimini_twist.html

Travis C. · #14 09-10-2014, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidTNKayakAngler

A very knowledgeable person on these boards, that doesn't visit much uses these a lot

http://www.proknot.com/html/bimini_twist.html

If we are thinking of the same person, his Spider Hitch to an Offshore Swivel knot is all I use now on the braid to swivel connection. Your braid will break before that knot attaching the swivel does.

TNBronzeback · #15 09-10-2014, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidTNKayakAngler

A very knowledgeable person on these boards, that doesn't visit much uses these a lot

http://www.proknot.com/html/bimini_twist.html

that is one heck of a knot! looks like ya burn about 18" of line each time ya tie it.
Im no knot expert, nor am i questioning any thing about this, but that just looks like a ton of wraps and hoops to tie a knot. im not doubting it, i mean clearly it must work, but whew....20 wraps the initial time, then looks like another 20, then looping thru and more wraps. LOL.
im not judging, if it works it works.