Mono line forgotten and underrated?
I've reverted to including more monofilament line in my armament.
The obvious benefit of braid is longer casts and more line spooled. Plus no stretch if that's what you want.
But I've assembled a 12lb and 20lb outfit. Using Berkley trilene, $13 for 1000m.
The 12lb can cast metal lures and stick baits far enough, maybe 75-85% that of braid. Admittedly the reel and rod are very well balanced and the lures are 30-50 grams.
Then the 20lb setup has been able to pull in big, 10-15kg stingrays. Whilst hunting mulloway.
So what are the pros?
1. 2-5x cheaper
2. Far less wind knots
3. More abrasion resistant. I find braid can "ping".
4. Doesn't fray from casting. I find braid thins after many many casts spinning for tailor and salmon.
5. Also if you are lobbing out 4oz sinkers and half a herring, does braid really matter? I think it adds 4-5m more distance.
BC
straith
Posts: 419
Date Joined: 25/11/13
im over braid
talking purely from a boat demersal bottom bouncing or pelagic trolling perspective im going back to simple mono/fluoro, braid knots shit me to death and I dont need fancy connecting knots.
anything that can spool 1000 metres is gone anyway im guessing and too big for my boat lol
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17941
Date Joined: 11/03/08
I use braid but run a decent
I use braid but run a decent length of mono as a shock leader. You do feel the bites a lot better than mono. All depends on style of fishing I spose. If you land base fish with reef or rocks around mono would be a benefit. I have seen on you tube more people are reverting back to mono for shallow water snapper fishing. Each has pros and cons.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Da pirate
Posts: 1548
Date Joined: 03/05/15
Few things ,
Few things there br3nno I would like too witness
myself ? Lobbing a 4oz sinker getting another 4/5ms
on your cast . And 10 too a15 kg ray on 20lb ?
I think very possible but would be a lengthy fight!
cheers pirate
Da pirate
Posts: 1548
Date Joined: 03/05/15
My view …
My view on this is .. you get middle range
gear as in reels and rods ? Look after them
and they will last !!! Then use high end terminal
as in line leader hooks swivels and so on. ! If your
going for all the effort and using $13 mono for
1000ms coz its cheap ! then all that goes out
the window !!! Not saying you need a Stella to
catch fish ! But taking short cuts on terminal
you may aswell go too Kmart for your gear .
I use halco for my trolling gear and black magic
for my fluro and jigs . No fancy nomad lures or
Daiwa jigs ! I'm spending $12 on a jig because it
does the job at a good price ... middle range
gear all the way ! Until powerball comes thru !
Cheers pirate..
uncle
Posts: 9427
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Elder statsmen here
I prefer mono, I have briad as well, it's easier to tie knots etc with my fadding eye sight and not so nimble fingers
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
Reefsta
Posts: 290
Date Joined: 03/08/19
Horses for courses
Agree that mono can be a great option still. Grew up rock fishing with abrasion resistant nylon, like the original Tortue, and still feel more comfortable with it in that situation. But these days I'm mainly fishing braid with leaders for nearly everything. Better distance with cast and less drag on drops. Where neither of those criteria are important I still prefer mono for simplicity. I currently fish both 50lb mono and braid for shallow water pinks in <20m depths and both do the job. Up north I like to troll for spaniards with mono and a soft/medium action rod, as the extra give helps me stay connected, although I know you can buy shock leaders to do the same with braid. As far as leaders, given braid is terrible with abrasion I am not convinved fluorocarbon makes much difference in most of my fishing, but will keep using it as I have a few spools. However mono works and I just keep an eye out for some that offer good abrasion resistance and a decent strength to diameter ratio.
sea-kem
Posts: 14912
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Still use it on my big
Still use it on my big trolling gear for stretch reasons, shock leaders and on my Herring outfits for the beach.... Still has it's place.
Love the West!
sunshine
Posts: 2584
Date Joined: 03/03/09
A major advantage of mono
Is that it doesn't tangle anywhere near as much and if it does way way easier to untangle. I only use mono for gummies and shallow free line snapper. Another positive of shock leaders is that mono is way more abrasion resistant. Regularly boat rays on mono way way heavier than the bs of the mono. It's called angling not skull dragging
Pete F
Posts: 310
Date Joined: 07/01/18
My 2cComparing similar line
My 2c
Comparing similar line weights mono braid casting distance is significantly more, as is the line capacity of the reel. Some of the newer braids amazingly more so.
Braid line doesn't just "ping" and break, it's different to mono because it is so thin. If you hang your hooks in the rod runners it will nick the braid and then latter when you hook up it will ping.
I cast lures, 100's of casts most weeks and while the braid might fray a little its still good for a couple of seasons at least. The extra casting distance catches me a lot more fish.
Love mono for trolling, the extra stretch invaluable. Still just use a topshot so I have the benefits of braids capacity and reduced water drag on a fight with a very big fish.
I tried going back to mono a few times, find it horrible now especially the memory it holds after sitting on the spool. All braids are not equal some of the cheap Chinese is rubbish, Japanese are pretty much all good I have tried though very happy these days with shimano grappler and doesn't break the bank.
Cheers
davewillo
Posts: 2339
Date Joined: 08/09/16
I use mono on my trolling
I use mono on my trolling outfits and my trout gear has all flouro so I don't need to tie on leaders when I inevitably cast a lure into a tree or blackberry bush! The rest has braid with mono leaders. I like the feel from braid and the castability. I have busted off on mono way more times than braid.
I also look after my gear as if I had to make it last forever!
PGFC member and lure tragic