Mono or braid

Hi guys. Newby alert 😂.
Was thinking about going down the braid route. Would appreciate any info about the pro's and cons. TIA

Welcome          Float fishing and drifter fishing Excellent.   Ledgering on a clear bottom =  brilliant bite detection and super strong.  Rocky shores or zebra mussels, very poor abrasion resistance and cuts easier than mono or flouro.   Lure fishing perfect for braid too.   More plus then minus points for braid by far in my opinion

braid all the way any day mate. there is no contest in my book. been using it around 15 years now and it works out cheaper than mono in the long run. plus cos i use flouro yellow i can see the bloody stuff! and so can the swans!

just an opinion , don't go for your regular breaking strain as your old mono
I use 50lb min on the ledger rods / deadbaiting

80lblb plus on the lure and its power pro for me all the way, a bit expensive but well worth it

quick question for the guys who use braid. Do you have a running leader of heavy mono or flourocarbon ? or do you just go straight through with the braid?

matt859 wrote:quick question for the guys who use braid. Do you have a running leader of heavy mono or flourocarbon ? or do you just go straight through with the braid?

for me I use straight to the swivel trace , that's on the leger, float , and lures , but I use heavy braid up to 80lb the reason for this is , I don't like leaving trebles in a snagg with a deadbait attached , it makes no difference to the fish fishing heavy lines , there only looking at the bait or lure...... with heavy braid you can pull till the hooks bend out

I understand the heavy braid for bending trebles out, I use it in 80lb on my lure rod also for that reason. I was wondering about using a very heavy fluro for its abrasion resistance over the lake bed when ledgering and god forbid if a pike picks up the braid whilst snaffling the deadbait. I suppose I could get over this by using a very long wire trace instead and then just fish braid straight through. Just thinking out loud thats all.....

I have had a love hate relationship with braid for years and tried lots of different brands. At the moment I am using Dawia 8x and Suffix 832, in 80lb & 50lb.
I don't fish with Mono very often now. On rocky areas I use a lead core leader.

matt859 wrote:I understand the heavy braid for bending trebles out, I use it in 80lb on my lure rod also for that reason. I was wondering about using a very heavy fluro for its abrasion resistance over the lake bed when ledgering and god forbid if a pike picks up the braid whilst snaffling the deadbait.  I suppose I could get over this by using a very long wire trace instead and then just fish braid straight through. Just thinking out loud thats all.....

the truth is matt...I just don't trust floro even in the heavy gauge stuff 100lb plus , I would rather use heavy braid, read all the articles about floro which the yanks have been using for years for there main trace ....just my opinion but I would stick to wire trace 40lb never had a bite off ,  I know where your coming from as using it like a shock leader , what breaking strain do you use for general ledgering matt ..... , if your fishing rocky areas where there is a good chance of line damage , I tend to float fish if possible in those areas, or the other alternative is to fish really heavy braid like I do for general ledgering with no noticeable line damage.......hope this helps

OK its given me some things to think about cheers.

this brings us to yet another choice. color????? I will put it in a nutshell as far as i can tell. Deep go for red every time, clear and weedy, Green braid. Trust me it works and loads of my clients over the years have learned this lesson.

lowdouble wrote:this brings us to yet another choice.  color?????    I will put it in a nutshell as far as i can tell.   Deep go for red every time,  clear and weedy, Green braid.  Trust me it works and loads of my clients over the years have learned this lesson.

the heavy breaking strain in braid does stand out abit , but makes no difference to the pike, had a pike swim right into my line today never bolted or panicked in any way...

Not sure if line colour matters. I used a reel loaded with fluoro sea line for a few weeks a couple yrs ago and it caught just as many as my other rods.

the proof is in the pudding so they say lol. i fish a deep lough with a guest. 45ft + i used red power pro for 5 or 6 years on the trot and he used green. My baits, my traces and i outfished him 4 runs to 1. Year 7 he switched to red and instantly 50/50. fact lads, dont discount it, your getting runs but theres always a way to get more on shallow weedy loughs he outfished me so now i have a full setup with green. Every day is a school day so dont just sit around thinking they arent on the feed. change something every session and you will see a pattern eventually

lowdouble wrote:the proof is in the pudding so they say lol.  i fish a deep lough with a guest.  45ft +   i used red power pro for 5 or 6 years on the trot and he used green.  My baits, my traces and i outfished him 4 runs to 1.  Year 7 he switched to red and instantly 50/50.  fact lads,  dont discount it,  your getting runs but theres always a way to get more    on shallow weedy loughs he outfished me so now i have a full setup with green.  Every day is a school day so dont just sit around thinking they arent on the feed.  change something every session and you will see a pattern eventually

very true pal , I work really hard to get them extra fish ,always doing something different on the day, and make it happen I say.

it isnt the Be all and End all in success, but it certainly makes a difference. Dirty deep water and anything goes, especially on unpressured waters. But if its 5% successful it could save the dreaded Blank

Another water I fish is as clear as Gin. If I dont add 15ft of 50lb flourocarbon to my mainline, its a Blank for sure. try it and see

Stubbo Quote. the heavy breaking strain in braid does stand out abit , but makes no difference to the pike, had a pike swim right into my line today never bolted or panicked in any way... smile


did it take the bait. if not maybe it wasnt spooked, but made wary? they will take on rope when they are hungry enough lol.

lowdouble wrote:   Stubbo     Quote.  the heavy breaking strain in braid does stand out abit , but makes no difference to the pike, had a pike swim right into my line today never bolted or panicked in any way... smile


did it take the bait.  if not maybe it wasnt spooked,  but made  wary?  they will take on rope when they are hungry enough lol.

funny thing is it swam past the bait and into the braid .... as on the photo in any case it did not seemed spooked in any way as you can see its gin clear water.... the thing is do pike actually see your line, in all the underwater filming I have done ...I would have to say not Andy in my case anyways..... they seem only to look at your bait or lure sometimes for longer you would think. not seen any pike actually looking at my lines or spooking off a set up like a carp would do....anybody any other ideas

I like a good discussion lol. i dont think pike are any more stupid than Carp, Bream, roach or tench. And i am speaking from hundreds of anglers perspectives that i have guided and fished with, both losing and winning lol. Presentation is key, whether its line diameter, color, or hook size and color or bait choice. ive seen the tiny things make huge differences, and Braid colour is just another small thing that can make a difference.

lowdouble wrote:I like a good discussion lol.   i dont think pike are any more stupid than Carp, Bream, roach  or tench.   And i am speaking from hundreds of anglers perspectives that i have guided and fished with,  both losing and winning lol.  Presentation is key,  whether its line diameter, color, or hook size and color  or bait choice.   ive seen the tiny things make huge differences,  and Braid colour is just another small thing that can make a difference.

if you look at the last 30 inches on your line , we all use a trace with a big swivel and in my case 40lb wire which is very stiff and the diameter is a fair bit bigger than my braid 80lb on average , but still we catch our fish , the yanks and quiet a few guys over here are using very heavy fluorocarbon in the 200lb bs with good results ,but not for me I will stick with my steel wire , or a least still I stop catching fish . on the point of carp being stupid , how many times Andy have you caught the same pike within the hour of it being caught the first. I actually caught the same pike 20 minutes later , don't think we can say the same about carp , when I say carp not a commercial venue, but a big gravel pit or lake , but like you say Andy presentation is the key followed by location .
all in all stick with what gives you confidence in the methods and applications you can add to all the years of experience we have.

ive possibly caught the same pike twice in a day only a couple of times , but of course i wouldnt recognise the smaller fish. But not being smart theres wire and theres wire i use brown wire as most of my loughs are limestone bottomed and stand out far less than black

i dont think I know it all, and learn more every season as we all do. same as you flourocarbon isnt for trace making in my opinion.

lowdouble wrote:ive possibly caught the same pike twice in a day only a couple of times ,  but of course i wouldnt recognise the smaller fish.    But not being smart theres wire and theres wire   i use brown wire as most of my loughs are limestone bottomed and stand out far less than black

i dont think I know it all,  and learn more every season as we all do.  same as you flourocarbon isnt for trace making in my opinion.

Andy you know more than you think pal you consistently catch some decent fish 20lb plus, and paramount in your fishing is the welfare of the fish you catch . well in andy and your right we don't know it all.......we are just lucky sometimes