Baitrunner, Braid or Mono?

[barrabart]

G'day all,

I have a 4500B Shimano Baitrunner at home, bought as a package deal it came with 16lb Platypus Mono....... The rod is one of the cheaper Shimano's and it does the job...... anyway i mainly use the combo for live baiting in the estuaries....... now i have been mainly lure fishing for years using braid and now the mono set up feels like an elastic band.
What do you guys use or recommend for live baiting Braid or Mono? And why?

Thanks, and catch ya's later!

[patrol50]

i nderstand the older series baitrunners 3500 4500 and 6500 are really designed for mono but yes you can use braid on them if you really wanted to but does not lay quite as well as on reels designed for braid - i actually use mono 10, 15 20 lb on my reels for live baiting as i like a bit of stretch and if they reef you its all over any way red rover be it braid or mono - but thats just what i do and other smay do it differently
cheers rob

[barrabart]

G'day Rob,

Yeah originally i went with the mono, for the reason of getting a bit of stretch, and sometimes i do float larger baits out the front and thought the stretch might help when fighting a larger fish....... however after using braid for so long, i can't believe how much mono stretches and how much less you feel due to the stretch.............. still i have managed a few decent fish though on the mono, just feels different that's all i guess, i'll swap some 20lb braid of my calcutta and give it a run next time. I'll let ya's know the outcome.

[Platitudinus]

Hi Barrabart;
In the estuaries you shouldn't notice much difference in water up to 20m deep. However, try using a longer leader off the braid of say 10m if you are fishing deeper than 60m or 5m if between 20m and 60m. The sensitivity is still good and there is a little stretch as well.
I have a new Shimano 8000D and it is slightly smaller in body/spool than the 6500B but works very well with braid providing you use a little less drag than the equivalent poundage mono - hence equalising what would have been mono stretch. Should be similar on the 4500B.
Cheers
Plato

[Damned67]

I bought one of the new baitrunners earlier this year, and feeling cheep, spooled it up with mono. I even used the Platypus 'Lo-Stretch'... and it still feels like an elastic band!

[barrabart]

Well i loaded some 30lb braid i had in the shed onto the 4500b baitrunner and today managed a couple of nice threadfin salmon, what a difference the braid made..... so the problem is solved, there was nothing wrong with the shimano bluewater snapper rod (as far as low priced rods go) the problem was me being used to braid and just not enjoying using mono again......... i'll remove the 30lb off the 4500 and replace it with some tufline xp 20lb, which i always seem to get a good run from.

[Coddie]

Well i loaded some 30lb braid i had in the shed onto the 4500b baitrunner and today managed a couple of nice threadfin salmon, what a difference the braid made..... so the problem is solved, there was nothing wrong with the shimano bluewater snapper rod (as far as low priced rods go) the problem was me being used to braid and just not enjoying using mono again......... i'll remove the 30lb off the 4500 and replace it with some tufline xp 20lb, which i always seem to get a good run from.

Where'd you find the threadies?

[barrabart]

Where'd you find the threadies?

Up the back of the Cairns Inlet, in a good spot!

[barrabart]

Well i've now mated my 4500b baitrunner up to a Starlo Stix 701 6-10kg one piece rod that i bought on special also loaded the 4500b with 15lb Zulu braid, which i'm finding is nice enough (for the price) to use............. very happy with it now.......... it's so much nicer an outfit compared to the Shimano Bluewater rod and mono it had when i bought it........ works for me anyway...

catch ya's later.

[Chamelion]

How do you find the line lay?