Trolling Lures and Braided Line

[XLR8]

Just thought I would ask peoples appinion on braided lines verses mono line for trolling lures.
I'm currently using both but are having more success with the mono.
I have been running a 3 meter length of leader with both the mono and the braid.
Any Thoughts?????

[kemplers]

I've also had much more luck with the mono on the troll.

Don't really know the physics behind this though, but I think maybe something to do with the way the line handles at a constant tug???

[saen]

I fish off the stones so i wouldnt know much about trolling
i bought fireline a couple of months ago, and pretty much every fish i hooked onto i lost, so i switched backed to mono and landed all the fish i hooked onto

i think its because theres no stretch, and when a fish puts a decent kick through the line it pulls the hook, but
if you use a long enough (mono) leader it should solve that no "strecth" problem
maybe 50m of mono and then your braid???
thats just my theory-dont know what the other guys think about this?

Regards

JJ

[Franco]

Hi Guys,

Trolling with braid + gamefish = lost fish, pulled hooks and ripped mouths.

Topping up with mono will compensate, but only introduces a knot which is another potential weak point to bust off at when you hook that occasional prize monster fish. I personally would prefer mono right through.

Braid's advantages are predominantly improved feel when lure fishing (not necessary when gamefishing) and the ability "to stop em dead" when fishing tight next to structure (again, not usually the case when gamefishing).
Don't forget that species such as mackeral & wahoo chop their food in half on the first bit, and so your lures may only be atached by the rear treble which could easily pull with braid despite using the same drag settings as you would with mono. With braid when the fish suddenly turns/runs that pressure is in turn SUDDENLY applied to the hooks, whereas with mono this force is transferred gradually with delay, thereby decreasing the chance of tearing hooks out of the fish.

A similar effect is when you are setting your drag with scales: connect your scales to your line and slowly walk away till line peels, and then compare this to when you suddenly tear line off with the scales. You'll generate much higher readings on the scales with a sudden movement.
Try it yourself.

Personally, I would stick to mono. But that suits me, not everyone.

Be interested to hear from other Mackeral/wahoo crazy enthusiasts like Heath.

[mackmauler]

Macks and tunas are good fun with braid. The direct feel to the fighting fish through a braid line is one of fishings greatest thrills ill do my best to assist any first time punters with technique as they have no choice but to use braid fishn with me having seen the good and the bad im inclined to suggest a bad tradesman blames their tools. Im in it for the sport if they get away ill give myself a slap in the head, im not saying braid is the most efficient way to get fish in the boat.

Rob

[jeffo]

im a mono fan for everything except bottom donging... from what i have found (mackeral and tuna's) the braid has been to harsh and can tear mouths or "bounce" hooks out. maybe with a wind one leader of around 5 meters and a softer rod the results could be different...trolling with mono has been good to me, so if it aint broke.... why fix it?

[Franco]

I agree with Rob re the increased excitement of catching fish on braid; definitely more fun.
But mono will put more fish on the boat, as he said.
And it's cheaper if you're spooling up 4 to 8 game outfits with 400-600 m of line!

[Maxg]

The problem with braid is very low stretch which almost instantly transfers the sudden load onto the rod and reel. If the drag setting is high, there is high inertia, that is the spools resistance to rotation and the hooks pull. With mono there is about 30% stretch to buffer the sudden shock of the fish hitting the lure. The answer is a lower drag setting, so that the inertia is lower, so that the spool releases line, a softer rod, like glass, or a knotted dog twisty leader to buffer the shock. Mono is soggy in comparison to braid. Max

[SeaHunt]

I am with Jeffo on this one, braid is great for feeling the bite while bottom bashing. Feeling the bite is not an issue when youre trolling.

[XLR8]

Hey Mackmauler,
Do you set your drag to one third of line class with the braid and run your drag in strike position when trolling or do you back of the drag when trolling knowing you can increase the drag after the intial strike.
I fish braid on all my light gear and love it, that's why I put some braid on my TLD20.
The intial run on a big fish I evently lost the other day was quite dramatic and made me think about the gear I was using.
I may have a sticky drag as on it's fist run it nearly pulled the rod out of it's holder with the rod bucking up a down as the line peeled off like ziiiiiitttttttt............ziiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt ttt!!!!!..............ziiiiiiiiiittttttttttt from the drag
I had set the drag before this run about 3/4 of the way between 0 and strike. It's 50lb fireline with a strike settting of 6kg on my scales.
I know your all thinking that 50lb is quite heavy but I intially purchased this outfit for bottom bashing so I might put some 30lb mono on it .
I might give the drag system on the TLD20 a look over also.
What do you all think

[agnes_jack]

One way to overcome the problems with braid is to use about 1m of quality shock leader and a rod with a bit more give in the tip when trolling, and as maxg said lower your drag settings. Thats where I find the lever drag reels the best way to go, you can easily adjust your settings for the strike and increase pressure later in the fight once the initial shock of the hit is over. You cant beat the feel of braid in my book!

Regards, Tony

[Mugil]

I too prefer mono for the reasons mentioned previously, and also, when trolling a number of outfits one fast running fish or even an errant lure on braid can cut mono lines due to it’s fine diameter. Ok for the guy with the braid, not so good for the guys with the mono. I’ve seen a few mishaps, the best/worst was three lures on mono (one was mine) chopped off by one lively fish tearing around on braid.

XLR8 I’ve found Tld drags to be silky smooth even after years of mimimal maintenance. They can get very jerky though if you get water into the sealed drag washer housing…. Could be worth checking.
Cheers

[whiteman]

I took braid off one of my trolling overheads and replaced it with 40lb mono. Can't remember the brand but it wasn't cheap. Now it behaves like a baitcaster in the wind and wants to "overspool" and tangle up. If you guys can't help on this I'm gunna whip it off and replace with braid.

One other point, even when using mono I would put a leader which is designed for this job.

[dooley]

no probs with braid, just lessen the drag a little to counter the low stretch !!

[mackmauler]

xlr8, drag settings depend on the hooks and size of fish around, small hooks particularly trebles, less drag...for macks strike is about 3-4kg, most of my rods are rated 10kg so there is some give in the rod, with fish that jump and shake their head braid is hard to keep tight, for marlin fishing ill use 100m of mono as a tippet and could of done with more than a couple meters for the big dolphinfish. especially while your getting used to it take your leader out to 10m the low stretch in the braid is still noticable at that length, almost time to put the inshore trolling gear away...