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Old 04-03-09, 12:57 AM   #1
basaunders23
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Default Just Bought A 6ft Lightning Rod Shock

Hello everyone, my name is Brett and I am new to these forums. I have got a question for you all. I just bought a 6ft lightning rod shock and i use an Abu Garcia Cardinal reel. Ive been fishing for about 4-5 years now and i have always used mono filament line. I usually fish ponds, and on the weekends i fish in a bigger lake. My bait of choice would be a plastic worm, but i also use small spinners, and other small swimming baits.This year i was thinking about getting some of the berkley fireline crystal because it is recommended to use braided line on the information that came with the rod. I was just wondering if this is a good move or if i should stick with the mono filament. I really would like to try out the braided line but after reading through these forums i have seen some people claiming to have quite a few problems with these line. I was also reading that you should try leading the braided line with mono filament because the braided line is visible to the fish, and i was wondering if this is really necessary and if it will make a big difference if i do this, or if it is even needed. Thank you all for your help, I am excited to be a part of this community.
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Old 04-03-09, 02:03 AM   #2
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welcome to the forums brett! nice to have ya!
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Old 04-03-09, 07:55 AM   #3
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First off, welcome to the forum!

If you're gonna get some braid, get power pro braided line. It's not that big of deal if you're fishing murky water, I don't think that it draws away bites. How ever if you're fishing lightly stained water, out of weedy cover, than add a leader. But if you are fishing weedy cover, than just use the straight braid! If you're fishing crystal clear water, than you'll probably want to always add a leader! One other thing you should know about braid is that it has a thinner diameter than mono or flouro! So go ahead and get heavy lb line, even up to 50lb, but 30lb is best IMO!

Hope this helps!
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Old 04-03-09, 08:18 AM   #4
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yes WELCOME to the best site on the web pal. you are oficially fodder for the bait monkey now. feed him well and you'll be fine. as for the braided line on a spinner, yes you can alot of folks do use it. although i don't have THAT lighting rod, i have some of the regular lighting rods. i don't use braid on my spinners...............yet. i personally like power pro 30#. and if you are gonna use the braided, with a leader, i would most likely use either power pro or suffix, and a 100% flourocarbon leader. the fish can't see it and it sinks and is what kevin among others recomend. check out the videos kevin has on loines. it is a great help in your sitituation. have fun here, we are a bunch of nuts, but good ones.
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Old 04-03-09, 08:25 AM   #5
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Welcome, you will love this site. As Bama said check out the line selection guide Kevin has on here. that will you a lot.
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Old 04-03-09, 11:46 AM   #6
basaunders23
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Default Thank You

Thanks all for the help! This website/community seems like a great thing to be a part of and i am glad its not like many other forums that i have been apart of with less than helpful comments. I had a few questions about leaders, seeing as how i have never had to use them. For one exactly how do i rig it, do i just attach another line to the end of my braided line, also exactly what is the point of this i mean why dont i just get all monofilament or fluofilament line instead of creating a leader. Sorry i am just a semi-noob and would like to make a good descsion to help my new rod/reel combo work at its maximum potential.
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Old 04-03-09, 12:06 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by basaunders23 View Post
Thanks all for the help! This website/community seems like a great thing to be a part of and i am glad its not like many other forums that i have been apart of with less than helpful comments. I had a few questions about leaders, seeing as how i have never had to use them. For one exactly how do i rig it, do i just attach another line to the end of my braided line, also exactly what is the point of this i mean why dont i just get all monofilament or fluofilament line instead of creating a leader. Sorry i am just a semi-noob and would like to make a good descsion to help my new rod/reel combo work at its maximum potential.
Don't be sorry for what you don't know. Just be sorry if we tell you and you STILL don't know.

The purpose of a leader is to make the line less visible to the fish. Braid is very easy to see, whereas fluorocarbon is not, and mono is somewhere between them. The "braid with fluoro leader" idea gives you the durability, long life, and castability of the braid, plus the lower visability of the fluoro. Of course if your braid is 30 lb test and the fluoro is 15, then your total line strength is still just 15 lbs.
And yes, just tie a leader to the end of the braid. Uni-to-uni knot is good, so is the Albright knot. Palomar knot at the end of the fluoro for the lure.

Oh, and welcome to the nuthouse.
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Old 04-03-09, 01:30 PM   #8
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Default So...

So what i want to do is spool my reel with the braided line, and then at the end of the braided line tie on some mono or fluoro at the end of it to attach the lure to? What length leader should i use, and also what lb test is reccomended for the braided line, i usually never catch fish over 10 lbs, just small bass fishing. Thanks for all the help
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Old 04-03-09, 02:09 PM   #9
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Hey, welcome to the forums.

First off, there's a couple things you need to understand about superlines. The most imortant is there are two kinds of superlines: braided and fused.

Fused: pretty much what it sounds like. fibers are fused together. Some fused lines are the normal fireline and Stren's Microfuse.

Braided: fibers are braided together. There are many more of these on the market, and IMO, these are better. Fireline does make a new braid, which I have'nt tried yet. Some braided lines are Sufix PErformance Braid, Power Pro, Spider Wire makes one, Stren makes one, and there are a lot more.

I'd personally go with a braided line. Sufix performance braid is my favorite so far with Power Pro coming in second. I actually used to use only power pro until I tried the Sufix. If you're using braid with a spinning reel, put some cheap mono on the reel first as backing. This will keep the braid from slipping. then spool up the braid.

For lb test, when using braid, some say you should only look at line diameter. for example, 30lb braid is only as thick as 8lb mono. So in this case, if you normally use 8lb mono, use 20lb braid. I normally don't do this. I hardly ever go more than 30lb test with braid no matter what. Here's what I do: for spinning reels, I use 10-30lb. for baitcaster I use 30-40lb.

Sometimes I use a leader, and when I do, it's fluorocarbon. Leader length is personal preference. Iuse one about 2ft long, I know other people who use 10' leaders.

As for using a superline or mono with the chock rod, I'd definately use a superline. I've used fireline and don't like it as much as braided lines. The whole design behind the shock rods is that they have a slower action. This supposedly helps with braided line since braid does not stetch. If you used mono, I don't think you'd be able to get a decent hookset.

BB
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Old 04-03-09, 02:19 PM   #10
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Thanks alot for all your help, i just got alot of questions. As for putting down mono for backing, how exactly do i go about doing this, do i just spool up the mono then attach the braided line to it, or exactly how do i do it. Thank you all for your help.
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Old 04-03-09, 02:27 PM   #11
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Tie your mono to the spool as you normally would. Then you can do one of two things:

1. reel a little bit onto the reel (maybe 30ft or so). Them tie the mono to the braid. Then fill the rest of the way with braid.

2. Fill about half full with mono. Then attach the braid and fill it up.

If it is a small reel (like a size 1000) then I'd go with number one. I use a small Abu cardinal 301 (1000 size reel). and that's what I do. I use 10lb test braid for that reel. For a larger spinning reel, I'd do number two and use 20 MAYBE 30lb braid.


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Old 04-03-09, 05:28 PM   #12
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welcome aboard man , like many other guys have said power pro is a great braid , but i have also fished fireline ( in a smoke color ) and had no complaints about it .


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Old 04-03-09, 05:46 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by basaunders23 View Post
So what i want to do is spool my reel with the braided line, and then at the end of the braided line tie on some mono or fluoro at the end of it to attach the lure to? What length leader should i use, and also what lb test is reccomended for the braided line, i usually never catch fish over 10 lbs, just small bass fishing. Thanks for all the help
If you catch bass under 10lbs than go with a braid over 10lbs, if the line lb test is 10, it dose not mean that it will handle 10lb fish, it means that the line will break when 10lbs of force is applied. If you're fishing for bass in a typical location (weeds, any kind of cover) than you're gonna need to aplie allot more than 10lbs of force1 You need to horse the bass out of the cover, and into the boat, bank, what ever!

A good all round lb test is 30lb, if it's really weedy, than don't be scared to throw 50lb! keep in mind that braid has a much thinner dynamiter, 50lb braid is only the thickness of 12lb mono!

~good luck and good fishin'!
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Old 04-04-09, 12:41 AM   #14
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Default Thanks All!

Thank you all for the replies, i ended up on deciding on Fireline Braid and it seemed to work for me. The only problem i had was on the leader, since i was in a hurry to go and fish i tied the end of the braided line to a very small swivel, then about 20 ft of mono filament to the other end of the swivel. Bad idea, i got to the pond and the damn swivel would not fit through the eye. So i ended up fishing all day with just the braided line and didnt seem to have a problem although i do think i would have gotten more bites if i had a leader. I am going to end up just tying the mono straight to the braid for the leader but i was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for knots to use. Again thank you all for your replies and help, and being so nice to a new comer.
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Old 04-04-09, 12:56 AM   #15
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Welcome -- They only meant for you tie a 2 or 3 ft. leader to your braid, don't let the swivel go thru the eyes on your rod, it could damage them.

Tie a swivel to your braid and then tie a 2 or 3 ft leader of your other line to the swivel. And have no mercy on the fish!!!
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Old 04-04-09, 01:18 AM   #16
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Hi Brett, if you will google the "J knot", "Alberto's knot", and the "slim beauty knot", you can get some more options for braid to leader knot. Practice at home in front of computer and see which one is easiest for you to tie, then pick one and learn to tie it in the field. If you are really in to testing, get a scale and see which knot is strongest for the line and leader that you are using.
Excellent forum guys. I've been lurking for a while, and really enjoy the material presented here. Thanks to all.
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Old 04-04-09, 07:42 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by basaunders23 View Post
Thank you all for the replies, i ended up on deciding on Fireline Braid and it seemed to work for me. The only problem i had was on the leader, since i was in a hurry to go and fish i tied the end of the braided line to a very small swivel, then about 20 ft of mono filament to the other end of the swivel. Bad idea, i got to the pond and the damn swivel would not fit through the eye. So i ended up fishing all day with just the braided line and didnt seem to have a problem although i do think i would have gotten more bites if i had a leader. I am going to end up just tying the mono straight to the braid for the leader but i was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for knots to use. Again thank you all for your replies and help, and being so nice to a new comer.
That's the bassfishin.com hospitality right there bubba!

As for knots, go with a uni to uni, it's very simple to tie and holds strong, and wont slip. Here's a link!
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Old 04-04-09, 10:22 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by basaunders23 View Post
Hello everyone, my name is Brett and I am new to these forums. I have got a question for you all. I just bought a 6ft lightning rod shock and i use an Abu Garcia Cardinal reel. Ive been fishing for about 4-5 years now and i have always used mono filament line. I usually fish ponds, and on the weekends i fish in a bigger lake. My bait of choice would be a plastic worm, but i also use small spinners, and other small swimming baits.This year i was thinking about getting some of the berkley fireline crystal because it is recommended to use braided line on the information that came with the rod. I was just wondering if this is a good move or if i should stick with the mono filament. I really would like to try out the braided line but after reading through these forums i have seen some people claiming to have quite a few problems with these line. I was also reading that you should try leading the braided line with mono filament because the braided line is visible to the fish, and i was wondering if this is really necessary and if it will make a big difference if i do this, or if it is even needed. Thank you all for your help, I am excited to be a part of this community.
Welcome Brett.First off I hope your rod is a MH as that is a suitable all around fishing rod.If you get 8lb test XT line that should do well for you.If you must use braid,go with the power pro you won't be diasappointed.It does take a little breaking in.I never use a leader on my braided line.The reason is I only use the braided when I fish at night or in the willow bushes or other heavy cover where line color doesn't matter.
And wear your waders in here as the BS gets pretty deep.
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Old 04-04-09, 10:48 AM   #19
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And wear your waders in here as the BS gets pretty deep.
Ain't that the truth lol , for attaching braid to mono i use the uni to uni knot or the j-knot they take a little practice but they are worth the time . and like tom said if you are fishing in heavy cover or thick grass no need to tie a leader .


Jim
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