Braided Line?

[BassChamp88]

What are some of the differences between braid, mono, and flouro?
And what brands do some of you reccomend?

[JB]

bc88,

Out of about 15 years of fishing i have found many pros and cons between the both... heres how i see it... and to be fair, im on the fence on this issue, because im about to get a new outfit and am trying to decide what to put on it...


Braid : Pros -
- Very little to no memory -Much like my grandfather, Braid has little or no memory. Very castable, flows through the guides smooth, little memory in the line helps keep the line flowing through the guides well and reduces slack encountered when mono loops.
- Very sensitive. Because it has very little or no stretch to it, you can feel every rock, bump,or structure
- Small Diameter/High strength allows you to load more line onto a reel that would take less mono of the same strength
- High strength. There are no weaknesses put into the line from pulling(not abrasion). Where mono stretches and kinks, braid will not, which doesn't create these stress points.
- Knots and bird's nests CAN be easier. Don't eat me alive on this, because with any line knots suck.. But i have found that on braid many times you can, with enough pressure, pull and pop a knot out of the line...
- Knots are stronger. The knots to attach your lure to the line are incredibly strong, and again, because of the no stretch or distortion of braid, i have rarely(twice-EVER) had line break at the knot.
Cons -
- Very subseptable to abbrasion - Braids are very easily broken by sharp things. Mono is as well, but not nearly as much as braid. eg.- take 30 # mono leader and 30# braid to a knife... fold it over the blade and start to slide it... the braid will break very quickly, while the mono will take more pressure and more sliding.
- WATCH YOUR HANDS! don't get it wrapped around anywhere on your body with anything pulling, or kiss that part goodbye. EASILY slices through skin and hurts like a #^%*. ***One boat i went on wouldn't let me use my rod because i had PP on***
- Much more visible...to the fish. Doesn't have the "Dissapearing" ability many mono lines do.
- Shock. As much as the no stretch ability allows you to feel the bottom, it also hurts because it doesn't absorbe the shock of setting a hook and such, putting stress on your gear, your body, and ANY weak points in the line, including the knot.
- abrasion. Because some brands, such as PP, can have a somewhat abrasive feel to them, i have found that the eat up my rod guides a bit faster, especially the tip. Both my poles had huge knicks in the top guide's ceramic, which then proceeded to fall out in pieces... on both

Mono : Pros -
- Absorbs Shock better than braid.
- Blends into the water well. Fish have a much harder time seeing mono as they do braid, which is why many guys who use braid are forced to use mono or flouro leaders.
- Pretty colors
- Cheaper. Bottom line, some people can't afford to use braid all the time.
- Abrasion resistant - Even though mono will break on sharp things, it can take more abuse than a braid can. Bluefish will slice through braid like butter, but will slowly shred away a mono leader.
- You can cut it with your teeth! Don't even try this with braid, not gonna happen. Although it can get painful above 30#, i have seen some old timers slice through 100# with one chomp... I actually met a guy who had his right front tooth sharpened slightly to make it easier to cut heavy line.. thats hardcore.
- Won't slice through your hands or your gear. Simply put, braid hurts things. Mono is smooth and, of course depending on the pressure, won't slice through your hand like braid and won't slowly chew up your rod guides.

Cons -
- Stress points form in mono from Kinks, knots, stretch, and abrasion. a kink in the line from a pulled out birds nest or knot or simply the knot at the lure, and stetch from fighting a fish, tightening a knot, or just pulling on it, all cause stress points that weaken mono. These stress points are the most likely points at which the mono will break.
- Memory. Probably the main thing people hate about mono. Mono has the ability to conform to the shape it is kept in.... in this case, on a reel. The memory gets worse over time, and worse the cheaper of a brand you buy. Memory can make line unfishable at times, and also hinders the castabillity of the line. When the memory is severe, the looping of the line causes extra slack due to the fact that extra line is being pulled of the spool. This slack can also lower the power of a hookset because the line is not taught.
- Thicker/Not as strong. Mono depends on the thickness of the line for strength, whereas braid doesn't neccessarily have to worry about size.thicker mono is stronger, but you can't load as much on your spool, can't cast it as easily, and knots are more difficult to tie.
- Doesn't last as long as braid. IMHO, mono deteriorates faster than braid, especially in salt water.

Well there ya go... this is what i have found over the years of fishing with both braid and mono... feel free to add to it, i hope it helps some of you guys out there !

[BassChamp88]

Thanks a lot JB! that helps a lot.

[Raul]

To add on JB´s excellent points.

Fluoro:

Pros

It´s impervious to the elements that destroy nylon.-

1.- Doesn´t absorb water so it never goes throught the soaked/dry cycle that affects nylon during and after fishing.
2.- Is not affected by UV light
3.- It doesn´t dry so it doesn´t become brittle if stored for extended periods of time.
4.- It´s more abrassion resistant than nylon
5.- It´s nearly invisble under water
6.- More sensitive than nylon but less than braid

Cons

1.- More expensive than nylon or braid
2.- It´s very succeptible to heating while tightening your knots which causes you knot to break at or above the knot.
3.- It has more memory than a pack of elephants so in higher diameters it coils badly.
4.- If it stretches then it´s going to remain stretched for good ( not like nylon that returns to it´s original length )
5.- Kinks causes weak spots
6.- It stretches, less than nylon but it does stretch.

Copoly:

Copoly is formed by the fusion of two types of polymers with diferent characteristics to provide you with the best of two worlds, nylon and fluoro. Copoly lines are bonded ( nylon core & flouro sheath ) or fusioned ( both polymers in the same formula )

Pros.

More resistant than both, nylon and fluoro with less diameter
Higher tensile strength vs diameter
Cheaper than fluoro and about the same price of nylon

Cons.

Higher diameters are a pain in the arse when it comes to line memory

Which do I recommend ? None above all and all

Line is a tool just like a rod or a reel, use the one that fits better for the application and place, also personal preference plays a place here, I prefer nylon over the others.

[robbor]

All I know is if you throw anything that twists the line will be trash in no time. I spooled up and after throwing a spinnerbait for alomst an hour the line was knotting itself. It never casted worth anything on a sp[inning reel either. Dont bother ever complaing about a $20 spool of line either, the manufactures dont care. If you intend to us it to drop lure straight up and down its probably fine. If you expect it to be general purpose like mono it will be a nightmare.

[bassfisher02]

Robbor, are you saying using braid for general purposes, replacing mono for pretty much everything, will be a nightmare? If so, I dont think so. I use it for everything and I'm happy as can be with it, absolutely no problems.

I was fooling around with mono yesterday, and I was reminded of just how terrible the stuff is.

[Rob Allen]

last year I tried spiderwire stealth on my flipping sticks.. it was alright but it caused me to make errors in judgement. with 65lb spiderwire i broke off a lot of fish on the strike because i never retied ( my fault not the line) i just never felt like i needed to retie so i wouldn't then i'd get bit and break off. also the line is very easily tangled especially around the tip of the rod and I hated that I couldn't just shake it off..
This year i switched to 20 lb Vanish flurocarbon and I like it much better even though it doesn't have the strength of braid i think it's much more manageable and just as scensitive..

[dodgeguy]

it's called vanish because that's what the fish will do.get some seguar invizx and be done with it.

[bassfisher02]

Good point, its very important that you dont assume that just because its braid, and bass dont have defined teeth, that you dont have to re-tie. I check my line after every catch, and after every few casts when fishing thick structure/cover.

[Kawabuggy]

another Vote here for braid. I just switched to the Stren Super-Braid. Unless something suddenly happens to change my current opinion-I'll never go back to mono again.

[Rebbasser]

Originally Posted by dodgeguy

it's called vanish because that's what the fish will do.get some seguar invizx and be done with it.

Hey Dodge-have you tried the new Trilene Fluorocarbon? Best fluoro I ever tried-tough and handles like a dream. I had it tight on a reel for two weeks before I used it and it had no memory-it was as straight and limp as braid.

[skeeter944]

I actually like the Vanish, I havent tried the new Trilene Fluoro yet(baitmonkey digging deep in pockets). I will give B.P.S's fluoro a chance also.

[BigBassin144]

I was debating between BPS Excel Braid or PP. I went with the BPS one and there was a coating on it that gave it memory at first, but after a little use, it is almost completely memory free.