Fishing Line

[Jake Dogfish]

I went through a braid phase, but have switched back to mono for most things.  I do a lot of light fishing and squidding and I like mono or flouro for that.  Still use braid for most heavier stuff.

[birdshooter1189]

I went through a braid phase, but have switched back to mono for most things.  I do a lot of light fishing and squidding and I like mono or flouro for that.  Still use braid for most heavier stuff.

Same here.

[Okanagan]

Good info re braid.  I will add two comments.

As noted above, braid is hard to untangle if backlashed.  I keep a couple of small crochet needles in my take along fishing gear, inside a plastic toothbrush holder. They are EXCELLENT for untangling a backlash.

The reason for a few tight wraps of mono on the spool arbor before putting on braid is that braid is so slick that it can fail to grip the spool.  If not super secure to the arbor the whole spool of line can slip and turn on the reel.  A wrap of tape or most anything to make the line grip the center arbor can also work.

[MeepDog]

I run braid on my walleye set ups, but I'm really on the fence if its necessary to use a leader. I know their eyes are good but their brains aren't as spooky like a bass. It's a bit of a nuisance because you're almost always gonna break the leader off on a snag, but with braid you can sometimes bend the hook out.

[GASoline71]

Don't fish for Bass on purpose, so anytime I catch one it's incidental. 

Fishing for Walleye, I use 30# braid and a 12 ft to 15 ft bumper of 15# mono tied together using 2 uni-knots bumped together.

The only salmon I use fluro for in the salt are Kings, as they can be finicky as h3ll (line shy), and I use 30# 40" fluro leaders. Tieing big line fluro leaders sucks as it's extrememly stiff.  Make sure you wet your knots extrememly well when tieing. Main line is 30lb or 40lb mono.  Coho and Pinks and Chum are aggressive and not finicky or line shy at all so I use the same mono in 20# for leaders and 30# mainline

For Steelhead I'll use anywhere from 12# to 18# mono main line or 25# braid, and use fluro leaders exclusively.  Ranging from 8# to 15# leaders.

Plain ol' Rainbow Trout I just use mono main line and mono leaders.  Depending on the lake and the size of the trout I'm after will determine the size I use.  But for most standard stocked lakes trout, I'll use 6lb or 8lb main line and a 6lb leader.

For pretty much all my fishing line, whether braid, mono, or fluro, I use P-line and have always had good luck with it.

It was mentioned above that braid can cut you.  I can attest to that when I grabbed a main line that was braid to help the wife horse in a descent sized Walleye and as it slid through my hand, it cut deep right into 3 of my fingers.  Even though I got the cuts cleaned out pretty fast, they still became infected and were very painful after about a week.  Ended up having to go in and have them drained and was put on anti-biotics to combat the infection.

Gary

[Machias]

It was mentioned above that braid can cut you.  I can attest to that when I grabbed a main line that was braid to help the wife horse in a descent sized Walleye and as it slid through my hand, it cut deep right into 3 of my fingers.  Even though I got the cuts cleaned out pretty fast, they still became infected and were very painful after about a week.  Ended up having to go in and have them drained and was put on anti-biotics to combat the infection.

Gary

Ouch!!!   

[jackelope]

Do the 2 uni knots pass through the guides pretty well?

[fishngamereaper]

Do the 2 uni knots pass through the guides pretty well?

Yes

I only use straight braid for halibut. We use braid for tuna but we topshot 10-12' of mono for some stretch and easy knot tieing..
Everything else is Berkely big game...weight varies by species.
I like some stretch in my line and it's more abrasion resistant. Braid is a pia in most cases..

[2MANY]

There is a way easier knot than the double uni knot.

[jackelope]

There is a way easier knot than the double uni knot.

I’ve been going with the Alberto.

[bearpaw]

Bass in clear water, what brand and color braid?

Pike in clear(ish) water.  Anyone use Knot 2 Kinky leader material for pike?  Looks like awesome material for pike.

Salmon and big trout when trolling?

@bassquatch might have some good recommendations

[jackelope]

Bass in clear water, what brand and color braid?

Pike in clear(ish) water.  Anyone use Knot 2 Kinky leader material for pike?  Looks like awesome material for pike.

Salmon and big trout when trolling?

I’ll be using Rio tie-able wire on my fly rod for pike. I’m told it’s the bees knees. I got 20 pound, but they make it in 30 and 40 pound as well.

[GWP]

There is a way easier knot than the double uni knot.

With my old hands not working as well as they used to I got one of those little metal tools with built in clippers, a hook file, and the curved metal uni knot tying contraption.
Works good even when it is rough out. Tie the braid part first and stick the stiffer mono through after.

I have had the best luck with a double uni for connecting, and have gotten to where I only use a few knots any more for most everything.
Single and double uni, surgeons knot, snell (single uni but wrapped on the hook) Palomar, dropper loop.

I had access to a good strain gauge and time to play with fishing knots at one point when I was working. Some of the more involved knots were quite finicky about how the line laid in the knot to have them be strong. I played with line from 4 to 40 lbs, braid, mono and floro.

There are plenty of knot testing vids on the 'interwebs' also. My testing was in line with theirs for the most part. fun stuff.

[Machias]

Bass in clear water, what brand and color braid?

Pike in clear(ish) water.  Anyone use Knot 2 Kinky leader material for pike?  Looks like awesome material for pike.

Salmon and big trout when trolling?

I’ll be using Rio tie-able wire on my fly rod for pike. I’m told it’s the bees knees. I got 20 pound, but they make it in 30 and 40 pound as well.

I will check that out, thanks!!!

[savagehunter]

I use 10 lb test proline which has the diameter of a 2lb mono.
I fish mostly clear water with rubber and have caught literally thousands of bass. I fish exclusively spinning and other than occasionally letting it drift behind the boat to eliminate twist very rarely have a wind knot or some other tangle problem. I also use it fishing spinners and drifting bait. I love it not cheap but lasts a long time on the reel. Leader it if you want but I catch a lot of big smallmouth and largemouth with Texas rigged Yamamoto grubs and drop shot. Wacky rigged senkos never feel like the fish are ever line shy. I only use the green.