I live on a lake full of bass in Central Florida. I have plenty of light spinning gear from my inshore salt water days. I own miles of monofilament.

Problems are: 1) I have always hated monofilament's remarkable ability to snarl up. b) I hate tying monofilament. III) It's older than God. I'll bet some of it is more than 50 years old, making in more brittle, harder to tie, snaggier, and likely to break just when I get a nice one, or get stuck in lilypads.

So, I am ready to join the 21st century, and buy my first spool of braided line, yes, ladies and gentlemen, the most modern, capable, and easiest to use line, ever to grace the waves! Why, you will be shocked and amazed at the wonder of this line. Etc., etc., etc...

What do I want? Needs to be strong enough to extract plastic worms and spinner baits from grass, weeds, and lily pads. Needs to be strong enough for me to land those trophy bass that are just waiting out there for me to get organized. Must not be so strong as to constitute unsportsmanlike conduct.

Thanks for your help. It will be good go join the modern era.

Art,

I like power pro but I'm not sure it (brand) really matters.

I typically spool 30lb green power pro, enough to pull the slobs out of the grass when the time comes. I dont lose a lot of hooks or fish or lures with it so long as i'm not frayed.

^^^^^
Gotta say it, this is why I like Sigforum, a direct, succinct answer to a well structured question. Thanks Para for maintaining a great system.

50 year old monofilament? I'm I reading that right ? I change mono after a couple of years, three or four is really getting up there. It is still strong but the spool memory makes it snarl,tangle , and hard to cast.

I've been using P line floroclear , a copolymer and been very happy.

I've tried braid but didn't like the knots or how hard it was to cut. it is incredibly strong for its diameter. and soft.

Be careful the first time you set the hook with braid. Many a first time user has snapped a rod as it has little to no stretch.

Tight lines and happy fishing.

^^^^^ That's what real people do. That's not what people who grew up with my father do.

I have found the opposite to be the case.
I use a mix of mono and braid depending on the application. I have found mono to be much more user friendly and braid more difficult to tie and more likely to backlash and prone to wind knots. It is also harder to untangle than mono and you don’t want to tie braid directly to your reel or tackle, you need to use a fluorocarbon line at each end. Braid does have its advantages, but I don’t find ease of use to be one of them.

In mono, I use Cajun red line and in braid I use Sufix. Of course, the # test varies on where and what I'm after. I re-spool all my reels at least every 3 years.

I trim the mono lines after each use, so if I'm fishing a lot and the line gets too far below the spool lip, I will re-spool it sooner. With the braid, I use about 6 ft of flouto and replace it after each trip. This is probably overkill for your setup and the way you fish. Just keeping an eye on how they are wearing should work for you, but dude, 50 year old mono? Really?

Well, yes. 50 y.o. mono. That is why I'm not using it. That is why I am disposing of it, properly and safely. The question is, what do I use next?

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Well, yes. 50 y.o. mono. That is why I'm not using it. That is why I am disposing of it, properly and safely. The question is, what do I use next?

Maybe I came across a little crass. Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.

As I posted, Mono - Cajun Red, Braid - Sufix.
I do have some Berkley triline mono in 6# that I use for real light freshwater like crappie or panfish but it is not as durable as the Cajun Red.

On our 3000 or 3500 series spinning reels for Michigan, we spool enough cheap mono on the reel to get about 150 yards of 15lb braid when the reel is full. Braid casts better and we've never been spooled by a freshwater fish, so don't really need a reel full of expensive braid. On our 2000 series reels, all 15lb braid.

We switch out leaders for the lakes and fish. Murky water gets red or dark green mono, clear water gets fluorocarbon, and we go heavier if the lake has pike, unless we are targeting pike then we'll go with wire. We don't use stronger lines or leader than the rods are rated for. For example, on the 5-12lb rods, we'll use 15lb braid, but lighter leader. I can't see close up well enough any more to tie anything less than 15lb braid.

Baitcasters get mono. We aren't proficient enough for braid.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Well, yes. 50 y.o. mono. That is why I'm not using it. That is why I am disposing of it, properly and safely. The question is, what do I use next?

Maybe I came across a little crass. Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.

As I posted, Mono - Cajun Red, Braid - Sufix.
I do have some Berkley triline mono in 6# that I use for real light freshwater like crappie or panfish but it is not as durable as the Cajun Red.

No, not at all. I got a good laugh out of it! I'm 60. Dad wasn't a hoarder, but he grew up in the depression, bought stuff, used it, and only replaced it when he deemed it necessary. If he wasn't losing plugs or fish, the line didn't get replaced, and he bought it in rolls of 1k feet or more. I probably have enough ancient 8lb mono to reel in Artemis II and help them return safely to earth.

I just don't trust line that ancient, and am looking for what's next.

You are good!

1. Ensure the reels and rods are worth using. 50 yo line suggests 50 yo rod and reel. Upgrade as required.
2. Use braided line. Select braided line strength for both the fish and your ability to tie knots. Braided is thinner for equivalent test strength.
3. Consider a fluorocarbon leader tied to the braid. Leader length should be a bit longer than the rod.
4. Enjoy

You will need special scissors.

I have fished from Ohio to Florida, and have always used 8lb to 10lb Trilene or Stren. I started using the green color years ago.

Even catfishing around Ohio, I would still use the same, but I was not going for the monsters like some.

My dad is currently at the VA hospital in gainesville getting some skin cancer removed but I can check with him later and ask what he uses.

Those guys fish around chain of lakes, ocala, etc.. area..

He has a variety spools and styles.

I should know but the last time I was there, I was pre-occupied with him getting squared away for his bladder cancer appt.

Fishing line threads usually end up looking like motor oil threads. Use mono backing under the braid or it will probably slip n slide around your spool.

I fish Walleye but not much different than bass really. I use a 10lb braid with a mono or fluro backer on the reel. I then tie a flurocarbon leader of 10 feet or so on the braid. This is to make it less visible to the fish. The leader is the same weight as the braid or a few pounds heavier. Suffix 832 for the braid and any good flurocarbon for the leader.

I may be wrong but I believe the knots used with braided line are different too.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
I have found the opposite to be the case.
I use a mix of mono and braid depending on the application. I have found mono to be much more user friendly and braid more difficult to tie and more likely to backlash and prone to wind knots. It is also harder to untangle than mono and you don’t want to tie braid directly to your reel or tackle, you need to use a fluorocarbon line at each end. Braid does have its advantages, but I don’t find ease of use to be one of them.

+1

When I lived in Alaska, I got back into fishing and put together 2 river salmon fishing rigs. It had to be able to catch everything from trout to a king salmon. I ended up spooling up 2 reels with 65 lb braided PowerPro which went well enough. I thought it was the coolest thing ever as it was much thinner than the equivalent monofilament. Then, I began trying to tie my lures to the braided and my swear jar was soon overflowing. I powered through it and then proceeded to discover what a curse Alaska's glacial till was to fishermen (i.e. the rivers are full of rocks that snag lures). I wasn't very happy standing on a river bank trying to retie the braided to another lure. Then, my buddy who had been fishing in Alaska for 25 years suggested two game changers:

Quit tying my lures directly to the line coming out of my reel, and instead tie them to 40 lb monofilament leader. It was much easier to tie up my lure/leaders with 40 lb Trilene Big Game monofilament.

Tie the braided to a snap swivel. You can quickly replace a leader with lure.

Another free fishing tip. If your significant other shows you her new earrings it's not wise to go to your tackle box and return exclaiming, "I have the matching one!" I'm much wiser now and won't repeat that mistake again.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I may be wrong but I believe the knots used with braided line are different too.

Not if you tie a uni knot, as the fishing Gods intended.

Kidding, but I’d be curious to hear more about this, never heard that before.

with respect to the Sigforum fisherman,

go to your local fishing supply place,

surely there is some bait shop that sells line,

ask the locals what they are using successfully,

but it and move on,


be sure to have an ultra light, med weight and heavy duty rod,

each will be strung differently

and you will need to have backups of each
and something in between

and a fly rod
and a back up fly rod

and then, a few more just in case

I tried it and didn't care for braid. No stretch, need special knots and special tool to cut it, etc., so have stuck with fluorocarbon. But, I'm only fighting the fish and not grass, weeds, and lily pads.