# braided line and Flounders



## aln (May 29, 2006)

Been sittin' and looking at these post about the sensetivity of braided line.
You guys think braided is the way to go when Floundering ?
I been using an old diawa long cast - x - spinner on a Eagle Claw rod "starfire granger".. bout a 7' rod.. with 12 lb green Ande and a 20-30 lb. leader for the flounder rig... thats a pier rig.
Does the braided make that much of a diff on the feel... would braided work as well for feeling a sheephead bite..?


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

aln said:


> Been sittin' and looking at these post about the sensetivity of braided line.
> You guys think braided is the way to go when Floundering ?
> I been using an old diawa long cast - x - spinner on a Eagle Claw rod "starfire granger".. bout a 7' rod.. with 12 lb green Ande and a 20-30 lb. leader for the flounder rig... thats a pier rig.
> Does the braided make that much of a diff on the feel... would braided work as well for feeling a sheephead bite..?


 Haven't used it off a pier for flounder,but have used it off jetty and boat.. You can feel the difference between "trashbites" and real bites.. I've had good success with flounders. Tried it once on sheepshead and it worked. Haven't tried for sheepshead in a while,but the difference between mono and braid as far as feel is like night and day. IMO


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

*Haven't used it off a pier for flounder*

I fished with barnacles for sheepshead with the mono and never got the feel with it. Seen some of them boys come on the pier with a bucket of barnacles .. with some really heavy guage hooks.. and rods about 6' long with about a 1/4 inch diameter tip.. and just drop the bait where they saw them swimmin' around the piling. They would set the hook by instinct more than feel. That's a true art and fishing at its best.
If I was to go to a light braided line for flounder you reckon I oughta go with about 10# test?


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Flounder*

I fish grassy sound which is an old half bridge. At the very end you are probably 16-18ft off the water. My flounder set up is a Pinnacle Tri-Wing classic with a Shimano Catellla on it. I use 15lb pp. Like Drumdum said, you can feel the diffrence between trash bites and good bites.


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## pier-legend (Jan 14, 2004)

aln said:


> Been sittin' and looking at these post about the sensetivity of braided line.
> You guys think braided is the way to go when Floundering ?
> I been using an old diawa long cast - x - spinner on a Eagle Claw rod "starfire granger".. bout a 7' rod.. with 12 lb green Ande and a 20-30 lb. leader for the flounder rig... thats a pier rig.
> Does the braided make that much of a diff on the feel... would braided work as well for feeling a sheephead bite..?


..I was practicing with 20 lb. power pro on an ambassadeur...and for what ever reason I ended up on my pier flounder fishing..

..20 lb. power-pro and a 20 lb. ande leader on a 6500 abu....
..I'LL NEVER USE NOTHING ELSE PIER FLOUNDERING!!! If you once got pier dragging with ANY kind of braid...YOU WON'T GO BACK TO PLAIN MONO..
..it makes that much difference!
...I went about 6-6 on strikes the 1st time I used it..
..there won't none of that.."is that a bite or a hang" stuff..the LITEST flounder bite was obvious...
..for me..i won't use nothing but braid for pier floundering...
..but be aware.when a drum, or stingray..or some other "too big" and "too fast", gets your bait..YOUR IN TROUBLE..
..Braid don't break so east...and it's expensive to keep letting em take drag!!...all wrapped up under the pier or flying out the other side after wrapping around 2-3 pilings!!!
..I use 150 yds. on top of mono..and break em off quick when something I don't want is on there..
..but for FEELING THE FLOUNDER BITE??? ..THERE IS NOTHING BETTER..imho


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

*for FEELING THE FLOUNDER BITE??? ..THERE IS NOTHING BETTER..imho*

Guess I need to try some of that stuff. Is it also good for general casting.. throwing gotchas,spoons and such on spinnirs?

AL


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

I LOVE it for casting lures. Just make sure you know that if you get hung up you may have to cut the line unless you use a mono leader to tie your lure to. I prefer to take the chance and go braid straight through.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Braid*

ALL of my lighter tackle rods have either Power Pro or the new Suffix on them. I was using my favortie light rod today as a matter of fact, 8ft Tica Flatsmaster with a Penn Captiva CL4000 spooled with 30lb Sufix braid. The guy I was fishin next to could not belive how far I was casting.


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## [email protected] (Aug 2, 2005)

cygnus-x1 said:


> I LOVE it for casting lures. Just make sure you know that if you get hung up you may have to cut the line unless you use a mono leader to tie your lure to. I prefer to take the chance and go braid straight through.


Don't cut the line. Take along something that you can wrap the line around 6 or 7 times. Use that to pull and pull and pull until the knot gives out. Less line floating around in the water for me to get stuck on. And believe me, I will get stuck on it, that's how lucky I am. I find simple pliers work up to 45 pound braid. Might need a hammer or something for the real heavy stuff.


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

brid is no good for gotcha plugs...monos stretch gives them alot of their action...unless your rod is really flexible the gotcha wont work good with braid...i used 20 pound power pro last year for a week on a gotcha rod(8' tica) and couldnt get that side to side action...switched back to 10 lb sufix and solved the problem


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

I gotta admit that I WAS a "braid hater" after trying it out several years back on a baitcaster for bass. 

Having said that, I have now fished with my "braid only spinner" for two full days, and I hate to say it, but I LOVE the stuff (20# Fireline). Casts light stuff like a bullet, doesn't seem to wind-knot, etc.

Interestingly enough, I was experimenting trying to hold bottom in swift current at Jekyll Pier. I had a 4 oz. Sputnik on one of my "normal" rods full of 20# mono, and it would barely hold....I tried a 2 oz. sputnik on my little spinner with the same rig and 20# fireline, and it held just as well, so there is no doubt that braid cuts the water A LOT better.

There IS beauty in braid, after all, and it does have a place in my fishing arsenal. 

I'd say just DO IT!


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

chris storrs said:


> brid is no good for gotcha plugs...monos stretch gives them alot of their action...unless your rod is really flexible the gotcha wont work good with braid...i used 20 pound power pro last year for a week on a gotcha rod(8' tica) and couldnt get that side to side action...switched back to 10 lb sufix and solved the problem


 Chris,not starting an argument here,but I've had excellent luck with gotchas,stingsilvers,grubs,divers,mirrowlures,all kinds of metal lures,and lots of luck with bucktails.. Generally speaking,I use a 7ft loomis spinning rod-medium light,a 9ft tica- medium action,and an 8ft rainshadow-medium heavy. On this one we gotta agree ta disagree...


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Fill up a 525mag with 50lb PP and take it to the point fer drum fishin!


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## Surf Fish (Dec 16, 2005)

The only way to feel a sheepshead bite is to put him in a bathtub and sit on him....


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## Fish Hunter (Jul 31, 2002)

That is exactly what xpierrat has along with some 30lb Fireline. No problems for him at the point, so far. 

Me, my 50lb PP is on an Avet and I've yet to have problems on the point with it.


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## RedskinFan228 (Jun 28, 2004)

I only throw suffix on my conventional and only throw them when bait fishing. Conversly I only use braid on my spinners and 90% of the time I am throwing artificials. Love the distance I get with it. Have to agree with DrumDum have had no noticable change in the action on my gotcha plugs when throwing braid. The only problem with braid is damn stuff hurts your finger when casting tne heavier weight lures. Fishing at lesner for stripers last season was throwing 3 oz bucktails in the cold and after 20 casts or so my finger was so sore had to stop. Now I just wrap some electrical tape or duct tape around my finger  you lose some of the feel needed for accurate casting but you save your finger.


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

I use braid and only in one case do i change back to mono and thats when striper fishing with bomber type plugs 6 to 8 inch > with braid the fish and current combo will leave you with a lure and no treblehooks.The pressure and no stretch will open the O ring and the treblehooks are gone.Even tryed switching hooks and trebles to spro O rings and a better hook and the Orings still gave out and these O rings are expensive and not fun to deal with.Try suffix 20 to 30lb braid on an Okuma VS45 on your favorite stick and you wont regret it.For gotcha's and trout I use a single piece 7ft intercoastal ugly stick and for flatties a 7 or 8 foot Tica.


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## Flash (May 20, 2004)

*Drumdum or anyone else*

Do you tie the braid directly to the Gotcha plug or use a mono leader?


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

yes direct but if the bluefish are thick then use a 4 inch steel leader.Gets hung up and tangled in the trebles but it saves you you gotcha


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## david123 (Jun 24, 2004)

Something that hasn't been mentioned. Braid has much less resistance to the water and NO flotation. you don't need anywhere near as much weight on your line. I was out on a 6 man charter two weeks ago and and I only needed an ounce as opposed to everybody elses 3 ounces. 
You get down quick and the feel is much better, partially due to the fact that there is less weight on your line and partially because it has next to no stretch. Kind of like a telegraph wire to your rod. 


I do however put a section of mono on, usually about three feet, but maybe more depending on species / conditions as braid has little abraision resistance and seems that the first three to five feet of line are what takes the beating.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

So far to date Ive only used braided lin off a boat hunting for flounder let me tell you that with braid the sensitivity is so sweet you feel every bump, hump and pot hole. You practicly feel evry thing. Use a graphite rod and you have even more sensitivity. 

Ive got some spooled on a spinning reel but have not used it as of yet.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Flash said:


> Do you tie the braid directly to the Gotcha plug or use a mono leader?


 With a gotcha,I do it two ways.. I tie it directly to a ft and a half link or more of 20lb flouro.. If I think there are going to be kings or maybe big bluefish,I'll cut off gotcha and attach it to about 6" of 36lb wire,bend the other end of the wire after haybailing it to the gotcha,attach the flouro to the bend in the wire with an albright... 

IMO always tie mono or flouro to the end of the braid.. Easy to tie on another lure without fighting with the braid each time. Also,if you happen to get snagged,seems like the mono breaks quicker than the fireline will,so you save your line,maybe not the lure though..


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## Fatback (Aug 6, 2003)

Hey fellows.........I agree with most of everyones comments about braid. I switched two years ago and am not going back to mono.............but I do use fluorocarbon leaders most of the time. I use Stren Super braid and all y'all use PP or Suffix............I LOVE the Stren. My question for all is: Has anyone tried PP, Suffix, and Stren........for comparisons? Just interested if anyone has any knowledge of any differences between the three. I'm very happy with Stren, of course except the price.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Fatback said:


> Hey fellows.........I agree with most of everyones comments about braid. I switched two years ago and am not going back to mono.............but I do use fluorocarbon leaders most of the time. I use Stren Super braid and all y'all use PP or Suffix............I LOVE the Stren. My question for all is: Has anyone tried PP, Suffix, and Stren........for comparisons? Just interested if anyone has any knowledge of any differences between the three. I'm very happy with Stren, of course except the price.


 Don't know,can't tellya I'm in the "Fireline monopoly" right now as I have two bulk spools,one 6 di 14 and one of 8 di 20.. Love the stuff,would like to try others as well,but "if'n it ain't broke ya don't fix it",that includes your stren as well..


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## Fatback (Aug 6, 2003)

I hear ya DD........................started with Stren when I was a small fry................it ain't broke.


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## Homer (Feb 11, 2006)

Reel types should be considered when using braid also--specifically, the spools. In my experience, spinning reels w/ taller, shallower spools are much better than shorter, deeperspools. I've had more than my share of wind knots, especially w/ lighter lures and sinkers.


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## aln (May 29, 2006)

*wind knots*

Ill be tossing from the bank so what you reckon would be a minimum weight to toss to avoid the knots..? I do have a shallow spool. 

Al


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