The heavier the braid

[JPSlabber]

Think I made a beginner's mistake with picking up a cheap braid spool....went heavy, waaaaay to heavy (it's all they had in the shop though and I want braid so bad). What's your max braid strength that you will put on your baitcaster?

I think I can catch shark with this braid strength.....

[Jim_From_Zim]

None. 

Well, thats my opinion. For me baitcasters need flouro or at worst, mono. 

I do have a few spinning reels with braid, but its max 12lb braid with either a 8lb or 6lb flouro leader. I use these for drop shots, ned rigs, wacky rigs etc

Personally, I dont get the point of using a 20+ pound braid for anything. I mean, when last did you catch a 20 pound bass? Sure, you can argue that you use braid in the grass lines and lilly pads, but where do you find so much grass and lillies in the cape (I can hear the laughter on this comment... :-)) 

Even up here in the big smoke, I max out on 12lb flouro when fishing Rusties in the salad bowl or Boskop on the grass lines. 

Besides, once you've learnt to save a birds nest on flouro line, you'll never be able to do the same on braid. Its cut out and toss when that happens. 

My belief is that if you look after your flouro, spend good money on good line, you will get long life out of it. Cheating by fishing braid is not the cheaper way to go. Rather save the pennies and get decent line. You'll get more hookups anyway on proper flouro as opposed to braid. 

Its all about courses for horses...Decent  flouro line, decent knots and good care for the line will equal more fish. Simple - the end

[Kassie]

I used to throw 45lbs Kingfisher Super Braid on 3 baitcasters earlier on in my fishing "career".
I could throw just about anything I wanted on a specific setup...
I don't like the way it digs into the spool on a power hookset - I inevitably got an overwind on the next cast at that spot.

The guys who fish frogs and heavy flipping creature baits will put 50 - 60lbs braid on without blinking an eye.

---

Besides, once you've learnt to save a birds nest on flouro line, you'll never be able to do the same on braid. Its cut out and toss when that happens. 

I can count on 1 finger the number of times I had an overwind on a braid-filled baitcaster where I needed the scissors.
Braid has no memory - unlike mono or fluoro - where if it kinks too far, that kink stays there - so I just pulled any overwinds loose whilst muttering "Oh darn" (or something like that)

Braid on a light spinning outfit is the   pits!
Wind knots suck balls - I spend more time worrying about the tension on the braid coming back onto the spool than actually fishing

[Jim_From_Zim]

Yep, I agree with you on the tension coming back onto the reel and wind knots. 

But then you aint doing it right...    . I tend to have more tension on when dangling the lure/bait in the honey zone with little or no slack, then when you have a hook set you get the tension onto the reel anyway. But with no hook set, I do tend to retrieve it a little more slowly than normal to prevent a wind knot on the next cast. Its not to say that this is the only and best way, but it does work for me. 

You're right, braid does make for interesting fun on a bait caster, but for the life of me I cant bring myself to spooling one up. It just doesn't seem right in my inkling of a pea brain.

[JPSlabber]

Thanks Jim and Kassie .

Might just cut my loss/line and get a smaller braid strength. My current setup is:
1 x Baitcaster with 12LB Fluro (Main rod for Cranks, Spinnerbaits and Top Water)
2 x Spinning Rigs with 6LB Mono for those finese days (Softbaits and Finese Rigs)
1 x Baitcaster with current heavy braid that I'll swop out for a lighter one. (This one is just a spare atm)

Cheers guys.

[Jim_From_Zim]

Thanks Jim and Kassie .

Might just cut my loss/line and get a smaller braid strength. My current setup is:


Cheers guys.

Why dont you change your set ups like this: Just a thought to maximize the use of the equipment you have...

1 x Baitcaster with 12LB Fluro (Main rod for Cranks, Spinnerbaits and Top Water) - Keep this for your mojo and texas set ups, weightless and spanners
2 x Spinning Rigs with 6LB Mono for those finese days (Softbaits and Finese Rigs). Use one with mono as top water. Spool the other with braid and give it a long 12 pound leader for your finesse set ups. (long I mean twice the rod length) 
1 x Baitcaster with current heavy braid that I'll swop out for a lighter one. (This one is just a spare atm) Spool this with mono and use for cranks

My reasoning: 
Baitcaster with flouro - kinda obvious for your mojo, texas, weightless and spanner set ups. A good all rounder for pitching, casting etc
Spinning #1 - with mono it'll never work nicely for finesse rigs as mono floats. You want the line to help get the lighter baits to the target area. Braid will also float, but with a flouro leader it'll drop down vertically to the target area. Once its dropped down vertically, you can take up the slack line to get a better feel if they bite or if your bouncing over a rocky area. Make sense? Good for wacky, ned rigs, drop shots, shacky heads etc
Spinning #2 - Top water with mono = perfect. This whole set up floats. And, you'll cast that top water bait a mile on a spinning rod
Spare baitcaster - take the braid off and give it to spinning # 1. Use the mono from one spinning reel and use to set up your cranks. Mono has some "stretch" in it, which allows for a better hook set. 

Just make sure your spools are full to the almost maximum, this will give you max casting distances. 

Hope this helps, and doesn't confuse the crap out of you.

[Kassie]

JFZ

Do you have a picture of these "spanners" that you fish with?

---

Think I made a beginner's mistake with picking up a cheap braid spool....went heavy, waaaaay to heavy (it's all they had in the shop though and I want braid so bad). What's your max braid strength that you will put on your baitcaster?

I think I can catch shark with this braid strength.....

The cat is out of the bag now JP

Tell us what you spooled up with?

[Jim_From_Zim]

   


The trick is to get the line perfectly in the middle of the spanner's cg. This way it will wobble equally when you retrieve it. 
If its off to the one side, it'll swim in the wrong direction. 
For grass filled dams, its best to use a double ring spanner - this will prevent it getting snagged

This bait works a charm in the free state and Brakpan

[JPSlabber]

JFZ

Do you have a picture of these "spanners" that you fish with?

---

Think I made a beginner's mistake with picking up a cheap braid spool....went heavy, waaaaay to heavy (it's all they had in the shop though and I want braid so bad). What's your max braid strength that you will put on your baitcaster?

I think I can catch shark with this braid strength.....

The cat is out of the bag now JP

Tell us what you spooled up with?

Shucks Kassie....They only had 80lb but I'm chucking that. Won't even spool by spinning with that. Will check at Ol'Big Mouth for some lighter braid...

don't you laugh : I just want some braid

---

Thanks Jim and Kassie .

Might just cut my loss/line and get a smaller braid strength. My current setup is:


Cheers guys.

Why dont you change your set ups like this: Just a thought to maximize the use of the equipment you have...

1 x Baitcaster with 12LB Fluro (Main rod for Cranks, Spinnerbaits and Top Water) - Keep this for your mojo and texas set ups, weightless and spanners
2 x Spinning Rigs with 6LB Mono for those finese days (Softbaits and Finese Rigs). Use one with mono as top water. Spool the other with braid and give it a long 12 pound leader for your finesse set ups. (long I mean twice the rod length) 
1 x Baitcaster with current heavy braid that I'll swop out for a lighter one. (This one is just a spare atm) Spool this with mono and use for cranks

My reasoning: 
Baitcaster with flouro - kinda obvious for your mojo, texas, weightless and spanner set ups. A good all rounder for pitching, casting etc
Spinning #1 - with mono it'll never work nicely for finesse rigs as mono floats. You want the line to help get the lighter baits to the target area. Braid will also float, but with a flouro leader it'll drop down vertically to the target area. Once its dropped down vertically, you can take up the slack line to get a better feel if they bite or if your bouncing over a rocky area. Make sense? Good for wacky, ned rigs, drop shots, shacky heads etc
Spinning #2 - Top water with mono = perfect. This whole set up floats. And, you'll cast that top water bait a mile on a spinning rod
Spare baitcaster - take the braid off and give it to spinning # 1. Use the mono from one spinning reel and use to set up your cranks. Mono has some "stretch" in it, which allows for a better hook set. 

Just make sure your spools are full to the almost maximum, this will give you max casting distances. 

Hope this helps, and doesn't confuse the crap out of you.

I hear you on this one Jim.

Will need to re-look at my current rig setup and re-spool the change.

1 x Baitcaster - stick to the 12lb fluro
1 x Spinning - stick with the 8lb mono
1 x Spinning - Braid with a fluro leader (Have had line memory issues just spooling with Fluro on a spinning rig). Will need to head back to the shop for a lighter lb braid though
1 x Baitcaster - I'm still stuck on this one, why not a lighter LB for my top water frogs?

Cheers mate.

[Riprap]

WELL well, at least we now know who to go to if we ever need a tow rope or tools on the water..............

[Jim_From_Zim]

@jp:
1 x Baitcaster - stick to the 12lb fluro -yep
1 x Spinning - stick with the 8lb mono - yep
1 x Spinning - Braid with a fluro leader (Have had line memory issues just spooling with Fluro on a spinning rig). Will need to head back to the shop for a lighter lb braid though - if money aint a problem, try get anything between 12 and 20 pound. Use a flouro leader. A full spool of flouro on spinning reel is a disaster
1 x Baitcaster - I'm still stuck on this one, why not a lighter LB for my top water frogs? - you can do this, why not. But my argument is you wont use it as a top water all day so rather maximise the potential to throw different baits on the same rod set, hence a mono for your cranks ( jerk baits, spooks, poppers, shallow, square bills, deep divers etc)

@ rippy.... You know we'll always help you guys in the troep brown uniforms on the water
Ps... See you at interprovs next october at Impofu?

[Riprap]

"@ rippy.... You know we'll always help you guys in the troep brown uniforms on the water

Ps... See you at interprovs next october at Impofu?"

Haha, remind me to drill you down the slipway next time we meet.........
I see in your PS: that you are a fisher of men too hey.

[Jim_From_Zim]

Haha, remind me to drill you down the slipway next time we meet.........
I see in your PS: that you are a fisher of men too hey.

Remember, I come from the west rand - we're super tough up here...

Fisher of men? Fok, now you have me really confused

[Kassie]

Has anyone used that Berkley Nanofil stuff?

Was supposedly designed to be used with spinning reels if I'm not mistaken?

[DJP]

I like fishing braid, 40-50lb on casting setup (for frog fishing, larger topwaters and pitching) and 5-15lb on spinning setup (finesse fishing and light lures) sometimes with a flouro leader. I mostly fish mono with spinnerbaits and cranks.

Berkley Nanofil casts great but the knot strength is questionable (that could be user implicated), and imo it isn't very abrasion resistant compared to other super lines / braid.