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Spinning reel line for mountain trout: braid or fluorocarbon?
Great question! When targeting mountain trout on a spinning reel, both braid and fluorocarbon lines have their advantages, and the best choice can depend on the specific conditions and your personal preferences.
Braid:
Pros:
- Sensitivity: Braid has no stretch, which means you can feel even the slightest bites. This can be crucial when targeting finicky mountain trout.
- Durability: Braid is more resistant to abrasion, which is helpful if you're fishing in areas with a lot of rocks or debris.
- Thin Diameter: Braid has a thinner diameter compared to the same pound test of fluorocarbon, allowing for longer casts and better line capacity on your reel.
Cons:
- Visibility: Braid is more visible in clear water, which can spook wary trout.
- Line Management: Braid can be more prone to wind knots and tangles, especially on spinning reels.
Fluorocarbon:
Pros:
- Invisibility: Fluorocarbon is nearly invisible underwater, making it an excellent choice for clear mountain streams where trout can be easily spooked.
- Abrasion Resistance: While not as durable as braid, fluorocarbon still offers good abrasion resistance.
- Sinking Line: Fluorocarbon sinks faster than braid, which can be beneficial if you're fishing deeper pools or faster currents.
Cons:
- Memory: Fluorocarbon can have more line memory, leading to coils and tangles, especially on spinning reels.
- Less Sensitivity: Fluorocarbon has some stretch, which can reduce sensitivity compared to braid.
Recommendation:
A popular setup for mountain trout is to use a combination of both lines to get the best of both worlds. You can spool your reel with a light braid (e.g., 10-pound test) for its sensitivity and casting distance, and then attach a fluorocarbon leader (e.g., 4-6 pound test) for its invisibility and stealth. This setup allows you to take advantage of the strengths of both types of line.
To connect the braid to the fluorocarbon leader, you can use a reliable knot like the Albright knot or the Double Uni knot. This way, you maintain the sensitivity and casting benefits of braid while keeping the presentation subtle with the fluorocarbon leader.
If you need more specific advice or have any other questions, feel free to ask! Happy fishing! 🎣
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Which Fishing Line? Braid vs Fluorocarbon vs Mono by TacticalBassin → bottom of my spool because if i ever hook a fish that is strong enough to get me all the way to the bottom of that spool i want that fish coming in the boat so i tie a good knot at the bottom and then just fill her all the way up with my line insert braid if you do that with braid you just tie it around that spool and call it a day and fill it on up when you catch little ones you'll never notice the difference when you hook a giant and everything locks up in that reel and you're really trying to torque on them all of the braid will begin to spin around your spool and the reel will act as if you have no drag at all it will just spin because the braid won't bite on the spool and it won't bite on itself like fluoro or mono so what i do there's different things you could do you could put mono or fluoro on there and then tie to your braid and fill it on up so you have a little backing what i like to do that's really easy is i take a piece of electrical tape about 12 inches long i stretch it a little bit so it wants to fit down on the spool and then i lay it in there and i just crank it on and i put a layer of electrical tape down there
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Which Fishing Line Is Best? Braid vs Monofilament vs Fluorocarbon by TacticalBassin → coatings different ways to make the line i don't want to get too scientific into it to overwhelm you but there are things that you can do to change the specifications online give them different coatings and stuff to make them act like different types of line so i was actually using this s sunline fc crank and it's fluorocarbon but it has more stretch than normal fluorocarbon so that is a scenario where i would use a specialty line if you guys want to keep it simple stupid you know just get yourself a spool of fluorocarbon a spool of braided line and a spool of monofilament and that will work for 99 of the things if you guys are more in depth and you want specific line for specific techniques that's kind of what we'll talk about here shortly so another another line that um typically i'm gonna talk about clear lake but this is actually chickamauga um you know that there's big bass in both those fisheries and uh both fisheries kind of have stained water a lot of pressure typically i would flip or punch with braided line heavy braided line 50 65 sometimes 80 pound braided line okay pressure situations you start getting that little clear situation that's where you're gonna want to go with a fc flipping now this line is made let's see it's 22 pound test it's made to handle those heavy fish in that heavy cover it's got a little
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Fluorocarbon/Mono/Braided Fishing Line...How To Make The Right Choice by Intuitive Angling With Randy Blaukat → on my spinning rod well the only time i do is if i'm fishing a fluke or floating worm then i'll use uh braided line with a barrel swivel and then you know just a fluorocarbon leader simply because in that situation there's not much of my floor car my braid in the water but i don't use any type of a braided floor carbon on my spinning for traditional fishing for me here's the braid applications that i use braid is the line that i go to when i'm punching mats most of the time sometimes i'll use a fluorocarbon line you know if the fish are real finicky and the water's real calm but most of the time i'm fishing you know the braided line in mats and very seldom do i use the 65 a lot of guys use the 65 but i found that the 50 is a lot more efficient you know i use the seaguar smackdown braid it's you know very supple comes through the cover real good and most of the time if i'm punching those one ounce size weights i'm using the 50 50 pound test the other time i use the braided line which is very rare is if i'm flipping and pitching a heavy jig if i if i'm pitching like a one ounce jig three quarter ounce jig and shallow water heavy cover a lot of and if the water is dirty sometimes i'll use a braided line
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Which Fishing Line Is Best? Braid vs Monofilament vs Fluorocarbon by TacticalBassin → that fish bites that sensitivity just travels through that braid with that nose stretch so much better than monofilament and durability like i said it lasts forever you can spool up a spool of braid and it can last you four five six months before you actually have to spool up another reel or you know put different braid on it just is more durable less stretch more resilient and better sensitivity so that's why we typically use braided line now we do we do run leaders and like i said last last week when i did that that knot tying video on how to tie knots um that's where those knots are gonna come into play tying you know having your braid as the main line on your reel and then putting a monofilament leader so you do have a little bit of stretch on there but you still get the sensitivity kind of combination combining the two to get the best of both worlds so typically braid where you're going to throw straight braid this is your power fishing technique so even you beginners you can throw braid on your on your your spinning a lot spinning rod combos your your bait casting combos if you're going to be throwing uh say your pawn fishing you're throwing top water or you're throwing a weightless senko into these or bulrushes or or slop that sort of stuff and your fish aren't line shy that's where you're gonna throw straight
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Which Fishing Line Is Best? Braid vs Monofilament vs Fluorocarbon by TacticalBassin → actually take that memory away that little trick i learned as a as a kid to help deal with some of that memory but monofilament if you guys are just getting into fishing wanting to try it out go get yourself a spool of you know seven or probably eight to ten twelve pounds monofilament line depending on the type of fishing you're gonna be doing but that will cover most finesse techniques now when you get a top water fishing we'll start talking about a little bit different line you should get but if you're just starting out go get yourself a line of monofilament i really like the um the maxima ultra green you know this is a line that i've used for several years matt several more years than i have and uh had a lot of success they're smaller diameter lines you know their six pound test all the way up to 30 and 40 pound tests for stripers but go get yourself some line some monofilament line and you guys will be set now if you're looking to do some more like finesse fishing some some type of fishing where you're in clear water and you're worried about line visibility water clarity fish seeing your line that is where you're going to step up into fluorocarbon fluorocarbon is like 99 invisible underwater so if you are a tournament fisherman you are worried you know you're just you don't have confidence in the monofilament
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Best Line for Bass Fishing | The Answer May Surprise You!! by Fish the Moment → instead I'll use a 10-pound braided line as my main line and I'll tie that to an eight to twelve foot leader of fluorocarbon line with a modified Albright knot and this just saves me a lot of money when I'm fishing spinning rails because spinning reels will cause your line to get a lotta line twists and I'll go through a spool of fluorocarbon after maybe five or six trips with a spinning around if I use straight fluorocarbon so this backing of ten pound braided line works really well and as long as you can tie that good connecting knot to your fluorocarbon leader you should be good to go and the reason I want this fluorocarbon line with my spinning rails is because this fluorocarbon is nearly invisible in the water and this is great when you're fishing very pressured fish or in really clear bodies of water and normally when fishing your spinning reel I'm targeting either super clear water or highly pressured fish and so fluorocarbon is great because it's really subtle and stealthy in the water and it will get you some extra bites and those tough fishing conditions and one thing we all maybe heard about guys doing is using a braided line as the main line on their bait casters your tying it to a 10 to 20 foot fluorocarbon leader of anywhere from 10 to 20 pound test and this setup gives you the best of both worlds
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