braid for salmon

[sly_karma]

I'm wondering why mono is still commonly used for salmon fishing on downriggers. In my admittedly limited experience, the lower stretch of braided line is better for hook set and telegraphing strikes from smaller fish, especially as depth increases. On a charter last week we used their setup of 40 lb braid main line with a 20 ft topshot of 40 lb mono, the downrigger release clipped onto the mono right at the knot. We liked the more obvious strikes and bumps visible at the rod; if we were fishing bait we'd've known to pull up gear for a check of the chovy whereas with mono those bumps might not have been spotted. Before I go out and change over my own gear to braid, is there anything I'm missing here? I don't get a lot of time on salmon gear so any experienced comments would be appreciated.

 

[RiverBoy]

It is starting to gain more popularity for sure. But the lower stretch you talk of is also responsible for tearing hooks out of a fish's mouth. Some of those large spring runs, you want the stretch in my opinion.

 

[spring fever]

I switched 3 years ago and I am happy. The only down side I can think of is braid is hard on rod guides-check them regularly for grooving, the knot between the braid and topshot can be a bit of a bear until you get one you like and glue it so it doesn't bother you going thru the guides. I don't think the comment that braid will pull hooks out of fishes mouths due to lack of stretch is valid-you have a mono topshot of 60 ft if that bothers you and really there is so much "belly on a downrigger set-up you should be able to handle it.

 

[Tailwalker]

I switched 3 years ago and I am happy. The only down side I can think of is braid is hard on rod guides-check them regularly for grooving, the knot between the braid and topshot can be a bit of a bear until you get one you like and glue it so it doesn't bother you going thru the guides. I don't think the comment that braid will pull hooks out of fishes mouths due to lack of stretch is valid-you have a mono topshot of 60 ft if that bothers you and really there is so much "belly on a downrigger set-up you should be able to handle it.

The hook probably pulls out because the drag is too tight. I too, have gone to braid main line but just mono for the leader. I use the Albright to connect the top shot to braid. And yes, the braid can be hard on guides...... The advantage with braid as main line is that being smaller diameter, there is less drag with the "belly" and hook-up is instantaneous. Any hard strike will be dampened by the line belly and your drag. I like to hear the reel "scream" so my drag is set to minimum needed.

 

[Birdman]

I've been using braid as mainline for about 10 years now. way better then mono. no topshot needed either - just loosen your drag! I also don't use a topshot because the braid is much more abrasion resistant - I've had springs wrap the braid completely around a rigger of my boat (or others), a big kelp ball, or even one of my engines and take a 100 yard run - no breakage. I just tie in a piece of thick pink Dacron at the distance I like to set from the clip. fireline 30 pounds is my preferred choice - super thin so you can pile a mile onto your reel (never get spooled again!) and it majorly reduces blowback

 

[sly_karma]

Blowback is lessened with braid mainline but since I went to braid for downriggers instead of wire, the blowback is still there.

 

[Fish Assassin]

I switched this year to braid with a mono top and really like it

 

[capt. crunch]

Yep. Me too.

 

[Birdsnest]

yup! me too. I am surprised that a guide would use braid unless his clients were all experienced. I would say it is far less forgiving for there is no/zero/nada stretch in it. For this reason I think the odd fish may get away but on the other hand you see every little detail of whats happening at the end of the line so less time dragging around small fish you wouldn't notice with mono. I like it allot but the battles are violent compared to the mono which is a bit intimidating. lol

 

[tubby]

yup! me too. I am surprised that a guide would use braid unless his clients were all experienced. I would say it is far less forgiving for there is no/zero/nada stretch in it. For this reason I think the odd fish may get away but on the other hand you see every little detail of whats happening at the end of the line so less time dragging around small fish you wouldn't notice with mono. I like it allot but the battles are violent compared to the mono which is a bit intimidating. lol

I have numerous mooching reels, I went to braid on two of them around 3-4 yrs ago. I find I only use them now if I'm fishing fairly deep (+125ft) and that's only if I'm dragging bottom and might get into some small bottom dwellers. Braid gives a 'jerky' fight which I find abit annoying especially if I have less experience guys on the boat. With the stretch of mono, it's a much more forgiving fight so I can really put a more constant pressure on the fish during a fight. I'm not one of those 'loosen' the drag fighters, after a couple minutes it's all about putting as much pressure on the fish to get him in the boat.

 

[fishbadger]

Definitely a fan of braid with the mono top shot. 30 lb hi-viz power pro with 20 feet of 30 lb Maxima ultragreen, with a double uni knot at the junction. Glue on that knot is for people that can't tie the knot right. I agree the fight is an acquired taste. . .more like hand to hand combat,

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[Travo]

Guide was using it in rupert , thought it was silly until reading this thread the hook set was actually really nice .. My fishing partner wants to witch to braid maybe I'll swap up half the rods and do a report after week in nootka ..

 

[spring fever]

If you think the fight is too violent or too" hand to hand" -get yourself a nice custom 10'6" rod from Kimboyt (Justin) on the forum-that makes things"right some gentlemanly" LOL

 

[fishbadger]

If you think the fight is too violent or too" hand to hand" -get yourself a nice custom 10'6" rod from Kimboyt (Justin) on the forum-that makes things"right some gentlemanly" LOL

Right-on spring fever. . .I built some noodles on Rainshadow blanks, put some bling in em, and the bend makes the whole shebang quite proper!

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[NautiGirl]

I switched one rod to high visibility braid last year with 60 ft top shot of 30big game. It makes for a very intense fish fighting experience. Runs are explosive. It reminds me of using the fly rod for coho. I left some mono behind on my reel for additional backing so if I get a freight train peeling lots of line then I get some more stretch

 

[sly_karma]

Maybe I'll make a longer top shot, 40-50 ft of mono to soften the fight a little as the fish comes to the boat. The other thing we learnt to do last weekend was lean the rod over sideways to almost horizontal to keep the fish's head down in the water as it came close to the boat. You can still keep tension on the line but 'tips up' was causing problems with so little stretch. Overall what I really need is more mileage on salmon.