# interesting tidbits from last weekend



## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

FYI....2 things happened last weekend that seemingly reinforce an opinion I've had for a while. 

1 boat caught 11 fish, and all the fish come on the same rod and lure. I think the lure was a Bubble Gum Ripstick, but to the point I'm making, it was the only rod that had mono on the reel. All the others were braid and caught nothing.

Another boat that we were communicating with, caught only 2 fish on Sat. (we caught 7) , and got only 4 the next day in the same area were 1 other boat went 20 for 30. The 20 for 30 boat was running mono the other boat was running braid.

I'm a mono believer and have been for 4 years, and while I don't argue or try to switch braid guys, this obviously reinforces my beliefs.

Superbraid is a must on Dipsys (in my opinion), and is OK on jet rods, but if I had to run it on board rods, I sure have a 25 - 50' length of mono on the end.

Good luck fishin, and I hope to see you at the boat show.


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## 2CatchEyes (Apr 11, 2008)

Jim, if you changed 4 years ago, what was your criteria? What is causing mono to outfish braid in your opinion?


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## Big Papa Sports (Apr 4, 2009)

Are you saying this is true in the summer as well, or is this just a late fall, winter thing. Does it have to do with the colder water being more dense than the warm water.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

i agree, anymore i use braid for dipsys only, anything else the mono reels come out. the reason i started was because the braid has a tendency to slip thru the clamps on my inline boards, causing the board to slide down to the bait unless id double wrap the line around the clamp, but then id have to unwrap it to get the board off and that was a serious pain sometimes when fishing solo. 20# mono wont slip thru the clamps. the catching more fish was just a bonus


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## Bigmtman (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm know pro for sure and have talked to many guys about this for many years.Mono guys are mono guys and braid guys are braid guys and both have their pros and cons and both will out produce each other on seperate days.I use both but prefer braid for me it works the best over my fishing style and I think thats why I like it because IT FITS MY STYLE.I fish with a lot of guys that 100% use mono and some days I have a better % and some days they dne thing for sure they lose more fish in 2-3 outtings than I do all year.I'm just saying I don't see enough differance to just use mono so I will use what fits my needs and the most and the biggest for me is what I'm most confident with.GREAT TOPIC and like Jim and others I have seen the same thing happen but mono one day and braid the next.


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

Jim and others,
After several discussions Ken and me had with you Ken convinced me to get 6 rods with mono and 6 with braid. This past summer we switched to running mono with everything other than dipsies and we believe we are better for it. Our small boards did not slip and I can not recall having many fish come off at all. I was a hold out but you and kenny convinced me and as much as I hate to admit it he was right!! I am happy with it and think the main difference is that if you have a someone who horses a fish a little to much there is that built in "error" in the stretch of the line. we are using the twelve Big Game and it works fine, is not expensive and has the built in buffer for the dive chart as well. Very happy and glad we discussed that with you a while back.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

Bigmtman said:


> One thing for sure they lose more fish in 2-3 outtings than I do all year.


I found just the opposite, and so have most, if not all the guys I know that made the switch. When I switched to mono for running boards a few years ago, my hookup to net ratio drastically increased (less lost fish). Even if your drags are not adjusted correctly, the stretch of the mono is far more forgiving than the zero stretch factor of braid.


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## thebige22 (Oct 26, 2007)

I'm definitely not an expert at trolling like many others but my theory has been to go with braid and use a 'medium-lght' action fiberglass rod to compensate for the lack of line stretch when fighting the fish. This way I get the strength of the braid line but some forgiveness with the action of the rod. Not sure if this is true- but what do others think?

TheBigE22


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

2CatchEyes said:


> Jim, if you changed 4 years ago, what was your criteria? What is causing mono to outfish braid in your opinion?



On the charter boat Rich ran braid on one side and mono on the other for a year with big boards, and the mono out caught the braid over 2 to 1. Part of it is the stretch factor, but we think it's deeper than that. 

On those days when the fish are neutral and finicky, the mono really shined. We think the lure appears more vulnerable on the mono, and when a fish comes in behind it, we believe they often nudge it or push on the lure. When they do this exploritory feel with their mouth or head the mono lures contiues to wobble because even just the lure has pulled some stretch into the line. 

When a fish does the same thing with the braid lines, there is no stretch and the lure dumps, and acts totally unnatural, scaring the fish away.

We noticed that when you did catch a walleye on the braid, the hook was often just barely caught right in the snout of the fish, where with mono it seemed to often be taken deeper.

I do not argue about line or try to convince anyone to switch, I'm simply explaining my criteria, as requested. 

I know some expert fishermen who use superbraid, and aren't about to switch. We tried the longer softer rods and backing the drags off, but still were not happy. 

All just my opinion and observation, if you consider it worthless, let me remind you, That's exactly what you paid for it.

Good luck, and see you at the show.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

thebige22 said:


> I'm definitely not an expert at trolling like many others but my theory has been to go with braid and use a 'medium-lght' action fiberglass rod to compensate for the lack of line stretch when fighting the fish. This way I get the strength of the braid line but some forgiveness with the action of the rod. Not sure if this is true- but what do others think?
> 
> TheBigE22


Jim, doesn't surprise me one bit, same thing happened on Virgils boat when I fished with him this fall, all but 2 of the pullbacks we lost came on the braid side. 

A lighter rod will only cause to much board surging causing erratic action in the baits when boards are coming off of waves depleting the amount of possible strikes and opportunities your giving yourself. 

You don't need the "strength" of braid walleye fishing
You don't need the sensitivity of braid while trolling
Braid will rip the hooks out of fishes mouth when they shake and dive/run at the boat even with a properly set drag and the right action rod.

Facts are, you get more hooks up with mono or co-polymer and you'll land more fish. 

Mono presents baits to fish in a more subtle (and attractive fashion) to walleye, braid gives the bait to run more true and IMO a little to true, which in most cases to hard. 

Leave the braid for musky rods, divers, jigging sticks and for bass guy who set the hook and land the fish at the same time. 

For walleye you are doing yourself a injustice running braid, no reason for it while pulling cranks and inline harnesses.

Run it if you want but (boatnut) but if you fish ALL year, mono is the way to go if you want to capitalize on more bite.


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## Bigmtman (Feb 4, 2008)

After this topic and reading all the post I'm willing to give it a good chance for my self.This is why OFG is great and the guys that post with pros and cons help us all out.I like most hate change but if it helps I will be very thankfull and will amit it was better.Thanks for helping us all think and change things up.


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## 2CatchEyes (Apr 11, 2008)

Very interesting thread! Question for all you Mono enthusiasts, what make/model/color & line diameter are you using?

I've been a dyed in the wool braid man but have lost many fish over the years and this may be worth an experiment.


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## COmmodore 64 (Jun 24, 2006)

INteresting indeed. This year we didn't get out as much as previous years, but when we did, we lost a TON of fish. More than any other year I can remember. I used to keep 2 of my rods spooled with mono, but this year I put braid on them all.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

12lb Maxima, its a co-polymer tougher than XT and Big Game a little less stretch way stronger doesn't fish like pure mono. (I've used 10 and 12 and see no difference it's unreal strong even on the surprise big steelies)

I promise you won't be dissapointed. Buy the bulk 3300 yard spool to save money. 

http://www.basspro.com/Maxima-Line-Bulk-Spool/product/60096/86522


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Cajun Red, Big Game, XT, and I admit I bought some super high priced Sun Line (just so I could talk about it). I lean on 12 # Big Game because of availabilty and low cost.


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## eyedreamn (Jun 12, 2011)

I ran braid on my inline board rods and mono on my big board rods. I have heard several times that mono is the way to go with inline boards. If thats the case i will probably run all mono this year.
What size line do you guys recommend with inline boards?
K gone do you recommend that maxima line for inline boards pulling plugs or harnesses?


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## bocajemma (Dec 29, 2008)

what are the experiences with big boards running tru trip jets and spoons? Is mono or braid preferred?


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

With a tripable Jet mono would be my suggestion, to reduce rip offs after the trip has released. But if you run 10' leaders you at least have that stretch going for you.

Trip tension is so slight on the Jets that mono will trip them fine.

With a non-trip Jet I don't think it makes much diference because the Jet acts like an idler and provides some cushion, acting somewhat like a snubber.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

eyedreamn said:


> I ran braid on my inline board rods and mono on my big board rods. I have heard several times that mono is the way to go with inline boards. If thats the case i will probably run all mono this year.
> What size line do you guys recommend with inline boards?
> K gone do you recommend that maxima line for inline boards pulling plugs or harnesses?


85% of my fishing is done pulling offshore boards with inline weights and cranks and I use 10 or 12lb maxima, (other 15% is dipsey's then I use 40/10 Power Pro) I've used both and both #tests work equally well, if you pull alot of jets use the #12.


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## eyedreamn (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks man!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Now we dont fish up there nearly as much as all of you, but we always run mono. We have hardly ever used dipseys,but this yr will start takeing two rods spooled with braid,to give dipseys a shot. We use 6 and 8 oz bouncers now to run the bottem with meat,and smaller bb's to run meat in the middle and up high. next yr were going to try to learn dipseys and inline weights.Just hard to get away from cranks, when We love to troll cranks,its by far our funnest way to catch fish! And have yoused mono our whole lifes. LOL i cant even get it off my spinning reels...
I feel if i were to switch to braid now on my crankbait rods i would loose ALOT of fish do to the hooks tearing out. Those eyes make some awfull hard runns going oppisite direction of the boat,and mono really helps us out alot. We feel we loose very few fish realling them in. Seems only fish we loose is the typical pullbacks on the board(inline) and by the time we pick up the rod fish is gone. 

Keep the info comeing guys makes for some really good winter reading... Love to learn about fishing!


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## Team Pursuit (Mar 27, 2008)

I switched to mono a # of years ago for one reason and one reason only. The guys i know who charter or fish tourneys, and make $$$ doing it, all use mono with inline boards. I run 12lb big game, and as Het said, the hook-up ratio went way up. I keep at least 2 rods on the boat spooled with 40lb power pro just in case the dipsy bite is on. If we are out east in deeper water i will put 6 of them on the boat because that seems to be the only area we will ever put out all dipsys. I re-spool my mono at least twice a year and with the big game, its cheap. The dipsy rods with the power pro on them will last for ever because I rarely use them.


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## OhYeah (Apr 29, 2005)

Like Jim, a few years ago I ran 1/2 mono & 1/2 braid for a full season with off-shore boards. The mono outproduced the braid 33%+ "in the box".
Not only in the box, but probably 50%+ less "short hits" on the harnesses. 
Being frugal, I began with BigGame 12lb and still use it. I re-spool 2x per year and can't remember having line failure. I do check for nicks before each trip. 

Kgone - Over the course of a year 80% of my fishing is harnesses in max 40' of water. Would you say there is a significant catch rate increase with Maxima ? I'm always up for "testing". On my charters who can't stop see-sawing the rods, or tighten the drag when I"m not looking, I like the extra stretch of mono.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

OhYeah said:


> Like Jim, a few years ago I ran 1/2 mono & 1/2 braid for a full season with off-shore boards. The mono outproduced the braid 33%+ "in the box".
> Not only in the box, but probably 50%+ less "short hits" on the harnesses.
> Being frugal, I began with BigGame 12lb and still use it. I re-spool 2x per year and can't remember having line failure. I do check for nicks before each trip.
> 
> Kgone - Over the course of a year 80% of my fishing is harnesses in max 40' of water. Would you say there is a significant catch rate increase with Maxima ? I'm always up for "testing". On my charters who can't stop see-sawing the rods, or tighten the drag when I"m not looking, I like the extra stretch of mono.


Maxima and Big Game are similair, Big Game is pure mono and Maxima is a co-polymer. Maxima (and others) have slightly less stretch, lower memory, better knot streghth, higher tensile strength, absorb less or no water and offer much higher abrasion resistance. They weave polymer plastics into the line while they make it, which explains why is wears like iron and won't break even if you get a knick in it. 

To say will your catch rate go up from Big Game to Maxima probably not, will it fish better, can't say for sure, is it a higher quality line and does it take abuse from OR-18 snappers and other planer board clips, I personally absolutely think so, I also think the line take much more abuse around the net and around the fish in the boat, which is a good thing, this where the abrasion resistance comes into play. When you compare a spool of line that cost 9.00 for 1000 yards compared to something that cost 13.99 for 330 yards there is a reason it's made better (not always the case but usually) 

Gamma and McCoy are others who make a good co-polymer as well, I have never used them but I know guys on walleye central are very happy with the McCoy and tons of bass guys are happy with Gamma, however, IMO baitcasting lines generally don't make for good trolling lines. I know I tried maxima for steelie fishing and it wasn't even fishable, at least the Ultragreen maybe one of their other spools and lb test would be as I have seen some great trout reviews online but not for what I wanted it for.


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## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

K gonefishin said:


> 12lb Maxima, its a co-polymer tougher than XT and Big Game a little less stretch way stronger doesn't fish like pure mono. (I've used 10 and 12 and see no difference it's unreal strong even on the surprise big steelies)
> 
> I promise you won't be dissapointed. Buy the bulk 3300 yard spool to save money.
> 
> http://www.basspro.com/Maxima-Line-Bulk-Spool/product/60096/86522


+1. I fished 12lb Maxima all year and I'm very happy with the performance.


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## jimski2 (Jul 23, 2010)

When your fish pull out or rip out, it is not the line but the size of the hooks that is the problem. We have settled on 2/0 hooks for our contest harnesses. Certain rigs caught more ten pounders than others, but the most consistent rigs were equipped with the bigger hooks that wrapped around the walleyes large jaw bone and did not pull out of the flesh as smaller hooks do, especially on the big girls. The blade and beads were not as important on the big fish as the size of the hooks.


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## fishkiller (Feb 6, 2007)

What helped prove the braid vs. mono argument to me was fishing on my buddies boat with downriggers. We rarely lose a fish on the riggers with mono line a lot more common occurence with dipsey's & braid.


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## 2CatchEyes (Apr 11, 2008)

fishkiller said:


> What helped prove the braid vs. mono argument to me was fishing on my buddies boat with downriggers. We rarely lose a fish on the riggers with mono line a lot more common occurence with dipsey's & braid.


That's a great point. I never thought about that but we seldom lose any fish off our riggers as well.


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## surffishn (Jan 20, 2010)

I always used just mono for trolling Walleyes.Ande 16 lb. green caught tons of them in the late 80's.Got back into walleye trolling a few years ago.Started using mono but was talked into using braid .Last year changed to all braid.Now I think I made A mistake will be switching back to mono on most rods.IMO I feel the line is not as important as getting the lure in front of the fish.Depth is the key with any line.


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## buck.eyehunter (May 27, 2007)

Good topic. I have seen that before jim I always believed the action was more erratic on a crack wth braid due to mono's strech.

I was a stickly a braid guy a few years back and had a few tournys where we lost a few big fish back to back. so tried mono and will never look back and most of my fishing is with offshore boards as well. 

Kgone talked me into maxima 10 lb and still run it. It wears better than any mono I have used smooth and strong. Thanks kevin

I still carry 4 sg 27 reels loaded with 10/4 fire line for bouncer rods that I have switched for pulling reefrunners more more action. and will never run mono for dipseys. Just my 3 cents mike


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## mkalink (Mar 28, 2010)

I am definitely a believer in Power Pro braid for dipsy divers. I use mono on the little boards, larger diameter less premature releases. On the big boards, I use both mono and Power Pro when I am running jets off the big boards. When I run plugs and snap weights I always run them on mono. I usually have 14 rods on the boat 8 w/mono and 6 w/braid the most I ever run at one time is 3 lines per side on the boards and 4 dipsys off the stern. Another thing I do is all of my leaders are florocarbon, I can't give you any good reason why I run floro leaders. I have just had very good luck with it. One thing I don't understand is all the fish alot of the people loose at the boat or they loose sometime during their retrieve. I can count on one hand the amount of fish I have lost at the side of the boat over the last 10 years. Most of those fish lost, was do to the amount of beer consumed by the net man. It always seems the drunk is first one to grab the net. Maybe this would be a good topic for another blog but I just thought I would bring it up.


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## Fish Scalper (Oct 31, 2009)

I deckhand on charters, pro fish in tournaments and do everything in between. I can come down on the side of all arguments as a result. When fishing, I would say I am generally more successful than most with whatever I have at hand. The main thing that people fail to take adavantage of is their drag. You can use this line or that line, but in the end, drag can make any line you run, act like any other when it comes to landing fish that are hooked. On charters running all braid or tournaments running all mono, what we lose isn't that different, it's mostly a matter of drag. Some times it's just a matter of speed. Fish hooked at slower speeds will come unbottoned more often those hooked at higher speeds and vice versa. I believe in whatever is making it happen that day, but don't put total faith in one vs. the other. Every dog has it's day I guess and many of the dogs that have chimed in here have been found in our wake where we're pulling all braid and kicking their butts.


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## ezmarc (Apr 6, 2004)

You'll never catch me without both braid and mono on board and I just don't see a difference in lost fish although you do have to be slower with braid. I fished with a guy Weds that only had mono on board and we lost every hit, the day before they never lost a fish.

That said though, if you are running mostly worms or cranks at slower speeds and shorter leads then mono will probably be a safe bet for most of your fishing but there will be "those" days.


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## Jim Stedke (Dec 5, 2005)

Marc, everybody was loosing fish on Wed. We went 3 for 7 on Grady's boat. They really didn't want it that day.


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## fishingguy (Jan 5, 2006)

Switched back to all mono 3 or 4 years ago, one of my better decisions. Braid is for dipsy's, I'd rather go golfin' than go back to fishin' with dipsy's.


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## Yeehaaa (Feb 17, 2010)

Based on my limited experience the last three years, I'd agree with Jim. I ran two braids and two monos with boards and only used dipsys once. I solved the braid slippage problem on the boards with an adjustable clip (Thanks, Jim).

Does anyone run flat lines with wire or lead core (or mono)? My original Lake Erie friend ran wire off the stern, so I picked up on it. Gotta say I like the boards the best.


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## jimski2 (Jul 23, 2010)

Putting out inline boards with braid line is effective if you use the red rubber bands for the pinch pads as this prevents a lot of false releases.


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## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

if you wonet to know what work best ,you have to keep log for 50 or 100 trips.you can not run one side mono and one side braid,if the fish hit only on one side it will be wrong test.in my opinion you have to stager #1 rod mono#2 rod braid same loore on bouth and same depth,when one catch fish then you slip next rod where the fish was cathed,and put the second rod in the place where was rod whot did not catch fish,if you run 6 rods than you do the same think.all rods have to be adjusted to same resistance on drag.only test like this will give you anser whot is beter.if i reel biger fish with braid my line is sliping i have to pump and reel to get that fish in.if the fish take of the line is peeling of aesy,not tering out hook.if anybody has good way how to do this test just put that up there.i am not sayng one is beter then other,till we see the test results.

snag


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