Is braid a good option for sight casting?

Question

I am a life-long mono guy, but have recently experimented with braid on a spinning reel for sight casting. While you get the extra strength and length, I find I get a lot more wind knots than mono (which are also harder to get out than mono). Is there something I can do to minimize this, or is braid not really fit for casting? I can see using it for trolling and dropping down deep, but wondering if it is really meant for casting.

Answer 1

I'm a braid guy with a flouro leader.  Best of both worlds, more line on my reel and the stealthiness of flouro.  Being a rod builder I can tell you that some wind knots are caused by improperly blacked guides causing "backslap" as the line hits the guide.  Also, not having enough tension on braid as it's reeled in can cause it to sit loosely on the spool and not peel off correctly on subsequent casts thus causing wind knots.

Answer 2

To answer your question regarding site casting specifically, braid is more visible than mono. So a mono leader is usually a good idea if you're going to site fish with braid.

As far as actual casting goes, I've had better luck using braided line on a baitcaster than a spinning reel. I find that since mono keeps its form and has a little more stretch, it's less likely to tangle than the softer braid. I don't have a solution here except for using a baitcaster when possible or just sticking with the mono to reduce tangles.

Answer 3

In my opinion, it is just your opinion. If you're used to using mono, use mono. I think you will use that better than trying to switch to a different line. However, if you want to use braid, it is a great option. The strength of a knot is a lot better than Fluro on mono. But if you're getting wind knots, I don't really know what to recommend. I think you're probably just better off stick with mono unless you really want to use braid. As for trolling, I don't have much experience with that so I wouldn't be able to help you.

Answer 4

I like both, really depends on what I am going after. Regardless though of braid or mono, I always tie a fluro leader in the appropriate test range for the species being targeted. I have thrown a lot of different braids and I think that the super slick 8 from power pro is one of the most castable braids. It is pretty soft and supple and sometimes that bites me in the backside and makes a pretty nice backlash. It does work well on my spinner setups but i primarily use it on my calcutta 700B that I use to jib ling and snapper with. I still however use mono on trout and reds, suffix mono.