Mono to Braid

Been a mono man all me life, just about to load up two new reels with 30lb Braid.
(Purely because I've never used it before and I'm curious to 'feel' the difference...)

Just wondering a few things;

I know Braid is a lot more 'sensitive' than mono, but which is actually physically 'stronger'? (I read somewhere that 30lb Braid is the equivalent of 15lb mono??)

Is it advisable to have a mono leader on the end of the braid, or is it better just to use braid straight through?
(or is there such thing as a braid leader? )

Most of my shore fishing would be done on clean ground, but with big baits (I'm greedy ) so it could get hammered on a big take... My previous mono setup was 20 - 25lb mono to a 60lb leader usually, unless it was dirty ground where I'd go 20-25lb straight through. I vary between Fixed spool and multi's (I know a nest is more likely with braid on a multi ).

Also, for spinning I usually use 15lb straight through. What would one recommend Braid-wise for this?

After that, all I need to do is find the fish!....

Many thanks.

hi Securityman,

i've been using braid for a good while on my spinning tackle and multiplier. I use 20lb and as long as the ground you are fishing over is clean this is probably enough. sensitivety is the big plus, and also it's not as prone to catching a load of weed, it seems to cut through it. i would always use a mono leader as a shock leader or a foot or so of lesser streangth for spinning. the reason for the lesser streangth when spinning is that if you get stuck you wont loose a load of expensive braid. the reason for a strong streachy mono shock leader is that apparently you can damage your rod casting with big leads and just the braid because all the pressure is put on the rod, nothing is absorbed by the line.

make sure to put on the braid good and firmly on your spool because if it's loose it doesn't have the streach of mono to tighten itself on.

when you cast, and are then reeling in the slack to tighten in, hold the slack line between your fingers so it goes onto the spool firmly, a little loop sticking out can result in a big lump of braid coming off in one go and about an hour of untangling!

i hope this is some help, i'm no expert but this has all worked for me-
one last thing, it can be a help when beach fishing to leave a little slack line out because the lack of streach in the line can cause the fish to 'feel' the rod and put him off. best, c

if you are using braid on a multi 30 lb is ideal, fish it safe use plenty of brakes and keep your thumb clear of the spool till the last minute ,unless you want to slice your thumb down to the bone anything over 100 yards and i,d use mono as its safer with a fixed spool you can fish big distance i,m using 20 lb spiderwire on my main reel its same diameter as 6 lb mono and sails off the spool,i use a grinner to grinner(with 10 turns in the braid and 6 in the mono) for my shockleader and use a tapered shockleader but remove the thin end(ie 16 or 18 lb) and attach the braid where it goes to approx 20 lb bs ,you will find braid alot more sensitive, lads that fish mono watch my rod tip and get excited when a flounder starts nibbling dont panic if your rod tip seems more sensitive its a learning curve and will take a bit of getting used to most importantly set your drag if you intend to walk more than three feet from your rod or it might not be there when you get back to it
for spinning i use 20lb braid and 15 lb or 20lb amnesia for a shockleader,normally with just the bare minimum 5 turns on the spool plus length of rod plus required drop for casting
good luck with it

i use braid on my scratching rod during comps, makes its more exciting, the rod bounces at the smallest flat, rodger is bang on grinner to grinner all the way

Very good thread lads lots of info. I want to start using braid on my spinning rod. I picked up a roll last year but still haven't used it.

Thing is I'm not 100% sure of how to put it on the reel. I remember reading to use nylon around the spoon but do I/ can I tie the the braid to mono that's on the reel? My thinking was to have about 20% of the reel mono and then add the braid or should I put the braid straight onto the reel?

Very good thread lads lots of info. I want to start using braid on my spinning rod. I picked up a roll last year but still haven't used it.

Thing is I'm not 100% sure of how to put it on the reel. I remember reading to use nylon around the spoon but do I/ can I tie the the braid to mono that's on the reel? My thinking was to have about 20% of the reel mono and then add the braid or should I put the braid straight onto the reel?

You need to back the reel up with mono first, as the braid will just slip on the spool if you don't (due to its non stretchiness) then use a uni to uni knot to tie the mono to the braid.
Just put enough mono on so that you wont have to put loads of expensive braid on, all you need to do is cover the spool with it, maybe 20 yards as a minimum, but if you don't need hundreds of yards of braid on, then don't be afraid of back up half the spool.
All you are doing is giving something for the braid to bite against to stop it slipping.
The other way of doing it, and which saves another knot (braid to mono), is to wind on 6-8 turns of braid onto the spool, then wind on two turns of insulating tape tight.
Another point worth mentioning is not to overfill the spool, leave about 3mm up to the lip so it can't get off during casting and, equally important, spool the braid on under good tension.

Cheers for the reply man. I'll line it up later and try in over the weekend. I'm happy with mono it's just cause I have a spool there that I'll try it.