Braid

Can I use braid for all sea fishing, Rigs, mainline and shock leaders, even when beach fishing, I can get some really good deals on ebay.
Thanks

David,

Each to his own, me I've always used mono and swear by it for good reason, to me it is no trouble what so ever.

Braid can be a problem, one is the bad cuts you can give yourself with the stuff, and wind-knots, plus it wears badly in sand or against rocks.

Tom.

Thanks again

currently using spiderwire stealth on fixed spool from beach with a mono shockleader. i havent had a problem with it yet.
i dont use it for rigs because of the possible problems if it tangles.
mono is fine as mainline for general purpose work and will almost always work out cheaper.

what are the benefits of braid over mono and vice versa.

basically braid will cut tide better and gives you the direct bite indication due to the fact it doesnt stretch when targetting smaller fish in competition etc...and bigger fish too!it also gives you a higher breaking strain per diameter compared to mono incase you do hook something big!

the benefit of mono is that it is cheaper!, perhaps a little less problematic, isnt as direct as braid for certain applications and gives you a bit more give with harder fighting fish if you dont have a correctly set drag due to its stretch.normally mono doesnt bed in on itself on the spool if used on a multiplier if you have to pull for a break if snagged up, braid sometimes does, even on fixed spools.

Another thing worth a mention is that there are many different brands and some are not really up to the job. Some of the better braids have a good reputation such as Power pro and Quantum. As usual you get what you pay for. If you decide to use braid I would use a mono shock leader which will help prevent getting your casting finger sliced.

also , i may be wrong and someone correct me if i am cos i was told this by someone else but are round braids meant to be better suited to casting than flat ones? or is it the other way round?? :?

Dunno about casting, but flat braid's not as effective as round braid when fishiing from a boat.

For a shockleader, I guess any sort of line will do provided it can handle repeatedly the suden shock a power cast will create. Braid doesn't really have any elasticity, so if you are using it for a shockleader, I'd be thinking that you would need to go way heavier than the mono. I'd say the mono would be a lot more forgiving of sudden stresses and should be the safer option. Particularly as mono has generally a lot better abraison resistance.

The braid mainline will give more positive bit indication and a more direct fight and will catch less tide due to the better diameter to strength ratio than mono.

Given your shockleader will only be about twice your rod length altogether, I don't see the point in not using mono for the shock leader.

Could I use say 30lb braid and use it for mixed ground with beach and rock fishing, say wit a super mag and a good mixed Rod.

i use 30 on fixed spool for beach work, id up the breaking strain to get a thicker diameter for mixed ground tho

30lb on the supermag is too light a breakin strain. you want about 60lb. breaking strain. the reason for this is that the heavier breakin stain braid is of a similar diameter to the mono diameter most suitable for the reel. the 525's work best with lines of 15lb. to 25lb. the diameters of these lines are .35mm to .45mm. look for braid with a similar diameter to the 15lb for best casting distance. 30lb braid is roughly the same in diameter as 8lb mono i think(?). you are asking for overruns.
braid can be good over rough ground but use a shockleader. use the 'albright knot' to jion the shock to the braid. if you do not use a shockleader your expensive braid will be in the rough stuff, sawing off the rocks.
the braid can make it hard to pull for a break and can cut into your hands. bring a piece of smooth dowel with you or narrow piping to wrap around the braid when pulling for a break.
the bites are great when fishing for cod and wrasse with braid and the fight is more enjoyable too! hope all this helps you out.

So either 30lb mono or 60lb braid. roughly

yeah David. that should see you right.

personally i think 60 lb should be the least you use especially if you are going to cast for safety reasons,and braid can cut into mono very easily.i have seen on beaches where a guy was fishing with braid and the guy next to him was using mono and the braid cut through the mono like a hot knife through butter.the guy using mono lost his end gear shockleader and about 40-100 yards of line not a happy chap,so in a comp situation i would be very careful about using it.

Given that mono has a whole lot more elasticity than braid, I'd go heavier than the 10lb/oz rule when using braid for shockleader as braid would be more prone to fail under a sudden load (like casting) than mono, pound for pound.

What if you were targeting small fish in a comp using a fixed spool, fishing close in, ie basic overhead casting. What strength braid would you use for say 2 to 3oz leads. I assume you still use mono for the shock leader. Also do any of you use braid as snoods targeting small fish, say using size 4 or 6 hooks. If so do you need any special knots to tie the hooks to braid (snell or waht). Is it an advantage or as mentioned earlier is the possibility of tangles not worth it?

If you are not casting hard and with light leads, the strength of the shockleader, preferably mono, need be no more than 30lb. For that matter, you could use braid of the same strenght more or less straight through for snoods and all.

If you use a mono shockleader, your main line braid strength can be as low as you figure will be required to land either whatever fish you're after or whatever it takes to drag your tackle out of any snags. 10-15lb would be fine, I'd guess.

However, braid will knot, snag on hooks and generally be a pain. So for handiness I'd use mono for the end tackle, particularly snoods. I've never tried tying braid directly to hooks etc, I'm normally tying braid/braid or braid/mono, so no idea on knots.