Just so we don't get our wires crossed. I am not asking about lure fishing as I have got my lure braid issues sorted.
So I loaded my 15ft beach rod with 40lb braid with a mono shock leader and my first session out The knot is catching the eyes. Anyone any suggestions as to how to get this problem sorted and What strength braid and Shockleader are you using guys.
Perhaps my knot is too bulky or maybe braid is too thin?
I use a braid shockleader and it's excellent. 30lb mainline and 100lb shockleader. You get into the rod very quickly with the lack of stretch so it's very nice to cast with and the knots are absolutely tiny.
I wouldn't be keen on braid as shockleader. Loosing the stretch of mono with heavy casting and loosing abrasion resistance on rough ground. Getting a good FG knot is the way to go.
I use 30lb braid and I find it fine for fishing the south coast beaches and well able to drag in large amounts of weed.
Now for the most important thing there is no point in tying 15lb tapered shock leader to to 30/40lb braid it defeats the purpose. You will need to remove a lot of the taper until to see the line look similar in thickness to about 25lb in mono
Boat species '15 (31) Shore species (21) Total species 40 Specimen: (B) Bluemouth .92kg,(B) Spotted ray 6lb,(S) Painted ray 12.4lb Boat species '16 (30) Shore species (17) Total species 36 Boat species '17 (35) Shore species (22) Total species 37 Specimen: (B) Bluemouth, (S) Flounder
For this message the author donal domeney has received thanks:
with a soft euro/conti rod i would use 20lb. braid with a 60lb. braid shockleader. a tapered leader works fine but u need to get the narrow end close in diameter to the braid, i have used 0.30 to 0.57 without any problems. fg knots are great but a simple figure of eight in the 60lb. braid and a 5 turn uni in the lighter braid is easier on the beach. a braid shockleader absorbs the twist caused using a fixed spool instead of going springy and causing problems like mono. the above i would normally use with 4 to 6oz. leads and either an overhead or a groundcast. overhead with people around and it still goes a good distance. rig bodies are usually 25-40lb. mono with this set up. i dont use a finger stall and never had an issue. if you use stiffer actioned rods you might want one as they put more pressure on your digits.
bulky mono braid shockleader knots can do damage to rodrings or worse so avoid them.