Braid For Bait Fishing?

[Gee]

Silly questions coming up Raiders ...

I'm new to braided line, as I'm new to fishing anyway and have only recently bought braid as I put a new combo together to give soft plastic fishing a go.

Looking at my other small combo bought when I had even less idea than I have now. Probably isnt great for SP but I still want to use it for bait fishing. Both Silstar - a 7' 2-4kg rod with a '40' size reel, never sure how size translates between brands (somewhere between 3000 and 4000 on Shimano I think) - its stated at Lbs/Yds 8/180 10/150 12/120

This is almost always going to be for landbased fishing, no real specific targets in mind.

So my silly questions ..

- I can't see why braid wouldnt also be good for bait fishing? Maybe only 125 yards of 6 or 8lb on top of some mono?

- also unsure - is it OK to run a running sinker along braid, or tie a swivel to braid? or is this not the done thing? I guess with little stretch the sinker hitting the swivel might be tough going on the knot.

with my early mono rigs I mostly used either a) simple running sinker to swivel, then a leader to the hook or swivel off main line, then a paternoster of some kind.

With braid is it better to tie a mono (or fluro) leader to the braid and from that leader do whatever terminal stuff I choose to do?

Sorry for all the questions!

Edited November 24, 2009 by Gee

[slinkymalinky]

Bait fishing with braid is fine. The advantage of the near zero stretch is that you'll detect even the faintest nibble. A lot of people in fact, tend to strike too early when they first switch to braid.

I'd advise against using a running sinker on the braid itself. The 'limpness' of braid leads to it quite commonly tangling around the sinker... really frustrating. Use a mono or fluorocarbon leader and tie your rigs in the leader or attached to the leader.

And yes... it's usually better to use leaders for any kind of fishing with braid (although some people don't). As well as being less visible, good quality leader material is more abrasion resistant, can be changed to suit different circumstances and prevents you from quickly shortening your braid and having to top shot your line to fill the spool back up.

Cheers, Slinky

[Gee]

Thanks Slinky,

Is ending the braid with a swivel a bit if a no-no?

Assume to do a running sinker, I'm thinking tie my 'first' leader to the braid, then a running sinker, then a swivel, then whatever leader-to-hook I want.

For this sort of basic rig, is there another / better way to control the sinker without having a swivel?

Edited November 25, 2009 by Gee

[The Iceman]

I have a mate who bait fishes with braid but instead of using a running sinker swivel leader hook setup he just uses jigheads with the bait and does really well

[slinkymalinky]

Thanks Slinky,

Is ending the braid with a swivel a bit if a no-no?

Assume to do a running sinker, I'm thinking tie my 'first' leader to the braid, then a running sinker, then a swivel, then whatever leader-to-hook I want.

For this sort of basic rig, is there another / better way to control the sinker without having a swivel?

There's no problem tying the top swivel directly to the braid (just make sure you use a knot suitable for braid... a uni knot is fine but double the number of turns you usually make). Just be aware that it limits the length of leader you can have since you can't wind the swivel into the rod

The other thing you can do is use a float stopper above a small bead. This is a good way to go as you can wind those little rubber float stoppers (like Blackfish fishos use) onto the reel if you want to. The bead can sit right down on the sinker but is important to stop the stopper getting stuck in the hole when the sinker runs up the line.

Cheers, Slinky

[Gee]

Thanks again and as always Slinky - will go away and read/think some more then hit the shops tomorrow.

And thanks Iceman.

Edited November 26, 2009 by Gee

[myocard]

The other thing you can do is use a float stopper above a small bead. This is a good way to go as you can wind those little rubber float stoppers (like Blackfish fishos use) onto the reel if you want to. The bead can sit right down on the sinker but is important to stop the stopper getting stuck in the hole when the sinker runs up the line.

Cheers, Slinky

This is a great idea.