Braid Or Mono For Blackfish?

[the one that got away]

Just wondering what would be better to use??

My mate trevor is a diehard blackfish fisherman and is quite a good one, well almost because he fished last saturday and was getting down after down but wasnt hooking up so he try and tryed again and the same thing happend so after a good hour or so he checks his hook and the hook has no barb and is as blunt as a ....a... well you get the point, i started laughing my head off!

Well back to the point yer trevor swears by braid because it floats on top of the water always get a good strike, but i found out that mono floats to (well i think it does?)

So i was wondering what i should use for blackfish and what are the pros and cons of using braid or mono?

Cheers, Zac

[arpie]

G'day Zac

I like braid too, for exactly that reason! It floats! If you are in a boat & the float is going directly away from you in a straight line, mono would be fine as you will pretty well 'strike' directly to the fish when hooked up.

When on the rocks or breakwall tho, mono often sinks &/or puts a big belly in your line which means, when your float dips & you strike ...... often you are just picking up the loose line rather than striking the actual fish & really hooking the fish. It can be the difference between getting a feed or not.

As the braid floats, it is easy to just lift the rod & 'mend' the line as the float moves along the wall to remove any belly in the line. Done correctly, this imparts no action on the float at all, other than straightening the line. Try doing that with mono.

In the kayak, I use 6lb braid on my yak blackie rod & on the breakwall I use 20lb braid on my rock rod. I still only use 6lb fluoro mono as my leader tho (until the biggies turn up, then I may upgrade to 10lb from the wall.)

Hope this helps

Cheerio

Roberta

Mono does have more stretch in it & some people prefer that if they strike 'hard' all the time. Some reckon that Braid rips the hook from their mouth!

Edited August 21, 2009 by Roberta

[anthony f]

I to like using braid for the same reasons as Roberta pointed out. The draw backs can be the striking and if you don,t adjust it you will be dodging floats going past your ears all day long and I do believe as it is lighter and more cotton like the wind catches it more than mono which is sometimes a pain when fishing from rocks. There might even be a case for your float and stopper causing wear and weakening the braid.

To a quick Q to Roberta.

The green weed fly/bait I think the 1 and only place I have seen or heard about it was in one of your post some time ago, is it still getting a run?

[mpreston55]

G'day,

Just to add to the replies that have already been given. I must admit I like using braid for blackfishing. A couple of points that you might like to consider though are these.

* Braid has no stretch so make sure you use a good mono leader that has plenty of stretch. Pulled hooks are a bit of a problem when using braid unless you are very careful. Use just enough drag to keep the fish out of trouble areas.

* Make sure you use a long light rod that has a fairly soft tip to help with playing the fish so that not too much pressure is placed on the hook in the fish's mouth. Blackfish are often hooked in the lip which is pretty soft and enables hooks to come out easily.

* My father-in-law, who is a great blackfisherman, won't use this "new fangled stuff". Mono was good enough for him over many decades. He does however grease his line so that it floats and cuts out the belly caused by the line sinking.

Just a few more things to think about. Good luck - give both a try and see what works for you.

Howard

[luderick -angler]

I tried braid and found it great on the floating aspect but went back to mono, it mends just as well aslong as you dress the line with a floatant I pull less hooks using mono and i use a softer rod actually i use a cane rod and braid does not do it any favours! Line is a personal preference try both and find what works, I have found though barnacles and oysters and braid dont like each other!

[arpie]

hehe I forgot about coating the line in floatant, LA! Vaseline should do the trick!

Definitely a nice soft tipped bendy rod is a must!

TDH - I haven't tried the weed flies too much yet - waiting for the fish to really 'come on' first! But I have a stack of them to try once the feeding frenzy starts! I will take some up north with me when I travel & try up Yamba way!

Roberta

[macca02]

While i'm not much of a blackfisher, i do like fishing off the rocks and dont mind going for the odd drummer as such. If you're going off the rocks, i would go for mono every day of the week. Just use vasoline on the line for it to float, or theres even mono line now that floats i know sunline has a product called TopFloat. floating monofilament line.

If you get busted off, you don't need to keep tying the braid to mono for leaders, its just alot less hassle. plus the lack of stretch can pull hooks sometimes, however braid is sensational for feeling the most subtle bites. But off the rocks id stick with mono!