chokpa Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I've got 2 spools for a 6500 baitfeeder rod. My dad prefers to use mono so I want to spool up with one mono, but i've read everything from 20lb mono to 80lb braid. We're not targeting one metre monsters. Just live baiting or soaking a bait around middle head. What is a good strength of mono to use? I'll probably spool up the with 40lb braid The reels max drag pressure is rated 22lb. It's said to hold 292m of 20lb mono Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dufmack97 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 30lb mono is enough considering your not after the monsters. I use 30lb braid but 40lb is good aswell, just make sure you use a good quality leader suited to the terrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chokpa Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 I have 40lb or 80lb black magic leader which I plan to use. Probably should be enough I reckon Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacow Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 You can catch kingfish on 30lb leaders and comparable gear. The odds are however, if you are fishing near the rocks, a reef, a wharf, an anchor rope or a marker bouy that you are going to lose more gear and catch less fish. Bit of a catch 22 situation cause I'm pretty sure that lighter leaders get more bites.<br /><br />But then that's why fishing is called a sport. There are people that like their heart in their mouth in the knowledge that they are giving the fish every chance to get away. Some would say it comes down to skill, other times some would say it comes down to dumb luck.<br /><br />Go hard and prepare for some big bust offs and some blood curdling cheers when you get them in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chokpa Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 What would you recommend as a safer poundage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradic Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I'd recommend 50 pound braid. Still thinner than 30 pound mono and gives you a better chance of stopping the bigger fish while still fun on the slightly smaller fish.I landed a 97cm on 50 pound braid in the harbour and honestly went real hard with heavy drag setting.Just ensure rod isn't a broomstick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacow Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 What would you recommend as a safer poundage? I'd say fish your terrain. If it's nice and open with fish taking surface lures then you can reduce the poundage of your line (considerably). If you are in some pretty hairy terrain then up the poundage. I'm not a big fan of having to re-rig, so the lazy fisherman in me says go bigger. My rods have 20lb braid into 50lb leader. My big rod has 50lb braid into 50lb leader with a stradic 8000. Roughly holds 39lb of drag (apparently) with 300 yards of braid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshie Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 30lb mono is more than enough. Do you have a rod powerful enough to snap 30lb mono? Once you do it's time to step up to bigger gear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chokpa Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Marshie good point.. Don't think I do. How do you guys match line poundage to rod weight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydneyfisher12 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 It all depends what your using to catch the kingfish and where you are and the size of the fish in the area Last summer I targeted the rats that were around the markers and old mans hat. I used a light bream stick 2-4kg with a 2500 size reel 15lb braid and 15-40lb leader I fished a light drag and anything under 65cm I was boating but anything over 70cm was busting me off I just didn't have the power to steer them away from the structure I was using soft plastics this year I have upped the tackle a bit but it's still fairly light if your going to chase them on bait I suggest going heavier like 50lb+ especially if your using live bait. Mono isint very good for kings because it has a lot of stretch and if you need to steer the fish away from a marker or reef it can make it harder to do. Cheers sydneyfisher12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chokpa Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Cheers. Reason for mono is cos my dad prefers it. Don't think the area I'm fishing is too rough though. Haven't caught anything big enough there to test it to be honest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharknett Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I fish 30lb braid from a kayak around the headlands. Biggest so far is 113cm. The trick if fishing structure is to be able to lead them into deeper water before going hard on the drag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 (edited) I found I lost a lot of kings around the structure because I was so used to fishing light as I would for all other species. Kings are too powerful for light tackle so 30lb is a minimum to keep them away from the structure during those initial few runs. What is helpful though is to get to know the drag on you reel. You would be surprised how tight you have to wind the drag to get even to 50% of the breaking strain. Buy an inline scale and attach it to something solid, attach the line and then load up your rod as if you were fighting a fish. Load it up to 50% of the line rating and then pull some line off the reel by hand as we would all do testing the drag manually. I guarantee you will be surprised how hard is is to pull 15lb. This will allow you to wind up the drag a lot harder than you may have in the past and still be well within the breaking strain. Cheers Jim Edited September 12, 2014 by fragmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C85 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I used 50lb braid with a 100lb wind on when I used to go jigging for big kings in SA. Most of these fish were 20kg plus and my set up handled them nicely. The last couple of years on the rocks here in NSW I have used the same set up, but scaled down the leader to 60lb. I've landed 7 fish (93cm to 112cm) and lost 6. I have chatted to a few guys on the rocks that use heavier leader, but I dont think using anything heavier would have helped with those 6 that busted me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chokpa Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 C85 are you ballooning deep water on the coast or fishing the harbour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike2153 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I chase kings every weekend and use 60lb with 60lb leader, and around the markers or really shallow use 80lb with 80lb leader. I've been done a few times on 60lb pretty Dahm quick normally before I even get the rod out of the holder. Use braid not mono it's light years from mono. Mono is good for alveys and 80 year old men who have never used braid. You wouldn't use an old Nokia when you have an iphone haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novicefisherman Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Don't mind the mono line on the tld25. Using 40lb black magic line. Works a treat on kings especially off the rocks. More stretch for rough terrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C85 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 C85 are you ballooning deep water on the coast or fishing the harbour? yeh sorry mate not in the harbour. figure i would use a similar set up for either but could go lighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Mono will suit off the rocks but if you wana win those close battles braid will be necessary, the feel of braid is much harder when you hook a fish compared to mono but at the end of the day does you dad prefer to land more fish or not as many? That might change his preference. Not all mono is equal as well but black magic is pretty good, might wana go a bit heavier though if you find your not joking fish. Sometimes the smallest kings can destroy you on 30lb line and other times you'll land bigger ones and not give you as much as a fight, so it's hit and miss really, good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Question in a similar vein - I have a Fin Nor Lethal LT60 spooled with 50lb braid specifically because I want to target kings, but its paired with my current 12ft surf rod which is a bit ridiculous for live baiting off wharves. I was thinking of getting a 7ft heavy rod that I can swap this reel onto depending on what sort of fishing I am doing. What sort of weight of rod should I be looking for - would 6-10kg be sufficient or do I need something heavier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Got a Shimano Aerplus 762 snapper rod - 6-8kg for $50 - hopefully does the trick and was cheap enough to not be that big a deal if its too light - I can use it for other roles too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Got a Shimano Aerplus 762 snapper rod - 6-8kg for $50 - hopefully does the trick and was cheap enough to not be that big a deal if its too light - I can use it for other roles too. Probably a bit too light for the line rating with your reel, probably a shimano king stick will suit which is 6-10kg but heavy duty and designed for targeting kings in Sydney or something about 10-15kg. I've got both and both hold up really well, I actually have the 10-15kg rod with 30LB braid and the 6-10 with 50LB braid but that's just the way I fish really, the 10-15kg rod isn't as well built as the shimano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Ok, thanks. For now I consider it my L-plate king rod so I can figure out what I am doing. If it's not enough down the track I can always upgrade Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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