TexasKayakFisherman.com

After being broke off this past trip from a beefy red, I took a good look at my line and boy was it old . I found signs of wear even seen where it had been stressed and discolored . I know a lot of guys that fish heavy line or even braid. For me I like and have fished Berkeley 12 lb. mono for along time. I really haven’t had issues in the past with it breaking so that’s why I haven’t went to a braid. My question is how often are you guys restringing your reels ? Every few months , yearly or as needed? Yes I have since put some new line on my reel and I’ll set the scene for those that will ask what , when , where and how. Let’s say your fishing mercy brown saltwater , mostly marsh but some oyster beds . Always rigged with a 1/8 - 1/4 oz jigs and on a bait caster .

I now fish braid with a mono leader but fished 12 & 15 lb Big Game mono for years and never had many issues. I did make sure I stored my reels out of the sun and heat. UV rays will weaken mono pretty fast. How often to change the line depends on how often you fish. If you're fishing half dozen times a year annually would be fine IMO. You could also reverse the line on the spool and that will help as long as you have a full spool. I switched to braid because it does generally last longer and I can get more distance from a cast.

I don't care for braid. I remember my dad's reels in the 50's had multi-colored braid, because the mono then was junk. I fish inshore marshes with baitcasters and use McCoy's Mean Green 15 mono. I had never had a break-off until November, when I was fishing in my kayak in the Arroyo Colorado, and hooked up a huge drum, and he broke my line on a dive. Later, I hooked up a 3-foot tarpon that did lots of acrobatics, then it dove deep and broke me off. My usual hookups are reds and trout, and I've never had a break-off on the ones I hook. I pay attention to the first 50 feet of the line, for nicks and abrasions. I change line every 3 to 6 months, depending on how much I'm fishing. The braid crowd speak of "feel" that braid gives you about what's happening at your bait, but I fish a lot with a popping cork, and that kinda interrupts that "feel".
My $.02. Good luck, TexasJim

Yeah forgot to mention I try to fish once a week usually on Friday or Saturdays . As for reversing the line , I’d rather just change it all out. I’ll keep a closer eye on my line from now on. That last spool lasted me about a year . Guess that was to long being I was fishing 3-4 times a month.

Mono does degrade faster than braid or even Floro. Plus I don’t think I have ever seen a “ use by “ date on a box of fishing line so you don’t even know if it is “new” when you buy it. I was having breakage problems last year and knew it was the line. I’d heard mixed reviews on braid so decided to take a chance, and I’ve never regretted it. It is more abrasion resistant, casts farther and it doesn’t stretch like mono does so all the hook set gets transferred to the hook. FYI, I am using a spin reel

I've gone to braid on my inshore spinning reels, but still fish 12-lb Seaguar fluoro on my baitcasters, and actually, I back them with braid to increase capacity and so I can replace just a working depth of good fluoro on the spools. I don't have a schedule, but end up replacing the working fluoro every couple of years. A bulk spool lasts me a long time this way.
I fish good copolymer on my XUL rods (YoZuri and Kamikaze), and it lasts for years.

Something else about using braid on your spinning reels - it should force you into a really good habit - closing your bail manually instead of using the crank to close your bail. Whether your reel is a Cetus or Stella, not using the internal auto-bail hammer extends gear and bearing life.
Since your hand and mind are close to the spool, it also prevents backlashes and line twist (especially important with braid).

Also with braid, I use a heavier fluoro shock tippet with perfection loop, and attach lures with a power clip or 6" titanium bite leader.

I throw 12 lbs P-Line Cx Premium Copolymer (clear fluorescent) on my baitcasters and 10 lbs Power Pro Spectra (Hi-Vis Yellow) with about 3-4 feet of 12 lbs P-Line fluorocarbon leader using an FG Knot.

I've thrown the CX Premium since 2005ish. My favorite line. Even throw it on my bass gear.

I make about 8-10 trips to the coast a year and will switch out the line on my baitcasters once per year. My spinning reel I don't change the braid out, but the leader is fresh each trip to the coast.

Forgot to add, I use a Penn Battle II 1000 series spinning reel, which is why I throw such a thin diameter braid.

We got some good replies here thanks for the info

Yak Dog wrote:After being broke off this past trip from a beefy red, I took a good look at my line and boy was it old . I found signs of wear even seen where it had been stressed and discolored . I know a lot of guys that fish heavy line or even braid. For me I like and have fished Berkeley 12 lb. mono for along time. I really haven’t had issues in the past with it breaking so that’s why I haven’t went to a braid. My question is how often are you guys restringing your reels ? Every few months , yearly or as needed? Yes I have since put some new line on my reel and I’ll set the scene for those that will ask what , when , where and how. Let’s say your fishing mercy brown saltwater , mostly marsh but some oyster beds . Always rigged with a 1/8 - 1/4 oz jigs and on a bait caster .

Bait-casting reels, I’ve settled on the suffix 832 braid in 30#. I didn’t like Power pro slick, it’s too slick for my tastes and doesn’t handle well and knots are trickery to get set. 30# pound braid handles fishing around oyster shell well enough and is small enough in diameter to still get a lot of line on the reel. Sounds like from your description above we fish similar environments.

I only put on new line if I’ve somehow lost a bunch. I like having a fluorocarbon leader so that is what typically gets chewed up. I might tie on 3-4 feet of 20 pound fluorocarbon and that often lasts over several trips, but even changing the fluorocarbon leader only eats up a few inches of the braid.

30# braid on a good bait-casting reel casts plenty far using 1/8 ounce jig heads. I don’t see any reason to drop below 30# braid when fishing around any sharp shell and the situational fishing you outlined above. It’s not let’s cast a mile type of fishing, it’s cast to fish and fish sign and specific areas on the structure. 30# is going to handle shell better than lighter braid. You could even go 40# braid if the shell is all you do.

I'm about to try 6-lb Suffix on an XUL rod...
but won't use it from a kayak - the rod is too light for when reds get to the boat, plus they'll spool a 1-1/2-lb drag.
Suffix seems to make the only salty braid in this light test.
ML with 3-lb drag is pretty much the light-end limit for redfish.

I use 15 lb Power Pro. Have used mono (almost exclusively) in the past and have even tried all flouro but end up going back to braid because of the way it works (better casting & sensitivity). Generally speaking my braid gets changed out about every 2 years and I reverse it. I have a habit of inspecting the line after every trip, and for sure after every tough fight, and change anything that has the slightest nick. I use a 25 lb flouro leader, fish about 30 times a year and use both casting and spinning reels. Hope this helps!

Mono has it's place... but if you're serious about keeping every fish you hook I'd change it monthly if you're fishing any sort of structure at all.. if you are fishing open water with no structure I'd change it every 3-4 months. Back when I was fishing with mono for trophy largemouth (years ago) I switched it every trip. I caught an 8, two 9's, and a 10lb bass doing that. Your line is your least expensive yet more important link to the fish. Braid can last up to a year or two if you don't fish much and keep it in a climate controlled environment during the heat of the summer. With a lot of trips I'd put on new braid about 1 per year. A guide might respool every month or two. Oh... now I catch 8 and 9lb trout. Hunting that 10lber this spring.

Caster 30lb sufix or prospec
Spinner 10lb invisibraid until I hit a 4k reel then 20lb, 5k reel 30 lb. i use a 1k-3k spinner or small caster most of the time. I hate mono on spinners and apparently I am too incompetent to throw fluro on a caster. 10lb in invisibraid breaks at 30 something pounds. Just trim back a bit looking for oyster nicks and only change it when the spool is low

Couple of the guys I fish with use nylon monofilament, might be the 12# Trilene XL (is that still around?). They do change out the line once in a blue moon. Both guys are pretty tight with money and a lot of their gear might be 20 years old or more. Their big spools of mono might be that old.

Nylon is weird because I’ve had pretty new 20# leader material that I could break with an easy tug and then have a big spool left over from the last century be seemingly as good as new. Supposedly, UV light among other things degrades Nylon. There’s different types of nylon, each with unique properties, and additives that are put into it to stop some of the negatives. BASF here in Freeport makes one of the Nylons, Nylon 6 or is it 6/6? I’ve been in the strand room there at the plant where I guess it is formed into long strands that ultimately get pelletized for shipment.

One nylon using friend is an old and still bass fisherman and he can set the hook on a fish. I grew up using nylon monofilament on the ABU 5500 reels, but I like the sensitivity and lack of stretch of braid. Braid will cut you if you aren’t careful and I’d much rather tie knots in nylon monofilament or the fluorocarbon. I hate tying the lure directly to the braid, but some people do.

My nylon using friends don’t seem to be able to cast as far as I do with braid, but that might be about how ancient and decrepit their reels are. Most of the time, we fish sighted fish, fish sign or structure and can usually dial in the distance we want to cast so there’s really no need to blast out 40 or more yards on a cast. I do every once in a while like to toss a big skitterwalk with the wind and see how far it can go. I can cast a fly rod about as far as they can with their old reels and nylon monofilament, which works out if we are on the same boat fishing the same structure. Sometimes, they don’t play nice and try to keep as far away from the fish as they can so I have to work twice as hard using fly tackle. What are friends for if they can’t mess with you.

If you like to throw corky's in the winter braid will make a huge difference over mono. I've tried several brands but like regular power pro 30lb and use a 4ft mono leader that way I can cut a few inches off when it gets worn

I haven't fished power pro, but so far, the best-behaved braid in medium test I have tried on spinning tackle is Florida Fishing Products Distance Premium.
It's 8-strand, cored, coated, and surprisingly thin for its test - 20-lb is only 0.005"
Unfortunately, it's OOS stock in most sizes almost everywhere, including Florida Products website.
I was happy to find a 330-yd spool of 15-lb ghost grey in stock at TackleDirect for filling a spare spool.

TroutSupport.com wrote:Mono has it's place... but if you're serious about keeping every fish you hook I'd change it monthly if you're fishing any sort of structure at all.. if you are fishing open water with no structure I'd change it every 3-4 months. Back when I was fishing with mono for trophy largemouth (years ago) I switched it every trip. I caught an 8, two 9's, and a 10lb bass doing that. Your line is your least expensive yet more important link to the fish. Braid can last up to a year or two if you don't fish much and keep it in a climate controlled environment during the heat of the summer. With a lot of trips I'd put on new braid about 1 per year. A guide might respool every month or two. Oh... now I catch 8 and 9lb trout. Hunting that 10lber this spring.

I fish a lot and I still use Power Pro 30lb braid I put on 5 years ago. Used 20lb once and had to get rid of it after about 1.5 years of use (and few lost reds).

If you don't want to lose fish -- better sharpen your hooks before every trip, it works much better than changing line

if you want to take care of your tackle, you match line and lure with rod ratings.
If you over-line a rod, you should still set your drag at 1/4 of the rod max line rating.
The sport in fishing is often using lighter tackle than maxing out what will do the job.
Of course throwing a 7/8-oz Corky's, you should use probably use MH and H tackle, especially with 30-lb line.
e.g. from St. Croix Tidemaster inshore rods

The ability to throw lighter rigs and lures farther can also be a factor in results.
Certainly tackle choice to match the fishing is personal preference, but ML and even UL rods have their place inshore.
This stringer was all caught by 3 people on 3 purpose-designed inshore UL rods, 4-lb and 6-lb test - in 3 hours, and under the conditions, the tackle probably made all the difference.

the 3 fish apparently missing from that daily 3-person bag limit were taken between 3 and 4 am the same calendar day, and filleted earlier in the day

Ron Mc wrote:if you want to take care of your tackle, you match line and lure with rod ratings.
If you over-line a rod, you should still set your drag at 1/4 of the rod max line rating.

Exactly. Unfortunately baitcasters and 10lb braid don't get along nearly as well as spinners. I match up my rod's line rating for my spinning tackle, but use 20-30lb braid on my casters and mind the drag intently.

I watched a buddy shatter a higher-end St. Croix because he over-lined it and had his drag too tight. He didn't high stick it at all, just put too much heat on it.

Steve, that works great - I have a buddy who fishes 40-lb braid on everything.
You're describing why I prefer fishing good fluoro working line on my baitcasters.
My buddy Lou with 4 fish on the stringer above was fishing 10-lb braid on his 7-1/2' salt UL rated for 5-lb line, and of course we set his drag with a spring balance to 1-1/4 lbs.

Crusader wrote:
If you don't want to lose fish -- better sharpen your hooks before every trip, it works much better than changing line

LOL Not necessary so... mono.. change it. Braid.. depends on the user and how often and casting style. Yes some one that fishes monthly it can last a while.

Sharp hooks help hook a fish.. but has nothing to do with keeping them on or stop the line breaking on backlashes after it's been weakened over and over.

TroutSupport.com wrote:LOL Not necessary so... mono.. change it. Braid.. depends on the user and how often and casting style. Yes some one that fishes monthly it can last a while.

Sharp hooks help hook a fish.. but has nothing to do with keeping them on or stop the line breaking on backlashes after it's been weakened over and over.

Yep, mono doesn't live long in the bay, that's for sure. I used to fish at least twice a week for few years, that 30lb PowerPro held quite nicely. You cut off a foot or two of the line every time you tie a new jig or lure, so it kinda get "renewed" naturally.

Line breaks because drag is too tight. Also, I don't use baitcasters precisely because of backlashes -- it happened many times when fish starts blowing up around us and while my friend is busy untangling bird nests, I am busy fighting fish. I know baitcasters are better sensitivity-wise and etc, but reliability outweigh that for me.

It’s hard to remember a time I broke any braid on a fish, if it ever happened, I can’t remember it. Most those braids test way over the rated break strength. Braid is awful if you ever hang up deep on something, the stuff is just tough to break and you had better have a weaker link in there somewhere, a hook or leader or something that will fail.

I got a new baitcasting reel this past fall, the Shimano Chronarch 150HG I think it is. I had sort of mostly set aside the bait-casting reels over the last few years in favor of the fly gear. It took me a little while and a change of line to get settled in with that reel, but I really like it now. Bait-casting reels respond better for me using a particular acceleration curve. Hitting the gas too hard too soon is asking for trouble. It’s easy to get into trouble casting them when there are fish around, the little extra adrenaline boost of fish nearby can tip the casting stroke into the backlash zone. That’s part of the fun, though. Pulling it together enough to make the perfect cast at the critical moment, swish, nothing but net!

Spinning set ups always seem a little clunky, off balance or something to me. I want a saber or scalpel or some precision instrument in hand and instead I get a club or a bludgeon. I might be able to knock the do-do out of the fish swinging around the club, but I would rather slice up the fish with some grace and finesse. But as it is in actual battle, there’s a variety of weapons available to try and put a hurt on the enemy.

Getting a spinning versus bait-casting reel dust up ought to be good for a few pages...seriously, enjoy fishing with whatever gear you like. These are just ideas and experiences reflecting tastes more than anything. You knuckle-dragging, cave dwelling spinning gear lovers are okay by me.

any time you're facing the wind, spinning tackle is a decided advantage - you can definitely tune a baitcaster to avoid upwind backlash, but that costs distance compared to what you can do with a spinning rod.

Baitcasters are a very simple mechanism and easy to tune since the patents began stacking up in the ninteen-naughties.
c. 1918 Pflueger Supreme, Douglas free spool patent incorporating casting brake, and a level wind mechanism to compete with Marhoff's patent.

The clunk and wobble issues of the much more complicated spinning reel mechanisms have pretty much disappeared in the current generation computer-balanced reels, and they've really moved forward in line control and internal stiffness to solve Big drag issues.
Though Hardy's 1932 design Altex, which owned the flip bail patent until 1954, still stands up to modern computer-balanced reels for silky smoothness - I've always called it the space shuttle of fishing reels.

Yeah braid is tough to break. I always run a mono leader with my braid since mono holds up better when fishing around structure but also so I'll have a breaking point when I get hung up.

Spinning reels definitely have their place especially fishing in the bay. I rarely go bay fishing without one. For light lures (1/8 oz or less) you pretty much need one if you want to get good distance with your cast. You can get by with a baitcaster with lighter lures but it's really hard to get good distance with a cast unless you're running really light line.