TOPIC:

I use 25# bloodrun mono.  I also have some rods rigged with braid that I can substitute but I rarely do.  I see both sides.

Thanks for all the feedback, trip to Costa Rica in December got me thinking about braid again because that is all they use trolling as well as live baiting.  I've been using 16lbs - 20lbs test from Ande and more recently 20lbs test from Momoi and Bloodrun.  Happy with both. I don't target Lakers so I am rarely on the bottom and generally only going as deep as 48 degree water sits which throughout the summer is rarely deeper than 80 - 85 feet on a south wind.

So I think I will go mono again this year, hope to put a few fish in the box, and count my blessings that I even get to consider the ramifications of these kind of decisions!

My rigger rods are 8’6” Medium Light Okuma White Diamonds with Coldwater 203D reels loaded with 30lb Power Pro Super Slick and 25lb Seagur SST leader. Well over 300 yards of line on there and the drags are only rated 2 or 4 lbs lower than the 30 - 55 size reels.  Tekota 500 or 600 reels would be fitting as well and probably have an even smoother drag.

For what it’s worth, they catch big fish without issue. Good for second place big fish this past weekend in the Pro Am which was a 17.6 lb king.

Small reels with super limber rods.  It’s seriously fun.

It feels like fishing with these setups, instead of towing a fish with a 2x4 and a rubber band.

That’s my main complaint about trolling. If I could catch Salmon and Steelhead all year on spinning gear, I wouldn’t own a trolling setup. The heavy gear takes the fun out of it. Gotta have beefy rods for most trolling applications, but downriggers are the one exception.  Downsize your gear, run 30lb braid mainline, and enjoy the fight when you get a rigger bite.

I have 30 size Coldwaters loaded up with 25lb mono on standby for when the cottonwood hits the lake in the summer. Sea Fleas are manageable as long as the super slick braid isn’t worn. If it gets to be a problem, I go to the mono reels.

I have never once had anyone fish my rigger rod setups and not say “holy shit this is awesome”.  Try it once and you’ll never go back.

 

I use 20# braid because it's thinner.  You all probably know most mono test stronger than it's stated line strength on the package.  17# is closer to 20.  20 is really 25 or so. Two reasons. One, no line maker wants to get the reputation for selling weak line. Two, UV degrades mono rapidly, weakening it. Most bass pros change line daily.  Three - poor knots.  Anyone tying the clinch knot with 20 pound line probably has a knot that will break at less than 20, even with the over rating. 

So what about Braid?  An article in Sport Fishing magazine tested popular braids. The chart is attached, but the take away is (with popular saltwater brands) most 30 pound braid is really under rated with actual breaking strengths almost twice the advertised price - a few are more than 2X and a couple really suck.  So 20# works on riggers just fine and 30# on divers.  Remember when dealing with water resistance on the line, thinner is better and a few thousandths over 50 or 100 yards makes a big difference. 

As far as fleas - I'd rather get fleas on 20 pound braid than on mono.  Bunch up the fleas (like with a rod tip)  double the line and the line cuts through the wad of fleas.  Cottonwood is a bitch on everything.   

BN how long is your mono/flouro leader when using braid on riggers?

I run 25lb flourocarbon mainline(Invizx) for my spoon rigger rods.  It’s smaller diameter than 20lb big game(.017in vs .018in). I use bloodrun seaflea mono on my flasher rigger rods(30lb).  If the fleas are really bad, I add a 10 ft leader of flourocarbon on seaflea rods if I want to run spoons.  I think the flourocarbon makes a difference on those sunny flat clam days. That along with the right swivels but that is a different topic.

Just my .02
 

I'm comfortable with 4 feet of leader.  Probably start with about 6 feet and work it down to about 3 or four feet.  If a fish can make the connection between a skinny stripe of braided line 4 or five feet ahead of a spoon or flasher and decide, "That's it!  Those dorks up in that 21 foot boat up there are trying to kill me. I'm not going to bite that tasty looking morsel flitting along...."  It wins. That's a fish that is too smart for me to catch. 

BTW -- I forgot to attach the "chart" to my earlier post. I've done that now.   Look at the chart - the 30# braids on the chart are nearly half the diameter of what you are pulling through the water.  I would guess my 20# braid is less than half.    

Thanks BN.

15lb trilene big game on all of my rigger rods here.  It's what we always used when I was growing up, so I never stopped. Dispey rods get braid, and I use braid as a backer for my longer 7 color+ leadcore setups. 5 and less and I still just use mono behind the lead. 

Joez, I could tell you a dozen stories about times and places where fluorocarbon out performed regular monofilament.  I can tell dozens of stories when it didn't make a bit of difference. I can't tell you any stories about where it ever hurt anything - that fewer fish were caught because of using it.  So for those times when it makes a difference, for that one time when a 25 pound king bit that wouldn't have bit on mono, or the cohos crushed my lures while others were having slow days, I'll keep using fluorocarbon line.  It's not "fixing" what isn't broke. It's using the best available technology.  Do you have radial tires on your car? Do you use multi-grade oil? Are your fishiing rods still solid fiberglass?