Fluoro or braid for icing lakers?

[arkansas angler]

I don't usually fish for lakers, but am heading up to blue mesa soon. I know I don't want the line stretch from monofilament, but I have heard that braided line ices up. Is fluoro the answer and is there any kind that is better than others? Thanks for your help.

[Bigassbassman]

If you're fishing in a hut, freezing braid won't be a problem.
My laker set-up is braid and a fluoro leader -- fishing the depths usually required for lakers makes braid useful to avoid stretch when trying to set the hook.

[arkansas angler]

How do you attach the braided line to the spool. Mono or fluoro backing? What lb test for a leader?
Thanks.

[_colorado]

Ark - I began using 20# Sufix 832 braid with 3X fluorocarbon tippet for the first time this year for lakers and it makes a huge difference!  As soon as the jig hits the bottom the braid goes limp with a little kink in it.  I can tease those lakers within inches of the bottom.  The non-stretch quality of braid means solid hook sets that gets those fish up into the hole.  I just use a standard arbor knot with the braid to the reel and then use an Albright knot to join the braid to the fluoro.  This knot system works better with a baitcasting reel, otherwise the lakers will spin on their way up, which may cause you to lose a few (with a spinning reel, that is).  The other option is to add a swivel but I don't like seeing the reflection of the swivel 3-4 feet above my jig on the Vex.  I always confuse it with a fish.   

[arkansas angler]

I appreciate the insight. Hopefully it will lead to success.

[skifisher]

Arkansas...
I agree with the braid and flouro set up. I use a black barrel swivel (I take off the clip and just use the barrel part) between the Flouro and braid. Use a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce white jig with a small piece of sucker meat. I put this right on the bottom, and use a bobber large enough to suspend the jig, but  small enough to be 1/2 way submerged when the jig is on the bottom. I loop the braid and attach the bobber on the loop so it will come off when I set the hook. A lot of the time, a laker will pick up the jig and cause the bobber to lie sideways, or it will run with the jig and cause the bobber to go down the hole. You can still jig with this set-up. I realize you can mark fish with sonar, so they may not always be on the bottom, but I've used this method when we didn't have the flasher to mark fish. Old school...but it does work. If the fish are higher up in the water column, with the right sized bobber, you can adjust your depth accordingly. Good Fishing!
Ski
P.S. I'm in Canon too!

[bryantukkah]

Yeah just put a little mono backing on the reel first, connect mono to braid with back to back uni knots then the fluoro lead on the other end with another set of back to back uni knots.. Albright knots can be difficult if you're not used to them.  Now with the braid and a uni knot, you need to make 10 or 12 wraps because the braid can back out with less wraps where as the fluoro or mono you only need about 6 wraps.  Good luck.

[arkansas angler]

Great information. Thanks for the help guys.

[alcanron]

Well for what it's worth this is how I fish lakers in Alaska.  I like to use Berkley Fire Line Crystal (White Braid) 20 pound test with a ball bearing swivel and 20 pound P-Line CFX leader. I find that this combo has hardly any stretch to it and I have never broke off a fish with it.  Sometimes I am hooking fish in over 100ft of water and you want to have a good hook set. Here are a few pics of the products for reference and a pic of the results.

[SLAYERFISH]

Braggart!

I have been using braid with flouro leader for a couple years now. I use a barrel swivel for attachment. One side effect of the swivel is no line twist.   It does tend to freeze up in the cold so you just gotta swipe the line with your fingers every couple minutes or so. Gotta do the same to mono or flouro also if it real cold out. It becomes second nature to swipe it-