Braided Line

[Mikey B]

Just curious if anyone has tried braid for panfishing thru the ice. I like to straight line jig, using No spring bobber, and was wondering if the braid, 4 lb. or smaller, help me feel more fish.         THANKS

[snowman3406]

i love using fireline crystal for small jigging.  It helps fish deeper with more feel to the jig.  It helps to use a mono leader though, so there is a little bit of stretch to the setup.  This will help prevent hooks ripping out of their mouths.  It gives a much better "feel" imo than a straight mono, and has less memory.

[Skipper]

I have had problems with it freezing to everything, but it does have superior feel to mono. If you give it a good soak of Blakemore Real Magic it is much less apt to freeze to the ice and onto the spool. If you fish inside a good warm shack it is usually not a problem at all.

You need to be very careful when you fish with light superline. It will cut you like a razor! If you wrap it around your hands and pull, it will slice right in. Think of a cheese cutter for meat. I have had spider wire as heavy as 15lb cut me pretty bad. It pulls right into your skin and hurts like a paper cut.

I am not a big fan of the "fusion" lines like Fireline. I stick with the coated braids like Spiderwire Stealth.

[eye hunter]

A friend of mine told me about Ripcord SI+ and I like it on my line counter reels for trolling, the 15# is the size of 4# and is silicon coated, the only thing you need to be careful about is if you get a decent size fish you need to handle the line with a glove as it will cut you easy. I am going to spool up an Ice rig this year to see how it works. 

[bart]

what are all these lines doing to the guides???

[Skipper]

Nothing, unless you have some seriously cheap guides!

When the first spiderwire came out, it was uncoated and cut soft ceramic, plastic, and wire guides. Most guides nowdays are made at least of aluminum oxide or a harder substance and wont be damaged by superlines. As added protection, most superlines are now coated with a polymer of some sort to make them slicker.

[Mikey B]

THANKS, for the replys so far.

I have been using some 4lb. Berkly fireline, original fused, brad for some deep,open water perch and gill fishing this summer, and so far i like it, stays nice and limp. But have tried the Berkly fire line crystal brad in 6 lb. and that stuff is like wire, lots of memory.

For a knot, i have been using an, ant swivel, with a 4lb. leader to it. Not sure what knot to use other then the swivel with a 2lb. leader.  Any ideas ?

And i do use a Fish Trap, with a lantern, so warmth wont be a problem.

[eye hunter]

The Ripcord I was talking about has not hurt the guides on my rods so far. I also spooled an open face spinning reel with the stuff and it casts very well also.

[Phouvieng]

Considering I do it for all my bass fishing, I didn't hesitate one bit to spool all my ice fishing reels with braided line. The feel is far superior to mono, and if visibility is a factor, a 1-3' leader of fluoro fixes that.

Skipper - a uni-to-uni is my preference.

[bobb-o]

I use braid on a lot of my reels now. the sensitivty cant be beat. I tried the fireline crystal but dont like it for several reasons, one of them being that it absorbs a lot of water. I now use the Stren Super Braid in High Vis Gold, this allows me to see any little movement the line makes. I will then add a size 12 Spro swivel and then aboot 2 feet of fluorocarbon for invisibility. the swivel also helps to stop my jig from spinning.

[snowman3406]

For a knot, i have been using an, ant swivel, with a 4lb. leader to it. Not sure what knot to use other then the swivel with a 2lb. leader.  Any ideas ?


I recommend a micro swivel.  Its a much better connection than a blood knot or such from braid to mono.  I also centerpin for steelies, so I just take a few of the raven micro swivels for that.  If you find the xxxs or 4xs sizes, they are tiny, and won't kill your action.  They are also rated to 20 lbs break strength. 

[scavengerj]

Been using the Suffix braid for the past year and luv it! Would have to agree, the best combo I have found is braid to fluoro using a uni-uni knot. If I have to, I'll choose a Spro swivel.
This has worked well for me during hardwater season last year as well as the surf season this year.

[Mikey B]

THANKS, for the tip on the Micro swivel. But what size is considerd micro ? Size 12,14 or 16.

Have some now, but forget what size they are. I think 10 or 12, and they are small.

[Skipper]

Considering I do it for all my bass fishing, I didn't hesitate one bit to spool all my ice fishing reels with braided line. The feel is far superior to mono, and if visibility is a factor, a 1-3' leader of fluoro fixes that.

Skipper - a uni-to-uni is my preference.

I Agree, learn the uni to uni knot. Reeling swivels up though your guides is the worst thing you can do to your rod. [ Those guides are tough, but you can knock one out pretty easy that way.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/guides/IFMcg03-2_UniknotC-lg.jpg

Very strong, and wont wreck your prized rod

[travisj88]

Thanks for the link Skipper.  I need to get one of those books on knots.
Travis

[Mikey B]

I Agree, learn the uni to uni knot. Reeling swivels up though your guides is the worst thing you can do to your rod. [ Those guides are tough, but you can knock one out pretty easy that way.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/guides/IFMcg03-2_UniknotC-lg.jpg

Very strong, and wont wreck your prized rod


Thought about using that knot, but might not be a good idea with 2 lb. line. But will try it and see.

[Bean]

I've used the uni to uni knot for a few years on my ice lines with no problems at the knot.  In the past i've used stren gold as a filler, then use the uni to uni knot to attach the other line I use which I tie my jigs to.

[scavengerj]

Some links to other good knot sites...
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html

[jimmyclaude]

Thx 4 da links

[dkfry]

Out of all my rods I only have one rod rigged that isn't mono. Its got some 4lb. Fireline Crystal on it. Overall I don't like fireline for open water or ice. Fireline isn't even close round and is flat and twists up. I prefer 2lb. or 3lb. mono for panfish through the ice.

For knots, I mainly use a palomar. The palomar is easy works great with braided or mono, light or thin line and best of all its strong.