Help; Braid, Mono, Floro

[My Way]

Hello, Let me reword this; I just purchased 6 Daiwa Accudepth Plus 27 LCB's with 8' Daiwa Wilderness rods, within 1 - 2 years I plan on starting a trolling program. The rods say; 10-17 lb. My question is; What is the best type of line setup? I read in this forum that people use mono as a backing then braid, then floro as a leader, how should I set up my reels for the best possible success? I know I ask a lot of questions, but I have to start somewhere, any and all assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

[branhamautomotive]

Normally line counter reels are not used for casting..........I personally would use an open face or even a closed cheap closed face zebco 33 b4 using a line counter for casting

I have zebco 33 and 10 dollar Shakespeare from Walmart. Pulled loysvof fish casting.......kid friendly.....cheap to replace if dropped or damaged

[sherman51]

it drifting with jigs on the reefs I like 15# mono with a 4' leader of 20# seaguar premier leader. a drift bag or even 1 at each end is used on the reefs at times. if drifting open water I like spinning reels loaded with 8# or 10# trilene xl. just no need for heavy or stiff line in open water. just set the drag in case you hook a trophy. and check the end of your line often for nicks.

for trolling divers like dipsy, Dreamweaver deeper divers, or lite bite slide divers I put 150' of 16# mono on for backing then fill the reel with 30# braid putting the same amount of braid on each reel. then I use a 7' fluro leader. braid is pretty much a must for these divers to get them to release with the rod.

for using boards big game in 12# to 16# with a 7' fluro leaders but 30# braid will also work but you may have to upgrade the releases. with boards a 3 oz sinker like rednekoutfitters.com has works great. they have a depth chart that will get you in the ball park but to many factors to be dead on. feel free to message me if I can be of help.

[My Way]

Good evening Branhamautomotive, I am not looking to purchase anymore rod or reel combos! I ask how to spool a Line Counter Reel as I have never trolled on my own. In addition to the six (6) Daiwa's Combos I just purchased, I own over 30+ rods and reels, some of which include the Shimano Stradic Ci4, two (2) Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris CarbonLite 2.0 Spinning and Baitcast Rod and Reel Combos, a KVD Baitcast Combo, a Pflueger Supreme Spinning Reel, two Pflueger Presidentials Spinning Reels, and 8 other President Pfluegers and many President Pflueger Rods. Two (2) St Croix Rods, two Shimano Crucials Rods, and that's here at my house, I can't remember what I left on my boat over the winter. I haven't used a Zebco or Shakespeare in over 48 years, however I appreciate your generous offer, thank you, but no thank you.

[My Way]

Thank you Sherman51 for the information, greatly appreciated.

[Ltrain]

Hello My Way, I'll keep this real simple. I started trolling a couple years ago, tried braid first and big mistake, wouldn't hold in releases, kept slipping. So use mono when trolling boards, i use Big game mono, cheap and durable. If trolling dipseys use braid, they pull hard and mono stretches too much.

[Lou]

Hi,

I have Diawa 17's on St. Croix rods. You have the basics. I use heavy braid, I believe that it is 30lb, why not? The critical thing is to remember that the reel counts turns, not line. So, put on, for the sake of argument, 100 yards of mono on each, 300 yards of braid, then X feet of Floro. You'll want HEAVY floro, and use 20lb Blood Line, or Blood something, for leader, it's going to take a beating and you don't want to lose fish. As you lose floro your line counters will become increasingly unequal. At some point you'll have to respool the floro, but hopefully you will not get into the braid. Usually you change mono annually, but yours is protected from the UV, and it's just backer anyway, so floro is mostly all you need to concern yourself with. As you're probably going to use heavier line, you will have to bare that in mind when calculating depth, but it's all a guess unless you pull off line, measure it then compare that to your line counter. I'm not anal retentive enough for that myself. Besides, with as many as 3 different diameters, leader, floro, and braid in the water, it's still not going to be perfect. If you are doing this for fun, that's it, if not you should likely purchase more identical rods and reels in case something happens to some line, or worse.

Best Regards,

Lou

[Bordy]

Hey My Way,

My suggestion is you use braid with a mono backing. The backing keeps the braid from slipping on the reel spool and allows you to fill the spool so the line counters are more accurate. I use 17 lb Trilene Big Game or similar for backing and 30 lb Power Pro braid (8 lb diameter). I think Power Pro is the best and most economical braid for trolling. It does slip in some releases but you can wrap the line around the release to minimize that problem or use releases that don't slip like the OR-18, etc. If you use big boards and rubber bands, roll the line around your fingers before looping the rubber band to keep it from slipping. Easy.

To fill, check the line capacity on your reels to determine how much backing to put on before spooling on 150 yds of braid. Use the line counter (backwards) to monitor the amount. For instance, if the reel says it will hold 500 yards of 15 lb test, then guesstimate how much the 150 yards of 8 lb test will be, subtract that from the total capacity and spool that much mono backing on before the braid. There's probably a more accurate way but I catch plenty of fish with this set up.

I do not use floro leaders on my braid since I'm normally fishing with jets. If you were fishing cranks or harnesses directly, then maybe 10 ft or less of a floro leader would be in order.

Hope this helps,
Bordy

[walleyerunner1]

The easiest way to get started trolling is with Dipsys. Braid is an absolute must with Dipsys. Don't even try mono or floro. Most use 30lb power pro. You can easily run 3 Dipsys per side. Definitely use some mono as a backer for the braid. Way cheaper then braid and helps with slipping also and then fill the rest of the spool with braid. Braid to the Dipsy diver then a snubber and a 6-8' floro leader to your spoon,harness or crank. The snubber with help as a shock absorber for the braid. If you plan to troll with boards at some point you can always add a couple combos with mono. Mono for small boards and braid for big boards with Tru trips. Dipsys are quick and easy to use and also an inexpensive way to get started.

[sherman51]

you have got some great info here. I didnt know crap about using dipsies when I started so I went on a charter a couple of times. he used 65# braid so when I went on my own I spooled 150' of 16# ande line then 300' of the 65# braid on my 17 size daiwa reels. and I still use 65# braid because its what I started with. I went to 50' of water with lite bite slide diver rigged like a dipsy at 1.8 to 2.0 mph the diver set at 4.5. then it took 185' to bump bottom. I divided 185 by 10 which gave me 18.5. then I divided 50 by 18.5. this gave me a dive curve of 2.7' down for every 10' of line I let out. so now I set my 4.5 diver at the depth I want using the 2.7. then I set my middle diver at 3.0 and let it out 15' less than the 4.5 diver then I set my back diver on 1.5 and let it out 15' less than the 3.0 diver. the extra length on the front divers helps prevent tangles.

you could do this with 30# line. run 1.8 to 2.0 set on 3 then just go to 50' let out line until you bump bottom. say it takes 160' divide by 10 which gives you 16 now divide 50 by 16. this will give you your dive curve for every 10' of line out. now just use that number for setting the diver set on 3.0 then your middle diver set on 2.0 15' less and the back diver set on 1.0 15' less the the 2.0 diver. if you speed up you get less depth and slow down and get deeper.

I use my lite bite divers for the lite bite feature. I use them like dipsies the tie my line to an o ring lace the line through the back going in the lite bite arm. then I set the lite bite tension as loose as it will go. now even white perch will trip it. for salmon just set it a little tighter.