Those Who Target Big Carp Regularly

[Rich]

Just wondering if those who chase carp regularly prefer braid or mono?

 

Just a question out of curiosity. Personally I prefer mono.

[sharper]

I'm a fan of braid.

[ccmtcanada]

I use 30 pound braid mainline and 20 pound braid for leaders. Where I fish, zebra mussels are everywhere...and it's a rocky shoreline.

[Marko]

Maxima Ultragreen 8lb mono

[Victor]

i have never used braid as mainline ... it's something I'd want to try next season. A lot of carp guys use it to fish areas with zebra-mussles.

 

However there's one potential problem i could think of... with so little stretch in the line you'll probably have to be more careful with the 'hook set' ... take it easy and not rip its mouth open.

[Beans]

17 lb XT mono with a 12 lb flourocarbon hair rig...

 

Hopefully the hair rig will break first and I only lose a hook...feeders are hard to come by up this way !

[hammercarp]

Mono mostly, anywhere from 10 to 25 lb test depending on cicumstances. The zero stretch of braid makes it more likely to tear hooks loose on carp.

 

I thought I would add this. I hope it helps.

http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/inde...p;hl=mono+braid

Edited August 25, 2008 by hammercarp

[Chris]

Where's crazyhook when you need him haha

[crappieperchhunter]

Tried both. Don't like the braid for a mainline because you seem to tear alot of hooks out of fish and tear up the mouths more of the ones you do land. However you loose alot of feeders to Zebras and rocks. I have settled on 17LB mainline with a 5 foot section of braid that my feeder rides on...and then back to a one foot section of mono that my hook goes on. Seems to save me alot of tackle with more landed fish and damages the fish less as well. Seems to be workin for me.

[dsn]

I prefer 30lb main line like CCMT says and 15-20lb leaders. The 30lb line will also cut the weeds in half if the fish decides to swim anywhere near thick dense weed growth !!! You'll see the damage the line will do on weeds when it all floats to the surface. Its like mowing grass!!

[bassjnkie]

I normally use 12lb Suffix Camo mono ($9.99 at BPS) for non-snaggy area, eg zerba mussels. But for port dover, dams and spots in Hammy, I tend to use 20lb Suffix camo mono ($10.49). I do use braid for very weedy areas in Bradford, it rips through nicely when fighting a carp. But when using mono or braid, I prefer to use 30" of fox 45lb leadcore leader.

 

Float fishing for carp, 6Lb Suffix green.

 

Hope this helps. To answer the question MONO all the way.

[MJL]

A few years ago I used to be strictly a mono user (12-17lb) and loved it. The last 3-4 years I've been using braided lines more and more because I find they handle zebra mussels, weeds, snags, bridge pilings, etc much better. I can only think of a few venues I currently fish that don't have any of these problems. Braid also handles better in heavy current situations than mono which tends to stretch a lot - If you're using bite alarms, you'll get a lot of false indication because of the stretch especially at long range. At the moment I have 50-65lb PowerPro on most of my reels now and can count on a single hand over the last 3 years the number of fish which have broken me off.

 

I've never had serious problems with hookpulls using braid. I actually had more hookpulls using mono. The majority of my carp rods either have a progressive or a slow taper which handles braid nicely. A looser drag setting also helps.

 

One thing I don't like about PowerPro is that it is far less stealthy than mono or fluorocarbon and more visible to the fish as they feed around your rigs. It also floats when you don't want it to. I've also seen grooving on hardloy or hi-alloy guides (Never had a problem with grooving on SIC or alconite guides)

 

As far as fish safety is concerned, there are several other contributors to mouth damage beyond the usage of braided mainlines. Some types and patterns of hooks have been noted to cause serious mouth damage; the use of high test-curve rods on smaller fish; There is also an on-going debate whether barbless hooks actually cause more damaged than barbed hooks where the damage is done during the fight rather than during the removal of the hook. When I use braided lines, I don't notice any more damage to the fish than when I used mono.

 

With that said, for snag-free/zebra mussel-free waters, I still use heavier mono but for everything else, I'd use braid.

[ccmtcanada]

One thing I don't like about PowerPro is that it is far less stealthy than mono or fluorocarbon and more visible to the fish as they feed around your rigs.

 

You've seen where I fish...so PP is the way to go. Also, I exclusively fish for them at night, so I don't think the visibility is as much a factor in my waters.