While bottom fishing, hoping to catch Mr. Grouper Saturday, a couple of times I would notice that my leader (5 to 6’ of 100lb flouro) would be wrapped around my mainline (80lb Jerry Brown) when I would reel it in. This is a 10k Stella on a Black Hole 250g spinning/jigging rod. Had to really push myself to not use a jig…I was using live bait and some cut Bonita.
Edit; I was using a Spro Solid Ring Swivel with one of those green egg shaped beads between the 10oz egg sinker and swivel.
Anyway, I had a couple of serious fish on that cut the braid. I am 90% sure this was due to the line getting tangled in the swivel.
Were you fishing something similar to a carolina rig, with the sinker further up the line than the leader and swivel? Fishing up-current (or fishing where the current upwells from the bottom) can cause this.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
This is one of the reasons why I do not like to use spinning tackle with heavy live bait fishing- or any Carolina rig fishing (slip sinker and long leader, for that matter.
With any large live bait behind a heavy sinker, you have to let the bait go down very slowly or it will helicopter around the mainline.
Palm the spool or either cut the anti-reverse off and literally turn your handle backwards as the bait swims down.
It also sounds like you are not using enough topshot. Your braid should be nowhere near all that tangle action you described. If it is, then the braid will cut the leader very easily when you come tight on a fish.
You don’t want lots of topshot if you are jigging, but you do want topshot if you are fishing with a long leader.
If you are dead set on using spinning gear with short topshot like with jigging but with this type of fishing, try using a fixed weight, like a trolling weight, tied in line so that it cannot slip. You have to go a little lighter or either drop it very slowly so that the bait continues keeping the leader tight rather than spinning around your mainline as the weight flies down to the bottom. Fixed weight keeps the bait from pulling line through the weight and getting up higher on your mainline and making a mess.
25’ of 100 lb mono topshot and cut your Carolina rig down to 3’leader. lip hook your bait and it wont helicopter on the way down. I fish spinning gear down to 250’
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PROUD YANKEE
Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
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