Today sucked. I wasn’t phased by the 3ft forecast with long intervals with the winds being forecasted for 5mph all day. 2am forecast had changed for 10-15mph but what the hell, I got up, had boat loaded and ready to go so I was going. At the tip of the jetties the big waves met us. We made it about 20 miles before we got enough light for me to feel comfortable testing the seAs. We ran out around 30mph getting beat up often and the motors catching air a solid dozen times. We made it to the Royal Terrace around 7:30 and lines in. Handful of knock downs but tackle failure lost 2 big fish early. Apparently the new braid I spooled is garbage (paid good $$ for it) and the new rods I have are crap too. We broke 3 lines and ended up in a massive tangled mess at one point. Ended up losing 2 sea witches and a (**() big Yozuri Bonita (not happy!!!). We trolled to Edisto Banks in following seas and back to the terrace against them. It was a solid 4’ out at the ledge and some waves very steep. It averaged a minimum of 3’ all day. Around noon we headed into 90’ and caught 50 grunts and 2 BSB and couple ring tails. Headed into 75’ to salvage the day and ended up getting close to a dozen BSB and a few others. Road a decent quartering sea home but the wind made the starboard side a wet wet wet ride in. All in all, glad we got some more experience trolling and better yet we made it home safely and I had a good time with good friends. Only fish boated on the troll was a small cuda.
may want to check the guides on your new rods i had a tiny chip on a guide which resulted in my newly spooled braid failing three times before i figured out what was going on
One eye is messed up and took 3 break offs to realize it. I bought some cheaper rods from EBay and thus the results. Back to spending $$ for quality for me
Florida,
Your braid may not be junk. If you’re trolling with braid you should top it off with some mono for use as a shock leader. Ive lost tons of fish on perfectly good braid before I started using a mono topshot. I had to learn the hard way. You need some stretch on the strike. If you’re already doing it this way then I guess you just got some bad line. Hope this helps.
80-100 yard mono top shot connected to the main line using a loop to loop connection. you need the top shot to absorb any shock and a little needed stretch during the initial strike. connections are critical as braid naturally wants to slip. bimini to bimini using a cat paw should work just fine. if the top shot needs to be replaced you can swap it out fast without destroying the loop in your main line. best of luck to you.
use mono for trolling and braid for bottom and most of your problems will go away- keeping things simple and the same helps reduce mayhem and mistakes when the lines go off
X 3. Too many benefits of using mono while trolling for me to use anything else:
-absorbs shock better
-because it stretches and recoils, you are less likely to have slack line if the fish comes towards. This is more important in trolling than bottom fishing because more than likely you have a j hook while trolling and possibly have a big lure the fish can swing around as a counterweight if there is slack.
-easier on the fingers when feeding into outriggers, handling lines if hung on a skeg, …etc
-less tangles
-better abrasion resistance if the mainline somehow gets damaged or touches a skeg. I’ve seen braid pop at first touch on a skeg, and i’ve reeled in dolphin that were full on wrapped on a skeg with mono
-easier to tie (matter of opinion)
Only con really is reduced capacity, but that has yet to present itself as an issue.
I use momoi diamond because its stronger than it’s rated at the same diameter as other mono lines
Ive seen braid used for high speed trolling (i dont high speed on my boat) when capacity and drag may be more of an issue but i dont see it used often for basic trolling. I also use it for bottom fishing… Sometimes.
Sorry you had a rough day, hope yall had fun otherwise
Yep mono for trolling we use a braid backing only bluefin fishing for the extra capacity and oh so happy to see the mono get back on the reel when hooked up at 65 pound of drag that stuff can ping easily.
