Quote:
Originally Posted by SDTribal
Is it ok to use braid with a flouro top shot for irons or is mono the ideal line?  |
How about the other side of the coin.
Some people think that spectra with it's lack of stretch is not good for Iron.
That is largely due to the fact they are used to fishing Iron with Mono and try to fish Iron on spectra exactly the same way they would fish jigs on mono.
That does not work but that does not mean that spectra is not a good choice for fishing Iron.
Spectra actually has some definite advantages over mono when it comes to fishing Iron but you have to makes some changes, or adapt your fishing style to spectra in order to use it correctly.
I've been fishing spectra for a decade now, and I use braid with Irons all the time. In fact it's all I use. I prefer thirty or forty pound power pro with a short top shot of twenty five or thirty pound Fluorocarbon.
The spectra do to it's lack of stretch changes the way you you have fish Iron, but it definitely works.
I fish a lot of local Yellowfin with Iron and spectra...
When it comes to strike power, pound for pound nothing hits harder on Iron then Yellowfin.
With Mono's stretch you have to run a tight drag and swing on the fish hard even with Yellowfin to get a good hook set with Iron. You have to depend on the rod to compensate for monos stretch which explains the popularity of fast tapper stiff rods for fishing mono. You don't have to do any of that with spectra. In fact if you do fish that way with spectra you will loose fish.
I'm not talking huge changes but what you have to do is run a lighter drag setting, and not swing on fish like with mono, then Spectra works just fine for Iron.
For Yellowfin, Yellowtail, Calicos even Halibut you actually just do not have to set the hook hard when fishing Iron like you do with Mono. The lack of stretch makes setting the hook far far easier.
Just keep reeling and if the fish holds on to Iron he's going to get hooked. No swinging needed. It's just as simple as reeling into the fish, kind of like what you do with a circle hook. Your not using the rod to set the hook as much as the reel and the lack of stretch in the line. It's actually so much easier to set the hook fish with spectra, you just don't have to put all that physical energy into driving the hook in.
Since you do not have to fish the drag as tight to hook them generally I run a fairly light drag initially. That absorbs some of the strike energy. I keep the drag lighter till the fish is hooked and then tighten it up once the fish is running or get's settled down.
Like Siebler said if you fish Spectra like Mono with a tight drag and hard hook sets with a fast taper rod, you can pop off fish. No doubt, but that is a problem of technique, not spectra.
Once you realize you don't have to make up for monos stretch the other benefits of fishing spectra become apparent.
Truth is Spectra has a few advantages over mono with Iron.
One you can simply cast further. With it's smaller diameter it cuts through the wind better, and you can use smaller reels that cast for better due to the smaller mass of their spools. The lack of stretch makes it easier to set the hook as I already said. The irons sink faster on the drop with spectra and unlike with mono if a fish even breaths on your Iron on the drop you can feel it.
I'd say 80% of the tuna I get on Iron offshore with eat the bait on the drop, with spectra you simply feel more strikes, fish you might miss on mono.
The drawback of spectra with Iron though is backlashes.
The lack of stretch means it's completely unforgiving on a backlash. If it snarls up the bait stops instantly and this can pop off your lure or damage your spectra on the reel end. Spectra is tough with abrasion but has a very low heat tolerance. In a backlash the line rubbing against the line on the reel can burn the spectra and make it weak at that point. That in turn can come back to haunt you when You hook a good fish. You can't always see these burns so you have to be very careful about backlashes. If you do backlash you want to check the line and strip off any line that might be damaged. Fortunately with spectra your reel holds more line, so taking a little off the top won't kill you. The gyst is though... you never want to backlash.
For this reason you want to use a reel with an exceptional casting brake system.
I use penn 525mags for casting with Spectra..
It's a perfect reel for the application.
Lately I've tried spinning reels as well and have very good luck with the Penn slammer seies of reels:
I never thought I'd be a Penn guy again but those are my top choices for casting spectra right now.
A Penn 525mag even with the mag brake set to full will outcast any conventional reel I have fished with when it comes to spectra. Proporly set up and used will almost never backlash.
The slammers have enough drag to fish spectra, and of course they do not backlash at all.
Spectra unlike mono can take a twist so line twist is a non issue with spectra, with it's small diameter and lack of line memory spectra casts amazingly well off spinning reels. It's far batter for casting then mono when using spinning gear. Honestly Spinning reels cast spectra like some proverbial wet dream.
I have a Penn 560 slammer that I put on 8ft Sabre with 30 powerpro for distance offshore. That rig will outcast anything I have ever seen with a four ounce mega bait. I'm talking maybe a 150yards plus. Sometime it goes so far you can't even see it hit the water.
Just like the reel choice and drag settings are different for spectra the rod choice is another issue where a little adaption can make a huge difference.
For years the fishing industry has moved toward fast taper, stiffer rods. The reason why is that such rods are better at feeling strikes, setting the hook and pumping fish to the boat fast.
Those fast taper rods compensate for the stretch in mono, but once you get rid of that stretch, those rods are no longer ideal, and they are not that great for fishing spectra.
Since spectra has very little stretch every lunge or head shake of the fish travels straight up the line to your rod. A stiff fast taper rod transmits that energy directly to your hands and to the reel. In contrast a more parabolic rod absorbs those shocks and shakes further into the rod blank, so unlike a fast taper rod a parabolic rod acts like a shock absorber absorbing energy from those head shakes etc.
Additionally parabolic rods are simply easier to fish with as they reduce the amount of leverage the fish has, or essentially increases your leverage over the fish.
This has to do with the effective rod length. Take two identical 8ft rods, with different tapers and put the same load on each. The more parabolic rod bends more down further into the blank. If you measured the actual distance from the tip to the handle when bent with load the more parabolic rod is a foot or more shorter in distance. that length is the effective length of the rod under load. The more parabolic the rod the shorter the effective rod length, the greater leverage you have over the fish. It's just a matter of simple leverage. A shorter rod can put more pressure on a fish then a longer rod, but in the same manner a more parabolic rod can put more pressure on a fish with the same effort by angler then a fast taper rod while at the same time reducing and the absorbing shock form the fish and spectra.
Bottom line Parabolic rods are just simply better for fishing spectra.
Rod wise I look for more parabolic older style glass rods. Glass seekers are good, old Glass Sabres are good, Kencors are good. Personally I use Sabres and Kencors. Lots of guys bag on Kencors for being to whippy or parabolic but that is exactly why they are ideal for fishing spectra.
If I had have only one rig for fishing Iron it would be a 7ft Z7X1030 Kencor Zebra with a Penn 525 Mag, filled with forty pound Powerpro, witha short top of 30 pound Seagar Fluoro..
Hey what can I say: I'm not expert, but it works for me.
Jim