Yoyoin with braid?

[dondon86]

Do any of you guys that fish la jolla yoyo with braid tied to a flouro leader or topshot? What are the pro and cons?

[Siebler]

Pro is that the iron will drop faster due to less drag from the diameter of the line.

Con is that there is no stretch. Remember you do not set the hook on Iron fish, just wind through. For this reason I prefer to have the stretch of Mono. I fish a 7' heavy rod with 50lb Izorline First String line. My yoyo rod is in fact just that, it has no otehr purpose. This rod is actually 150 yrds of Mono topshot over spectra. Most all my rods have spectra backing other than my Jig sticks for surface iron which are 100% mono. Nothing wrong with Topshots, you gian more line capacity and it costs less to fill your reel if you dont have to replace all the line every time.

Personally anytime an Iron is involved I fish 40-50lb mono. I feel it works better plus its what im used to. I am sure than more than 1 person will disagree with me and talk about gained "Sensitivity with Spectra" but if you cant feel a yellow smash your iron you are doing something wrong.

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by Siebler

Personally anytime an Iron is involved I fish 40-50lb mono. I feel it works better plus its what im used to. I am sure than more than 1 person will disagree with me and talk about gained "Sensitivity with Spectra" but if you cant feel a yellow smash your iron you are doing something wrong.

Agreed; if you can't feel a Yellowtail when it slams you're iron, there's a distinct possibility---you're already dead!


I doubt anyone will try and argue the gained sensitivity with spectra side, here---that's if we're talking about Yellowtail or White Sea Bass, of course. Well, no person that actually knows what they're talking about would, anyway. I should have waited a couple of days to post my reply.

Obviously, if you're talking about deep-iron for rockfish, which can be effective at times, the sensitivity would come into play. Tap, tap, tap---taparoo!


A big Yellowtail will pull you out of your seat if you're not paying attention, when he slams the iron . Especially, if you have your drag set like Siebler or myself---right, Siebler?.



In short, the biggest pro of hooking a Yellowtail with spectra would be what, class?
.
.
wait for it...
.
.
.
.wait for it...
.
.
no...
.
.
.
no...
.
.
.

close, but no...
.
.
.
Ah yes, the winning answer would be: if you and your kayak are getting towed towards the bull-kelp. Which, if you're not accustomed to getting giant-fish out of the kelp forest---is, a nightmare situation with straight-mono. Many in-experienced anglers lose their trophy to the kelp. I see it all the time. How do you think these local fish get so big in the first place? Obviously not an issue, if you're lucky enough to find the fish away from structure, but if you're not---a lot of these fish know where to find their freedom.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Then of course, there's always a negative to every positive, right? Which would be what, class?
.
.
no...
.
.
nope...
.
.
.
close, but no...
.
.
.
Um ah, not really...
.
.
no...
.
.
.
Yeah, there's the stretch issue...
.
.
.
no...
.
.
.
nope...
.
.
.
getting warmer...
.
.
.
Ah yes, Eureka!: If you haven't already pulled on hundreds of Yellowtail, while fishing the iron---and get nailed while grinding a jig to the surface with sharp spectra---you just might, cut your damn thumb off! Maybe not clean off, that would be exaggerating a bit. To the bone is quite common, though. There's even a name for it, it's so common: Split-Thumb!

Depending on the strike (which direction the fish is coming from and how fast that fish is moving)---when your spectra comes tight, and you're talking to a buddy while guiding that spectra back and forth with your thumb---it may as well be a surgical laser-beam! I've witnessed this a few times on sportboats, right down to the freakin' bone!

There's a time and place for everything, though. So I won't tell every angler to never, fish the iron with spectra. While I definitely prefer to use straight 40 lb Izorline while fishing deep-iron; the truth is, occasionally I'll fish a spectra set-up. It's a time-and-place type decision.

The problem is with most guys, it's instinct to grip your reel when you get slammed on the iron. Which includes, that poor little thumb guiding your spectra back and forth. I not only know this by guiding clients, but because I used to do it myself. It's a natural instinct to grip your $500 rod and reel when a giant fish hits! And sadly, most guys including myself, learn their best lessons---the hard way.

True story: A few years ago, this exact thing happened to me; and when I gaffed that Yellowtail---It was really hard to tell who was bleeding the most .

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by dondon86

Do any of you guys that fish la jolla yoyo with braid tied to a flouro leader or topshot? What are the pro and cons?

I fish YoYo with spectra and a fluoro topshot, I could give you the tradition stuff.... jig sinks faster, cuts kelp etc... but everyone is going to say that stuff. For me though the biggest plus is that with spectra I can get away with smaller lighter weight reels and shorter rods, which translates to longer fishing time with less problems in my left shoulder, which tends to give me trouble after fishing Yo Yo all day or fighting big fish.

Last year I was fishing most of my yo yo with a 5' 10" 10-40 Kencore and a Saltist 30T. This year I'm switching to even lighter weight rig a 4'9" 10-40 or possibly 20-50 Kencor with a Tyrnos 8II 2-speed which though it weighs even less has even more fish cranking power.

I also add that I like the added sensitivity not because I need it to feel strikes, but because it allows you to feel exactly what the jig is doing at all times, so you have more control of how it runs in the water in relation to speed and rod movement, and that since it has a thinner diameter you can keep the jig down deeper longer in the zone if it's windy and you have a fast drift or if there is a ton of current.

I have been fishing spectra with topshots on everything from sharks to halibut to yo yo fishing yellows and even yo yo fishing yellowfin tuna since it was first introduce, and I've never cut myself with spectra. Hey and if you think a yellow hits an Iron hard try a forty to sixty pound YFT, they can do some serious damage on the Iron.

Jim