What pound test/brand for braid on a spinning reel for inshore jigging?

N2013

Well-Known Member
Looking to put some braid on my spinning rod to do some jigging this summer. The meat stick ain't too sporty so I'm wanting to mix it up this summer. Mainly for jigging lings/rockfish from 30'-100'. What sorta poundage of braid are you fellas running on yours? Rod is a 8' MH (12-30lbs), reel capacity is 250yds @ 15lb test mono.
 
I use Berkley Fireline 30#. Check it out. I really like this fishing line. It comes in a 300 yd. spool which will fit on your reel. Be careful. I broke an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C-4 reel before the line broke. I had to tie the line off on a cleat to break the line off at the lure. It is not cheap but I have had this line on 2 rods for 10 yrs and it still works like new.
 
I only use TUFF line Plus, its the thinnest diameter and cheapest. Works well, depending on outfit use I normally run 20lb on my spinning outfits and 50lb on my hali rods. With your mono capacity 300m of 20 lb tuff line will probably not completely fill your spool. May need a bottom shot of something on spool. Some of the thick braids 300 m should fill your spool. Chucking a storm rubber bait up in the kelp or rocks is great fun.

HM
 
You have run a mono leader as the braid will not break if you get a snag. Never tie braid direct to you're lure.
 
Tinboatrobb correct, always use a shock of 60 lb mono, 60 lb mono breaks before 50 Tuff line in most cases.

HM
 
Lighter jigging for salmon/ling/rockfish I run 30lb jerry brown hollow core spectra ( order online) to 10 feet of 25lb top shot mono of your choice . The 30lb hollow core has such a small diameter it lets you fish smaller lures deeper for longer periods of time in ****** conditions , it also lays flat on the spool compared to round spectra resulting in more capacity .
 
Looking to put some braid on my spinning rod to do some jigging this summer. The meat stick ain't too sporty so I'm wanting to mix it up this summer. Mainly for jigging lings/rockfish from 30'-100'. What sorta poundage of braid are you fellas running on yours? Rod is a 8' MH (12-30lbs), reel capacity is 250yds @ 15lb test mono.

You can use either 30 lb or 50 lb braid with any small to medium sized spinning reel and catch any ling or halibut you encounter. I like to use 40 maxima for my jig leaders which will create a trade-off when getting stuck on bottom. With 50 lb you will either straighten your light hook or just break your leader. The 30 lb will cause you to have mainline breaks on occasion, however you will be able to maintain a steeper angle on your gear and hold bottom better.
As far as line goes all brands are pretty good but I like a smooth feeling line such as Spiderwire Stealth over the rougher feeling PowerPro. I have not used Suffix 832 but I suspect it is an excellent line form all I have heard.
...Rob
 
N2013

I would evaluate your type of fishing also, where you fish, what depth and the "normal" size of fish you will catch. I fish every where in all, wind, tidal and current conditions worldwide so a thin diameter line allows the straight up angle or close to it longer, giving me better lure control and feel, resulting in less lures on bottom and longer time to fish effectively. I have all size mould's so make my own but if you purchase, price adds up fast when loosing a few daily. Research apples to apples diameter if you want to do the same. Not statements of "same diameter as 10 lb mono". There are hundreds of 10 lb mono diameters, look at actual .019mm compared to others. Then pick a line and leader that best suites your needs. Almost anything will work at less than 100 ft in no current or tidal areas when fishing greenling. But if you expect to do all there are choices that make a large difference.

Same applies to downrigger braid.

HM
 
Looking to put some braid on my spinning rod to do some jigging this summer. The meat stick ain't too sporty so I'm wanting to mix it up this summer. Mainly for jigging lings/rockfish from 30'-100'. What sorta poundage of braid are you fellas running on yours? Rod is a 8' MH (12-30lbs), reel capacity is 250yds @ 15lb test mono.
If you are only fishing right on the bottom then get any 30lb super-line. I'm a Power Pro guy but Suffix 832 is really good as well. The 30lb is plenty strong for most everything on the west coast so long as you fight the fish properly but the main advantage is the minimal drag during high current situations.

If you want to get more technical with your jigging and want to start targeting specific depths then go to metered line such as Power Pro's Depth Hunter. Changes colors every 25' with small black stripes every 5'. So if you see a bait ball in 150' of water and the top of the bait ball is at 75' you just let out three colors and you don't have to guess where your lure is. That was a game changer for me when jigging salmon. I find I catch the most jigging the top 5-10' of a bait-ball. Add to that a 50lb bite leader and you have a pretty darn good setup. If you don't fish deeper than 100' then pick up some 80 or 100 gram Shimano Butterfly Jigs and you'll hammer them.

I talked about it more in-depth here:

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/high-tech-jigging.66606/

Cheers!
 
I only use penn reels, 1 have counted the amount of line per pass of the line layer and we let out XXX passes to reach the exact depth. Never used the lines with different color changes but see the advantage for mid water jigging.

HM
 
Not a big fan of braid unless on hali rods. For your ap sure you can put more braid on vs mono but if your capacity is 250 yards @ 15 pound which is 750ft you have lots of room to go up on pound test with mono. The braided is hard on rod eyes and and bail cast reels with hard tension over time it will cut grooves. If the rod has a rating of 12-30lbs then there's no reason to exceed a line strength because your drag will need to slip so the rod doesn't break. I run a heavier leader for bottom fishing than the main line so fish with big teeth don't cut it easily. If you get snagged you loose a one extra piece but you will be happy when a big ling starts head shaking. 40-50lb leader is plenty. Just examine after each fish for nicks and retie if need be :) With your set up 25 pound mono you should have no problem Maxima makes a quality line. If you do plan to cast as well don't go any heavier than 25 pound you may consider running 20 pound. Trick is don't leave your rod laying out in the sun all season year after year because the exposure compromises the strength. Maybe I'm a creature of habit but I have purchased braided for smaller rods used it once and swapped back to mono :)
 
30# power pro is what I use for the most part for my spinning outfits for nearshore saltwater duty. I think I've tried everything. Used to put a 30 or 40 lb top shot of mono on there as a shock leader, mainly because I didn't want a line break and leave braid in the water, but at some point a few years back I got lazy. Now I just mostly direct-tie the power pro to a clip or direct to the lure/hook. I've never left braid in the water (always breaks at the lure), despite my former concerns. Fishing rivers and lakes is different of course.

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N2013

As uclueletcharters stated, every rod and reel combo should be a braid outfit. lots of expensive rods and reels that are not braid rated will break when braid is used. Lots of horror stories, as stated my penn outfits (carnage spinning and spinnfishers) are designed for braid so all works well. One benefit, you can cast a mile with braid, many times on anchor we see salmon "out there" no problem reaching them with a braid outfit.

HM
 
If you tie direct to a clip and then the lure or directly from braid to a lure, your chances for hanging up the lure on the line go up 10x. Braid is too limp and just folds over on itself when you jig. Stiff line keeps the lure away from the main line and allows it to work the action properly...trust me on this. If you don't like tying line to line connections, tie the braid to a sampo swivel with a palomar knot and then fluor to that then the jig last. Hope that makes sense...
 
If you tie direct to a clip and then the lure or directly from braid to a lure, your chances for hanging up the lure on the line go up 10x. Braid is too limp and just folds over on itself when you jig. Stiff line keeps the lure away from the main line and allows it to work the action properly...trust me on this. If you don't like tying line to line connections, tie the braid to a sampo swivel with a palomar knot and then fluor to that then the jig last. Hope that makes sense...
That's a good point actually.

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Finally got setup for jigging with my spinning rod. Ended up with 30lb power pro depth hunter. Highly recommend using it as it's easy to know where you are in the water column. Also got some 100g butterfly jigs from HC which seemed to suit conditions up to 90'. Was jigging bottom in about 60' of water, saw a nice arch on the sounder at 30' so I cranked up to that depth, quick jig, then wham! Had a ripper screaming around on the surface, sounding, back up, then came right out of the water and spat my jig. Woulda been nice to get one in the bag but those couple minutes were a blast. Definitely going to do more salmon jigging this spring especially. Thanks to @Waterwolf2230 and everyone for the feedback.
 
@N2013 - so much more fun than fighting a flasher isn’t it? It’s way more rewarding to actually fight the fish.

I will do the same thing when fishing plugs and spoons with no flasher. Pop the boat into neutral and play the fish. Have yet to lose a fish this way as well so have been lucky.
 
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